North Korea

The media has always been reporting negative stuff on North Korea. I won't be surprised if reality is not what is purported to be. As usual, I've learnt to do my own independent research. I've been wanting to buy some books on the country through online stores, but haven't got about doing it.

From what I know so far, the new generation of North Korean leaders have travelled places, and studied overseas. They must have seen the changes and rapid growth everywhere around the world. They would want to replicate some of these success in their own country. According to Jim Rogers, the N. Koreans have banners everywhere, in favour of reunification with South Korea. They are also opening up their economy slowly, at least to their northern neighbour China.

I trust accounts like Jim Rogers' more than the propaganda from the mainstream media, the US and the Japanese. He has been there and seen the country with his own eyes. I take with a pinch of salt, articles about N. Korea being a nuclear threat and have millions of people starving in the country. People buy into these stories and get agitated easily. Yet they overlook the atrocities - worse atrocities - of other supposedly 'good' countries.

Of course, I'm not trying to absolve N. Korea of some of the reported atrocities on its citizens. I do not know how true those accusations are, but I won't be surprised if it's bad. A lot of governments do that - most notably Myanmar, taking an example close to home, in recent decades. But in any case, North Korea may be undergoing a fundamental change right now. It would be a good place to visit and invest in.