Quick-n-dirty guide to North Korea

By Julie Schwietert On March 7, 2010 · 15 Comments

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I’m not sure I like calling any country “crazy,” but this infographic contains some interesting data.

Via: Online Schools Feature photo: yeowatzup

What do you think about this infographic? Sound off in the comments.

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Want to learn about SOUTH Korea? Read South Korea Exploration: Roadtripping the Peninsula, Gonzo Traveler: Surviving the Beef Riots in South Korea, and How to be a Vegetarian in Korea.

About The Author

Julie Schwietert

Julie Schwietert Collazo is a writer, editor, researcher, and translator currently in New York, formerly of Mexico City and San Juan. She is Matador's managing editor and is the lead faculty member of MatadorU's travel writing program.

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http://matadortrips.com/ Hal Amen

It’s counterproductive to call the country itself crazy–clearly it all rests with the leadership. And absolute power does seem to breed nut jobs.
http://matadortrips.com/ Hal Amen

Also, I bet more than 8% of Americans’ education is spent learning capitalist morality (ha!) and pledging allegiance to the flag.
http://carlo-alcos.com Carlo

That biography sounds like good readin’ to me!
http://www.candicedoestheworld.com Candice

Wowwww. Didn’t know a lot of this stuff. Thanks Julie.
http://musictravelwrite.wordpress.com Michelle

YES to what Hal said. Also, I’m thinking 4% of our GDP on the military is probably inaccurate as well.

That last list about Kim Jong…the double rainbow made me laugh. After that I wanted to cry.

Julie Schwietert

Hal & Michelle-

Absolutely agree- I think this graphic may say more about America than it does about North Korea. And the veracity of the stats should be corroborated, for sure.

http://www.spunkygirlmonologues.com SpunkyGirl

Lots of interesting factoids. It’s crazy. I admit, I’ve found a few companies that do short tours into North Korea and I’m really intrigued. I’m so curious to see what its REALLY like, even though the tour would be propaganda city.

I remember getting into an argument in Beijing with another traveler about China and it’s propaganda etc. He couldn’t understand why the people didn’t just fight back. He didn’t understand that it’s not that simple. If you’re raised with total propaganda all your life, you don’t know there is something wrong.
Daniel

according to the CIA World Factbook US military spending was 4% of the GDP. As of 2005.
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2034rank.html
http://www.expatheather.com Heather Carreiro

I wonder if somebody drew up one of these for the US what would be on it….

The blood of virgins thing is extremely disturbing. An interesting look into North Korea is Don’t Tell My Mother’s episode on traveling there.

Julie Schwietert

Seriously. Someone *should* do that. I’d include something about secret places where people are trained to be neo-imperialists… like School of the Americas.

http://simonegorrindo.wordpress.com/ Simone Gorrindo

oh, of course he’s got a napoleon complex.
http://www.aellearoundtheworld.com aelle

Interesting cultural assumption about the readership, here – for example that we believe government-owned schools or media are necessarily a bad thing, or at least that it’s a fact worthy of attention. It’s fairly common in Europe, and we don’t have worse journalism than elsewhere.

Julie Schwietert

Aelle-

Point taken.
The graphic does say a lot about the creator’s assumptions. I think it’s interesting to at this whole thing as a comment about cultural assumptions. As I mentioned, I’m not really comfortable with calling any country crazy, and the information included (and excluded) here definitely reveals assumptions and values that aren’t shared universally (nor should be necessarily).

Ken

Actually, the US is NOT teaching enough capitalism. Americans don’t know how to manage their own finances or save for retirement.

If the US cut one of the 4 English/Literature classes in high school and one of the 4 history classes in high school, in exchange for 2 mandatory classes: Personal Finance and Nutrition, the US wouldn’t have as many people racking up credit card debt or stuffing their face with fast food each night.

But then again we would then put thousands of liberal arts majors out of teaching jobs…. eh, fair price to pay.
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Quick-n-dirty guide to North Korea

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