North Korean website and video on America

The country whose views on America I have chosen to analyse is North Korea. Of all the countries in the world, North Korea seems to be the most strongly opposed to America and American values at this moment in time. Evidence shows that during UN meetings, North Korea has voted against the US 96.7% of the time, that is more than any other country in the UN. This is why I have chosen to look at their views on America to find what it is that they find so unsettling about America.

Many know North Korea as a “hermit kingdom” due to the fact that it has purposefully isolated itself from the rest of the world; in 2012 it was even ranked the lowest country in the Democracy Index. As a dictatorship, the government has full control of the Internet and the news, with global websites blocked from the sight of North Koreans; therefore it is very difficult to find many web pages when living outside the country. However there are some blog posts written by North Koreans that give an impression of what life is like growing up in the country and what the country’s impression of America is.

http://www.nknews.org/2013/03/i-used-to-have-nightmares-about-americans/

The website above is an article written by a North Korean who grew with anti-American propaganda being forced on them by the government. Constantly referred to as “sworn enemies” and “Yankee pigs”, America is seen as the most hated and feared nation in North Korea: so much so, that the author of the article says how they, and many others, grew up having nightmares about America.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eem8FO4uP-c

The video above is a piece of propaganda released by the North Korean government warning their people of the dangerous lifestyle Americans lead. Advertising the country as full of poverty and homelessness, as well as having gun-toting maniacs around every corner. The video is clearly a lame attempt by the government to brainwash their people as it even contains footage of homelessness at the Gare de Nord, a train station in Paris.

These views on America are completely nonsensical in my opinion; based around fear of a bigger country and an attempt provoke some reaction from America. They are biased stereotypes that have been force-fed to the people of North Korea who, due to restrictions of researching the country themselves, are left to simply believe the words that their government tell them. They are views that I find shocking in the 21^st Century as they remind me of the propaganda that was created in Nazi Germany or Stalinist Russia, the type I had previously thought to be extinct. It is interesting, however to see the desperate attempts a country will go to to stop themselves from becoming ‘Americanized’.