Thread by @BonicMichael

John Lee purports that "South Korean pop music & television dramas" "terrify the North Korean regime [more than] American military might or South Korean spies". Yet in the "war of ideas" DPRK follows Socialism wherein the proletariat trumps the bourgeoise.
nknews.org/2021/08/north-…

2/He says: “The people were isolated from foreign information and ideas and the elites got to stay in power.”

Wangjaesan Dance Troupe dancing to Bill Haley's Rock Around The Clock is proof positive that DPRK studies & assimilates foreign high culture

3/from within its borders

The DPRK in reality isn't a hermit kingdom but a socialist nation following Kim Jong-il's maxim to "plant feet in our land, and lift eyes to see the world."

https://twitter.com/BonicMichael/status/1421590389690048512?s=20

4/These lyrical dances performed by Wangjaesan Dance Troupe in the 1980s 👇puts the lie to John Lee's claim. True, DPRK doesn't want to become "infected" w/ Western imperialist capitalism typified by K-pop the same way you don't want your wall to get soggy

https://twitter.com/BonicMichael/status/1421572505991483396?s=20

5/b/c then it'll collapse. DPRK makes a case:

BTS, Blackpink treated like ‘slaves’ and lead a ‘miserable life’, North Korean website claims
scmp.com/lifestyle/k-po…
"The Arirang-Meari website accused K-pop labels of forcing artists to sign unfair contracts at an early age and

6/"robbing them of ‘their body, mind and soul’

The cost of being a K-pop idol: 👇
K-pop trainee rules: no dating, no phones, weekly weight checks – Blackpink, Twice and BTS members reveal what Korea’s entertainment agencies really demand of their idols
scmp.com/magazines/styl…

7/"JYP Entertainment has a strict three-year ban on new idols dating, trainees are forbidden from using their phones or meeting members of the opposite sex, and Twice’s Momo was once ordered to lose 7kg in a week – what it really takes to make it in K-pop...

8/"K-pop agencies make sure to keep their recruits focused on nothing but their professional practice, and to avoid any chance of the greatest teenage distraction of all getting in the way – romance – male and female trainees are kept strictly segregated.

9/"Boy trainees and girl trainees must not eat together – ever
No dating
No phones"...
The Western powers have place the boot heel of sanctions on the neck of North Korea's economy, forcing it into economic isolation while demanding DPRK give up its nukes.

10/DPRK has a better idea than K-pop & K-drama: DPRK-pop & DPRK high culture. A student of North Korea would

North Korean students learning rock music and having fun w/ an iPad.
Pyongyang: First iPad impact on NorthKorea 北朝鮮 iPadの衝撃(平壌の世界134)

11/know that the North Koreans are following Kim Jong-il's maxim to "plant feet in our land, and lift

5/北朝鮮初のオリジナルロック曲「Murumpyo (Question mark)」

“Question mark,” one of the songs recorded by Funky Sueyoshi and his North Korean students

12/"eyes to see the world." The iPad and Rock Music that is gov't sanctified is APPROVED. By selecting which aspects of foreign culture to assimilate to “establish a new socialist way of life in every sphere”, and creating “Art [that is] Juche-oriented, revolutionary…national in

13/"form and socialist in content” that “encourage[s] creative workers and artists to produce works of high ideological and artistic value”, the Socialist government of North Korea is expanding its contemporary culture apace with the global community. DPRK values high culture

14(look it up). They're picking the meat off the bones of the world's contemporary music, dance & culture and appropriating high culture when it finds it. DPRK views K-pop

Wangjaesan Art Troupe - 走っていこう未来へ / 달려가자 미래로 / Dash to the future

15/for what it is: A multi-$B capitalist industry that makes the lives of the artists secondary the lives of the idols they portray. Wangjaesan Dance Troupe dancers are better dan coders, Moranbong Band are better musicians...No dating, no sex, no phone calls?? I know that NKers

16/think that's insane, dehumanizing. They see the K-pop Idol Machine in it's true corporate colors and say: "That's exactly what we want to avoid!" DPRK is all about DIY. The younger generation will produce fashion designers, musicians & dancers whose talents will surpass what's

17/gone before. DPRK is minimalist: Just enough makeup, fashion & skin = a higher aesthetic than the crotch-grabbing of Beyonce & Madonna & overt sexuality leading to decadence. Which DPRK won't be b/c it sticks to Socialism, arguable a "better idea" than serving the bourgeoisie.

18/So I disagree w/ John Lee. I think he's less of a "student" of DPRK tho than a professional analyst. All views are valuable in this "debate". The question is: Will DPRK's Socialism be resilient & exceed the world's expectations of it? I hope so. ☮️ ✌️

19/If there's absolutely one thing that I'm certain of, it's that if I had to spend a year in close quarters w/ BTS or Wangjaesan Dance Troupe or say Jin Hui and friends, I'd choose the North Koreans and learn about their Socialist system.

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