Social Media is a dangerous tool. If not used properly, it can lead to blunders. North Korea is digitally disconnected from rest of the world. And it is often portrayed as a rogue state, a living hell on Earth where each and every activity of yours is being monitored and people there are suffering and waiting for the west to come and free them of their misery.
Whenever I browse through Quora or any other social media platform, I find only negativity about North Korea. Not even a single person mentions something positive about it. So, I thought that I should list some positive sides of North Korea.
- Cleanliness
The first thing which comes to my mind, whenever I see images of North Korea is that, it is so clean! Most of the images we see online are mostly of Pyongyang. And there is no doubt that it is one of the cleanest cities ever. People pay special attention towards cleanliness of their surroundings. Compare that to India. People have a very lax attitude towards cleanliness. And this goes for several other developing countries. North Korea really stands apart in this regard.
- Performance at International Mathematical Olympiad
Well, say what you want about quality of education in North Korea, but these figures show a completely different story. North Koreans have a very good aptitude for Mathematics, which is the reason that almost every time they finished in top 20 at IMO. And their recent rankings have improved. Compare that to India. India’s rankings have slipped considerably and despite having a population several times larger than North Korea, we still haven’t managed to reach the top spot.
Source: International Mathematical Olympiad
North Korea’s Rankings
India’s rankings
- Football
Despite facing a crushing defeat at the hands of Portugal in 2010 FIFA World Cup, the fact that North Korea’s football team is one of the strongest Asian teams, is completely irrefutable. Although their present FIFA ranking is 115 (India’s current ranking is 100. Proud Indian! :)), but still they have managed to qualify for the FIFA world cup, twice. The latest being in 2010. Their football team performed extremely well against Brazil, losing only by 2–1. But they badly lost the subsequent match to Portugal by 7–0, and third to Ivory Coast by 3–0. And the fact that North Koreans were given false news about them winning against Portugal was a hoax. The broadcast aired properly. In fact, many South Koreans also cheer for North Korea as well because according to them, their enemy is the Kim regime, and not its people.
In the end I would like to say that North Korea is a wonderful place having wonderful people, but it is plagued by a totalitarian fascist regime. This answer of mine is a tribute to the people of North Korea. I just wish, they all remain safe and may bring prosperity to their country. Also, a note for my fellow countrymen, please don’t get offended by my criticism of India. I am proud to be an Indian and we must work together make our country, the best in the world!