Then of course theirs the gulags and work camps as well..’thousands and thousands’ there for many years under the most atrocious conditions who only know what it is to obey the guards and never make a decision on their own......how to reach them is another population that will require great strategic planning.
I recall one defector from the cap that when he escaped and saw the farmers working in the fields he thought he was looking at paradise...and those farmers were using horse drawn carts or working by hand.
When they go to the South they see such wastefulness of food and such an abundance that it brings great confusion why more isn’t done for those in the camps and nation they left. It’s a heart wretching and gut wretching experience that none of us can even slightly touch on.
I agree with you on the differences. Frankly, when I am in South Korea I feel it is more prosperous than the U.S. Certainly it feels like the America of the Reagan era, not the economic malaise and debt we are living through now.
That being said, and despite the Confucian ethics that would eschew the flaunting of wealth, it seems a lot of South Koreans do measure their self-worth by how well they dress and what kinds of things they purchase and consume. I know the first time I visited Korea after not having been there for 15 years or more, I felt woefully underdressed. I now take suits with me to wear in Seoul, even as a tourist.