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Transcription
The hosts of T-Bay Talk discuss the differences between life in North Korea and other parts of the world. They learn that North Koreans face strict dress codes, limitations on hair length, and severe punishments for breaking laws. They compare this to the freedom enjoyed in the US and South Korea. The hosts also mention the lack of accessibility to cars and basic goods in North Korea. They note that the country has the worst human rights record and is underdeveloped compared to the rest of the world. The conversation ends with a mention of the cultural and technological changes happening during the time of the story, and the hosts' plans for lunch. Music Hello, welcome back to another episode of T-Bay Talk. With your hosts, Daniel Youmans, Matthew Yang, Ethan Xu, and Princeton Li. Today, we're covering Shai Xing's story of nothing to envy. As I was reading the story, I wondered how life in North Korea differed from the outside world. Me too. Me three. Yeah. Me four. Okay, now with that, how exactly does it differ, if at all, to other places around the world? In Nothing to Envy, Barbara Zemeck explains the suffering of North Korean citizens under the dictatorship of Kim Il-sung. Wait, what? Why are they suffering? I heard they have a strict dress code all over the country. Well, in the story, it states that they weren't allowed to wear blue jeans or t-shirts with Roman writing. This is because it was considered a capitalistic indulgence. That's kind of crazy. Not only that, but I heard that men can't even have their hair longer than a certain length. Wait, what? In California, anyone can wear whatever they want. And they can have hair of any length, too. That's not even the worst part that happens. I heard that if they break any of these laws or rules, they could be sent to death, or sent to hard labor camps for the rest of their lives. What? In the U.S., violating a dress code would barely even get you in trouble at all. Even the neighboring country, South Korea, has so much more freedom. Yeah, I heard in North Korea, only some government officials own cars, but in South Korea, it's common for most people to have their own personal vehicle. In other countries around the world, people have vehicles, not just South Korea. For example, the Democratic Republic of Congo is similar to North Korea in the sense that very few people have accessibility to cars. For example, in the story Nothing to Envy, the protagonist was watching a TV show about rain boots. He makes a remark about how his children do not have the accessibility to access those rain boots, and therefore he got in trouble. Here in the U.S., you can purchase rain boots practically anywhere for a really cheap price. Whereas Ching Bo, the main character, was almost locked away for the rest of his life, but got away with a light warning due to his high status and respect in the Inman Bond. Dude, the Inman Bond? The Inman Bond is so scary. Even your neighbors will report you. I heard you could be reported just with a slight remark, even if it's just a joke that could be interpreted as a disgrace to the Supreme Leader. That's crazy. Even in the strictest of countries like China, remarks like those would leave you unharmed. In the U.S., we can say whatever about a president unless it's a serious threat. Hey, looks like we got another question. Henry Kelly asked about the human rights record in North Korea at the time. He also asked what's happening during the time of this story elsewhere in the world. Well, you see, I heard that North Korea has the worst human rights record ever recorded out of all the 195 countries in the world. Not only that, but outside of North Korea, a lot was happening. We're going to assume that the story was written around the 1990s to the early 2000s, when Kim Jong-il was in power. Not written, but happening. The 1990s was a dynamic decade marked by significant cultural, technological, Keep on going, keep on going! and political shifts. Some highlights include the rise of the internet and the dot-com boom, the end of the Cold War, the emergence of grunge and hip-hop music, the popularity of sitcoms like Friends and Seinfeld, the impeachment of President Bill Clinton, and advancement in technology like the introduction of the World Wide Web, DVDs, and cell phones. Like, I mean, it was a time of rapid change and innovation across various fields. Yet, still today, North Korea is highly underdeveloped compared to all these other parts of the world that had technological advances. In North Korea, they have a poor economy, so a common food for them is cold noodles. However, in the U.S., we have an okay economy, so we can eat fresh goods and meat on a daily basis. Speaking of food, man, that makes me kind of hungry. I'm going to go out for lunch now, so catch us back up on the next episode of Tuesday Talk, where we're going to be talking about World War II. Without us, we should get some cold noodles. Bye! Thank you for watching!
