I sat reading the comments and nodding along and then realized that all this discourse is essentially 'poor country can't afford nice things '. I'd be really upset at someone that made fun of a person over the junker they drove because it was all they could afford.
It’s like making fun of the cheap gun they bought to protect themselves after a gang set up shop in their neighborhood, took over their neighbors house and did a home invasion where 1/5 of the family was killed and the house itself was completely destroyed.
I mean, if folks were making fun of their housing I'd agree but this is the equipment they're buying to threaten their neighbors with, instead of feeding their starving population
I'm certainly not pro military, but if I was NK I would focus on military parades too. Every year(?) the U.S. and SK practice invading NK the people who live near the DMZ are always under threat or told that they are under threat of invasion. So yeah dump trucks with missile launchers are great, because of nothing else the people near the DMZ know they can at least have mutually assured destruction on their side.
There are entire generations of people who have lived in the fighting grounds of the U.S. and China. These parades show that these people will still put up a fight for their home.
So yeah us rich and militaristic Americans can always have a good laugh at the poor parts of the world we threaten.
The country has never starved itself for fun. North Korea has <20% arable land and relies on other countries to provide that supply. With sanctions it is very hard to import high quality food to provide for people. The fact that the government offers free housing, healthcare, and education tells me they would do everything in their power to feed its population if they were able to trade with more countries.
If I had a poor neighbor that relied on me for food and financial support during hard times and then turned around and told everyone what a piece of shit I am and how much they're going to fuck me up next time they see me, and how much better their car is than mine? Yeah, I would call them out for their shitty ass car when they pulled it out of the driveway and the door was duct taped on. And I wouldn't really feel that bad about it.
I am having trouble assuming good faith in your question. The Supreme Leader there is the son of the previous Supreme Leader who is the son of the Supreme Leader before him. One family has had absolute control over that nation for 3 generations, passing from father to son. Like the Ottoman Empire monarchy they have resolved the whole uncle vs son dilemma pretty brutally.
Ah yes let's blame the country for their war crimes. There's pretty much no country in the world without a cruel history in some way. How is this relevant?
Go look at the status both countries are at today instead of referencing 70 year old events. Whatever path South Korea took clearly worked and North Korea's path did not. A rational, intelligent person would admit when they were wrong and concede
This is literally it. North Korea is just a poor country that offers its citizens free healthcare and education. If a poor country in Africa became "communist," you can bet these same people would be laughing at them when kids have to pick up guns to defend themselves from an American invasion. "Ha ha look at those inferior kids thinking they deserve to fight back. Kill them! I wish they died quicker and were sanctioned harder."
Do some research for 5 seconds. The country has been at war for decades for no fault of their own. I don't laugh when the US is sending billions of dollars of military equipment when I see dozens of new homeless people every day. It's just not funny. Military expenses are irrelevant, anyway. Feeding people could be done with or without spending on military. The difference is that North Korea is under sactions when they have like 18% arable land.
Poor guy claims to be able to afford nice things, waves a load of junk dragged from the local scrap yard in front of the local homeless guys claiming it is amazing.