GenZedong

In the U.S. we’re taught that North Korea is a horrible backwards dictatorship where every person is captive to an evil regime run by a mad man who has an inexplicable hatred of the U.S., freedom and democracy – and is always on the edge of launching a nuclear missile to destroy the world. This, we’re told, is the reason we have to isolate the country and occupy South Korea with thousands of U.S. soldiers. The purpose of such a simplistic narrative is to prevent Americans from getting curious about what’s really happening there. Why is North Korea so closed off? What's the relevant history of that region? Why did the U.S. go to war there in the 1950s? What were the consequences? Why is Korea split into two? And is the country really as evil as the mainstream portrays?

To help break it all down, Rania Khalek was joined by Ju-Hyun Park, a member of Nodutdol for Korean Community Development, an anti-imperialist organization of Koreans in the U.S. struggling for Korean reunification and national liberation. They are also engagement editor at The Real News.