Once again: North Korea isn't China, "shooting everyone" isn't a policy they can logistically enact or afford to enact. They rely on China to keep them alive as it is; if their internal structure takes any meaningful long-term damage, they stop existing as a state. They're the Sick Man of Asia.
They interestingly cut off China - all deliveries, trains, flights etc early last month. They've got a backlog of export shipments needing to go out but aren't.
Anyway, they're going to hit a starvation crisis before they hit a Corona one.
Their national newspaper said that it was "National Crisis" and I'm inclined to believe that they are indeed taking it seriously. They do have fairly good measures of disease control. I mean they're stupid, but they actually aren't super stupid. This outlines the measures that are known to have been taken.
https://archive.vn/RfpyC
They're also having a national government meeting, of which Fatboy will attend on Friday.
https://archive.vn/4mNPE
Whilst, yes they certainly could shoot people they're just as likely to do as the WHO guy said earlier this week "remove the sick from their homes and isolate them with dignity" aka barge into homes, divide the sick from the well and "remove" them. Whether they die from Covid19 or a bullet to the back of the head, it's not going to matter because a) they'll die anyway and b) it won't get reported either way.
They aren't as closed off from the world as people think. Countries still have embassies, journalists come and go, things do come in and out. They aren't completely and utterly cut off and they aren't a ridiculously stupid people either.
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Either way, it's really disturbing to me that western countries are like "YES! More authoritarianism, remove our liberties! SAVE US FROM THE VIRUS", yet truly don't understand or care to understand that this is how North Korea and other dictatorships started.
NK started because they wanted protection from the Japs. The Japs were the virus. They wanted help from China and Russia. They were swept up in ideals of socialism in order to survive. Instead, it quickly went to shit and thus, you have North Korea.
People in the west sacrificing liberty, freedom for protection from a virus that has a minimal kill rate is no different than North Korea wanting protection from Japan and turning to China and Russia of all people.
I have blood relations that would be living in North Korea and I've always wondered why my family left before it got to be too much and why others would have stayed. It's genuinely odd to see it playing out in real time atm over this Corona shit. I used to imagine they were just stupid or brainwashed, but this is showing how scarily easy anyone can become a North Korean.