North Korea July 29 1985

[@alextyy]

It was much more normal and better then, with Chinese and Soviet financing.

[@отпирайте]

Office Mofo same thing with uzbekistan, then ussr. My mom was born and raised there and the quality of live wasnt bad at all corruption and closemindedness aside, but it turned worse after ussr collapsed, satellite countries got independent and they no longer received support from ussr

[@отпирайте]

Jon Hart he was the one who actually tried to fix things. His reign just began too late

[@hafizullahamin7671]

@@отпирайте I mean he "tried to fix things" but really made things worse. He was trying to fix economic stagnation but created a recession. And plus before Gorbachev came to power, the Economy was doing alright (1970s-ish). The stagnation was more of a problem in the 80s really, so I don't see how him coming to power earlier would have helped.

[@отпирайте]

Hafizullah Amin because soviet union was already crumbling to the point of no return by the time gorbachev came around

[@hafizullahamin7671]

@@отпирайте debatable, but I guess I see your point.

[@khust2993]

Back then, North Koreans' English seemed more understandable and better, also American news back then are less vitriolic.

[@shiverarts8284]

Yup the two nations have seemed to change perspective on each other.. whether one likes to admit it or not. We the United States seem to hate things that are not of our traditional western view. This is very disappointing, considering that North Korea and the United States could bring about a better world peace, if they worked together. Capitalist and communist, even though opposed to each other, they are the only 2 ideologies leading the world, and have a lot of responsibility in peace time.

[@JakobMoscow]

I noticed that too! They had Europeans from the socialist countries to hep them!

[@quattro4s]

is it my eyes or the Koreans were fed better back in the 80s?

[@dauzlee2827]

North Korea was ok and have good living quality thanks to Soviet and Chinese raw material and oil subsidy and generous discount prior to the North Korean famine. When USSR collapse, cheap fuel and fertilizer import no longer exist, causing the mostly mechanized north Korean farm to collapse, combined with natural disaster, causing a famine

[@skeletonentertainment4201]

@@dauzlee2827 that's always bound to happen when a country's economy is solely dependent on foreign imports

[@JessicaGarcia-xf9wr]

@@dauzlee2827 and Kim Il sung died too and his son took over n also having bad leadership pretty much ran down the country

[@hueyfreeman1983]

Probably because they were not isolated back then

[@spaghettimon3851]

India, Nigeria, Yemen, Madagascar and Haiti are food insurance and suffering from famines then the DPRK that the Western propaganda media claimed.

[@mskiara18]

I am curious where are some of the interviewees are currently, did the people here survive the famine and are their families okay. I thank you for sharing, I enjoy seeing these news reports of the North Korean society during that era.

[@elmirabbasov3993]

At that time, thanks to China and the Soviet Union, North Korea was very rich. 1991 The Soviet Union broke up and the famine began

[@ВарттижиидидЛсзалзмэб]

They probably are because they are from Pyongyang

[@xxxdieselyyy2]

The ones interviewed are members of the nonenklatura class. They're OK.

[@breizhcatalonia1993]

I do not support the regime there. But I like the country, so some accounts: Owning a car is not forbidden in NK, its just that most of people now doesn't have the money to own a car. Back then you had to be on a waiting list and the government gave it to you freely. Or you could buy it to a particular, of course that was more expensive BUT faster. Till 1988, the DPRK had higher living standards than the ROK, it wasn't always the help-needful country of today.

[@daraka1754]

Untill 1988 DPRK was just another socialist soviet-model country, with dictator. And much more normal country, not like nowadays

[@spaghettimon3851]

@@daraka1754 The leaders of the DPRK are elected.

[@copyrighttests5987]

@@spaghettimon3851 yeah with an election turnout of 99.99 percent. Really?

[@rosaburgs6019]

@@copyrighttests5987 elections are preceded by local meetings in your village about who should run to represent it in the Supreme People’s Assembly, which ensures that everyone is engaged and involved in the process

[@N3Garage]

@@spaghettimon3851 DPRK leaders are elected yes that's true except for 1. or his lineage.

[@MisterRON]

North Korea was always a repressive place, but back before the Soviet Union collapsed, it looked like a normal place to live and happier. Ever since the famine in the 90s and the steady rotting of the country from within, it’s now basically hell on earth.

[@msmaeknight]

The Soviet union collapsed?

[@TheMrpeejoe]

@@msmaeknightBro lives under a rock. Yes.

[@ysevanlee7489]

It's my first time to watch a video clip featuring North Koreans speaking English before 1990s. Awesome!

[@themagicminstrels476]

It's insane how normal they look in 1985. North Koreans now look like they are STARVING in comparison. I actually never knew North Korean people looked that healthy before.

[@jaypeedesuyo662]

North Korea during this time was heavily supported by the USSR financially and economically. They are second to Japan in terms of Industrialization and modernization in Asia. Until the collapsed of the USSR when everything went downhill.

[@abrahamlincoln8037]

@@jaypeedesuyo662 Yes. It’s no wonder how a Major Famine hit the country just years after the USSR Collapsed.

[@SC-vj4wv]

Wonder what happened all these people. Did they survive the famine? Did they die? Are they still alive? Do they still have faith in the regime? Fascinating!

[@Maréchal_John_Gaming]

Idk maybe they died on hunger in the 90s or if they survive they may have turned older or some of them are possibly executed for some reason

[@andiuptown1711]

@@Maréchal_John_Gaming You’re forgetting that these are ppl of Pyongyang..

[@dekaorange9611]

North Korea back then looks normal.

[@daraka1754]

Not like nowadays, and back then there was no malnoutrition

[@JessicaGarcia-xf9wr]

@@slushfilm his brother should of tooken power given the fact he lived over 100! Having the old standard living of Kim il sung rule

[@hueyfreeman1983]

The only difference is it wasn't isolated then

[@hueyfreeman1983]

@@nate4z Thanks to the illegal sanctions

[@dman644]

north korea was better than south korea until the the 80s

[@Takaba95]

This is north korea in 1985 and also north korea in 2085

[@Josephtorto]

I was a embassy worker fo Poland in North Korea the polish communist party wanted me to work there they give me a car was a 1982 car I worked there for 1982 to 1989

[@カワシ-t9u]

How was your experience?

[@Josephtorto]

Good

[@JessicaGarcia-xf9wr]

Same

[@jemb710]

"Good"? Ok.

[@theghostofspookwagen4715]

Do you have any stories or anecdotes you want to share?

[@dimidas2580]

I remember before North Korea had a strong economy but now is in a turm of downfall

[@swedhgemoni8092]

Red Star East, to your memory eternal despite all that happened afterwards. May you rise to become the guiding light you once were again.

[@jano4197]

3:22 ''Grind on me!...''

[@yokolee5243]

People looked a lot more healthier back then now

[@jovanlopez5284]

All thanks to the USSR 😢

[@GKerim]

İt was alot better back then :(

[@WasBlind_NowISee]

Their uniforms havent changed one bit. Sad. Hes gotta have the record for the longest hand-me-down

[@vengeance5020]

Their English so good.

[@timornoscommovet1111]

1:16 That is wrong. Romania's Ceausescu even copied Kim as best as he could until his execution in 1989. And Albania's Enver Hoxha also had a strong personality cult (although he died in the year, when this documentary was broadcasted)

[@commandersykes5392]

When NK was a normal communist country

[@sc9881]

How? Everything weird about North Korea today was around then as well, perhaps even more so. The state was just better at providing for basic needs.

[@commandersykes5392]

@@sc9881 At that time North Korea still advocated Marxism-Leninism, and the spiritual core of today's North Korea has become a de facto Korean traditional Confucian monarchy society, only using Stalinism as a ruling tool.

[@commandersykes5392]

@@sc9881 North Korea abandoned the ideology of communism in the 1980s, and its spiritual core is the ultra-conservative North Korean traditional social order, only using a Stalinist approach as a tool. So today's North Korea is in fact a former communist country. There is also China, which is also a de facto ex-communist country today, but is in fact a conservative state capitalist state, despite the ruling party's claim to being a communist.

[@sc9881]

@@commandersykes5392 Without wanting to split hairs, I’d say it’s still fundamentally a communist country but one that very selectively draws upon or manipulates Confucian values like filial piety or loyalty to the ruler (though it did this before the 80s as well). I do see what you mean though, and with the unintended emergence of a free market since the economic collapse of the 90s, that puts it further from a traditional communist country.

[@misterakt]

WOW, it is incredible to see how much North Korea has changed in the last forty years

[@christopherkelly577]

"It is not just because he was the son of the Great Leader". It is though, really. And will be. Eternal Kim Dynsatic command of the whole nation.

[@АццкийСотона-л3з]

i heard his Sung is Il

[@wallflower1852]

12 Years later, millions of people will die from starvation.

[@worldsgreatestdude1784]

I feel like North Korea was kinda forgotten till the Cold War ended & it became one of the last relics

[@user-cvbnm]

This was just as South Korea surpassed the North

[@DonJuanMarco1994]

My goodness, the North Koreans of the 80s are more healthier than the North Koreans of today.

[@김스탈인]

They look happy

[@sangwoohan2649]

북한 안 망하고 정말 오래 버틴다. 신기해!

[@yaquishredtastic_9867]

Dab on those reactionary haters thooo

[@КонстантинУстиновичЧерненк-ъ7ъ]

ужас... бедные люди... 🤔🤔🤦🏻🤦🏻😭😭

[@curtingdebaptismcurtgolp262]

#Pyongyangolphin83

[@mrparkerdan]

North Korea has only gotten better since 1985 😊

[@MrCHAIRMANOFTHEBORED]

It looks like North Korea had invited Richard Simmons in for an exercise session to entertain Kim IL Sung, the kids school uniforms look like something you'd see at a North Korean version of McDonald's, Wendy's, Burger King or KFC