Shameful public display of Chinese forced child-labor
 

This is a MUST see! Absolutely outrageous! :mad:

YouTube - [Guitar] Cha Sun Chon et al. - "Our Kindergarten Teacher" {DPRK Music}

What were you looking for when you found that?

Buddy of mine emailed it to me. Pretty amazing, eh?

North Korean, not Chinese.

One one hand, it's amazing they can play like that. On the other I wonder if they are allowed any sort of self expression in playing.

Just like the Lawrence Welk Orchestra. And Yes, they are amazing.

Titles are in Korean and not Chinese ... facial features are more Korean than Chinese .... just saying.

Aside from that good guitar playing ..

Now knowing that they're NK kids, sadly, I can't imagine.

That's exactly what I have said about another NK video of a single girl playing. The above video clearly illustrates that point. There is one girl that seems enthusiastic, but the rest show no emotion. They just play. There parts are played exactly the same too. Too perfect.

If these kids were allowed to express themselves, they could be amazing.

Wouldn't ukulele's be better proportioned? The (huge) guitars contrasted to the children looks ridiculous.

NK won't allow the importation of ukuleles that sound like guitars and they don't know how to make their own.

Do you think they use Super Glue to keep the smiles on their face? Sounds good but makes me feel sad for these kids who probably have no spare time and no outlet for self expression. BTW....why are the boys wearing stockings too?

"OK kids, Dear Leader needs a new quartet for propaganda purposes. As you may have noticed, there are 5 of you. So after this audition one of you will be taken backstage and shot. Good luck tonight!"

Interestingly the music sounded Russian to me.

Amazing! And all that but it smacks of politics. Am I wrong?

They look like little robots, who will go bezerk and become serial killers one day...

Guitar playing bobble heads

Shameful public display of Chinese forced child-labor

Your headline is quite National Enquire-esque.

Do you think they were threatened in order to practice? Maybe beaten. Or perhaps they were handpicked from thousands of kids, then sent to a music school that would enhance their natural talent? Other than their relatively young ages, is this very different from the system we use in the US? OTOH, we should be placing more emphasis on music and the arts throughout the school years. There's a positive correlation between art, music and various factors in overall learning and understanding.

Sherwood

I recently watch a National Geographic episode about North Korea. Very eye opening. The people there treat Kim Jong Il like a god.

Looks like the whole show is on Youtube:

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The stuff we get to see on tv about N. Korea doesn't even scratch the surface. Read Aquariums of Pyongyang to learn about the stuff no one would even be able to read aloud on tv here.

+1

Although I feel sorry for anyone living in NK.

I don't have access to Youtube at work, but can anyone find a clip from that HBO show about 5+ years ago showing the 5 year old "beauty pageant" girls and their stage moms. That was more shocking than these kids.

Bobble head dolls.

Good info on NK. The voiceover NG reporter is journalist Lisa Ling. Her younger sister (Laura) was one of two journalists captured and arrested on the N. Korean border in '09 and eventually released. Made the headlines when it happened.

NK dictator, KJI is a paranoid meglamaniac. His people are brainwashed.

Sherwood

Lisa Ling had to know she was totally snowed in that report. I would imagine she had to agree not to add much commentary after she got back as a condition of getting access to NK. That report didn't scratch the surface of the labor camps, prisoner experiments, rampant starvation and redirecting of foreign food aid to the military that is a daily part of life there. I've been to a few press conferences held by NK defectors and the stories they told would have to be censored even in this country to be allowed on tv. So disgusting and vile were they.

Ling reported on what she experienced on that trip, a state-sponsored medical project, in order to gain information via the limited access they had. Filtering factual data is not what journalism is about (you're accusing her of being a shill?). While one would wish for more first hand accounts of NK's ills, you're imagining what this trip was supposed to reveal within the context of an eye care trip. It's just one 45 min. facet of NK, not THE story.

Sherwood

I saw the piece a few years ago. While it's not her fault she got a totally sanitized, government-guided tour, she certainly saw things she didn't report. IIRC, her sister was forced to sign something before her release promising to not say anything bad about her stay there. You can't go there and not notice the malnourished people. And I can't imagine doing a report on the country and not mentioning the bizarro world personality cult of the Kim Dynasty and then contrast all their supposed greatness with the fact that they cannot provide the most basic services to their people, let alone the irony that they barely survive on handouts from the countries they threaten the most.

Not sure what agreements her sister signed had any affect on this report. Is this conjecture on your part or just a guess?

I thought the bizarre godlike-worship of KJI was pretty well covered and demonstrated and the effect on the people. I don't recall the hidden cameras were approved by the NK govt "minders". Amazing how indoctrination can change one's perception, referring to the NK people.

Sherwood

Not at all. I think Lisa's report was done long before her sister got caught there. I know one of those idiots who got held there had to sign some kind of promise like that as a condition of release. Can't remember if it was one of those bible nutbags or those "journalists."