I’ve made headway simply by being non-apologetic. “The DPR Korea is a nation which forges its own path. They do not interfere in the affairs of other nations, nor do they let any other nation interfere with them. They do not let America or anybody else dictate to them their past, their present, or their future. As a democratic citizen, you are free not to like the path the Koreans have chosen, but it is a strong as well as a difficult one, and nobody asked you to walk it. Your main obligation toward the Korean people right now is to ensure your government minds its own business.” People seem to respect that.

Its important to highlight the slander and continuous violence brought against them. The one-sided aggression.

NK is the legitimate successor of the Korean People’s Republic, the south was literally the americans putting their own citizen and japanese collaborators on the throne. North Korea has a protestant presence since its foundation.

Bring attention to the continuous crimes committed against NK, despite north koreans NEVER having attacked the west. The Nuclear bombs on Japan killed 22k korean slave labourers. One in seven nuclear bombing victims in Hiroshima was of korean descent.

The US partook in the Jeju massacre killing up to 100k people, South Korea killed 200k communists causing NK to invade, the us then killed 25% of NK population and destroyed 75% of its infrastructure.

The north lacked agricultural lands (historically located in the south or china’s dongbei region) and so is very food insecure and needs petroleum agricultural machinery and imports from Russia to nourish itself. The collapse of the soviet union and america’s sanction on oil imports (as well as sabotaging NK agriculture by paying saboteurs to cut off the tails of laboring animals), caused massive starvation. Modern UN sanctions have also “violated” their own standards and had an adverse effect on the populace.

Sometimes I’ll bring up how fucked they were by the Korean War and how their entire foreign policy was shaped by the violence they experienced.

I know you’re trying to persuade liberals, but these arguments seem fairly liberal. Mind you, I’m as far from wanting to see the DPRK color revv’d as you can imagine.

‘I like positive depictions of North Korean people/Korean culture’

“I enjoy seeing romantic perspectives on imperial Japan.”

‘Regardless of what you feel about any place’s government, it is always good to see an increase in standards of living’

“You don’t have to like Andrew Jackson but think of all those settlers with free land!”

any remarks or analysis about sanctions, for example talking about how sanctions don’t actually accomplish the popularly ascribed goals, but instead directly target the most vulnerable people in a society (with the stated goal of “making the people dislike their government” as if that is not the most mask-off thing politicians say)

“It’s good to remind people the long history of the Jewish people’s oppression. Imagine trying to slander Israel when Iran wants to see them gone.”

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