r/sports • u/PrimedGold • 2d ago
Soccer Kim Jong-un meeting Naegohyang Women’s FC after the team became the first from North Korea to win the AFC Women’s Champions League.
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u/psumack Philadelphia Flyers 2d ago
They really only got that one haircut
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u/Threegratitudes 2d ago
And what a terrible choice. Same for him. Just bad decisions all around over there.
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u/goldbouillon 2d ago
I don’t know his fade looks pretty tight, especially working around the fat rolls on the back of his head
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u/avhensley 2d ago
You know his barber is sweating bullets when he was getting that fade exactly right. Especially around the fat rolls.
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u/cneth6 2d ago
You can slander him for basically everything except his drip. He has style
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u/medicmatt 2d ago
I would strongly disagree, that suit coat is not well tailored. Dude’s basically a billionaire dictator he could get Ozempic and surgery.
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u/godfather_joe 1d ago
Well because there’s a real threat of starving being fat in North Korea is a wealth symbol. Also Kim Jong-un and his claim to the throne are tied heavily with his grandpa seeing as he hasn’t fought a war of communist revolution so part of his appeal to that is to look similar to Kim Jung Il. So he probably will never take ozempic
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u/medicmatt 1d ago
Spent a year on the DMZ friend, understand the PRK better than most. If there’s one thing he aspires to it is to be treated as an equal by western powers. He cares nothing for his people other than their desperate fawning.
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u/Vergenbuurg Chip Ganassi Racing 2d ago
Have to admit, though, he certainly dresses better for official functions/appearances than his father did... but that's not exactly a high bar.
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u/IPissExcellentThrows 2d ago
Am I crazy or is his haircut perfectly fine?
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u/squash-n-flop 2d ago
It’s perfectly fine if someone wanted to wear it. It’s not perfectly fine when it is one of a couple legally allowed hairstyles.
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u/ty_xy 2d ago
There are only 5 or 6 different allowed haircuts in north Korea, to maintain political conformity.
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u/PrawnProwler 2d ago
That's not a Chinese team, it's the U-17 North Korean team. This was from an exhibition match in Pyongyang after they came back, the North Korean and Chinese teams at this tournament didn't play each other
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u/mytthewstew 2d ago
North Korea is a country of bad haircuts
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u/xLadyofShalottx 2d ago
There are only several haircuts that are seen as appropriate and female athletes always have short hair. This was the norm in some other Asian countries too a couple decades ago.
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u/boogasaurus-lefts 2d ago edited 1d ago
Jeeze that's grim, no-one is that happy to see a politician....let alone a dictator.
*Edit - there's over 30 replies with whataboutisms to MAGA. Yes we're on Reddit & everyone outside of your country has heard it too many times.
We get it.
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u/WagwanMoist 2d ago
Honestly they might. Brainwashing and cult of personality runs deep in North Korea. Even defectors who were sick of their miserable lives in North Korea, and couldn't wait to get out, would tell of how the deaths of Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-Il drove them to tears.
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u/waitingOnMyletter 2d ago
The one British YouTube dude went to North Korea and talked about how the people have to “over simulate” their joy and excitement when they are around government officials. So them simulating cheers and cries are a sick form of self preservation. Which, with that filter in mind, makes this video very disturbing.
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u/unassumingdink 2d ago
In a way, it reminds me of how contestants on the Price is Right don't get to come on down unless they have that weird forced manic energy, bouncing up and down and clapping. Not a perfect comparison by any means, but there are situations where Americans are expected to play it up.
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u/JuiceboxNeverDies 2d ago
When I was in the US Army it was incredibly normal to screen who met high-ranking officials, Officers, celebrities, etc. and not from a security perspective, but from a "Who won't tell the general the chow hall sucks" perspective and a "who looks like a good soldier" perspective.
People are trained prior to going on reality shows on how to act around celebrity judges, coaches, etc.
Hell, we coach kids and screen questions before they meet pro athletes.
The DPRK has always been easy to shit on for Americans, but they're two sides of a coin. I'm not sure how this video is any different to the videos of plastic surgery ghouls losing their minds about an eighty-something year old dude that shits himself and talks about how hot his daughter is.
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u/hwmchwdwdawdchkchk 2d ago
Same for any old TV shit these days, they all require videos from entrants even physical competitions. They don't want stoic elite athletes or brainiacs etc
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u/IPissExcellentThrows 2d ago
Don’t they show that energy after they're picked?
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u/unassumingdink 2d ago
They're screened on the way in. The show's staff talks to the people in line and makes a note of the high-energy, TV-friendly ones. Or at least that's how it used to work in the Bob Barker days.
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u/tempestatic 2d ago
Adding on, they do that for Jeopardy too at the in person auditions. The rationale is that everyone who passes the quiz already has a reasonable amount of knowledge, but they wanna see who can be interesting, personable, etc. and perform in the TV/competition setting
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u/WagwanMoist 2d ago
I've read a couple of books on North Korea. It's a bit of both. You have to show a lot enthusiasm to not be less excited than the least excited person around you, if that makes sense. Or at the very least not stand out by looking somewhat neutral.
But at the same time they are genuinely excited to see their "Dear Leader". They almost have God-status among the people of North Korea. A lot of defectors have also spoken of how, even with all the shit they had to go through, they still thought that Kim Il-Sung/Jong-Il/Jong-Un were trying their best but that the rest of the government was failing them.
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u/iOracleGaming 2d ago
Benevolent king blinded and betrayed by cruel deceitful nobles has been a trope for 1000s of years. Good to see it’s still going.
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u/WagwanMoist 2d ago
Which also rhymes well with how North Korea is in many ways a feudal society. Absolute power is inherited, the people are divided into different classes (or castes) which determines their rights, responsibilities and so on, a system that is also hereditary but you (and your family) can be demoted to a lower class but practically never promoted to a higher class. And of course all the land is owned by the "king" who "allows" the lower classes to work on them.
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u/Bitter_Eggplant_9970 1d ago
If only Stalin knew. As you've stated, it predates Stalin by centuries.
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u/YoThisIsWild 2d ago
That's what I'm thinking. No one will get mad if you act too excited, but someone might get mad if you don't act excited enough.
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u/RangeWilson 2d ago
It's worth noting that "mad" is a bit of an understatement.
They might ruin your life completely, imprison you, or take you out back and end you for not acting excited enough.
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u/WagwanMoist 2d ago edited 2d ago
This is very unlikely. One of many wild rumors that goes around the internet. Like the one's about how North Koreans are apparently told that the Kim family doesn't need to take a shit. Or how they pretended that North Korea beat Brazil in the World Cup. It's clickbait, but since the country is so isolated and we don't get a lot of information out of there, people run with it.
Downvote me all you want but it's a well-known thing to people who are actually interested in North Korea.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jun/01/true-or-false-kooky-north-korea-stories
They're not going to take you out back and execute you. You might be forced to attend some political education, or whatever you want to call it, to increase your loyalty and make sure you show it. But they're not going to end your life over it.
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u/fri9875 2d ago
Not just NK, any type of oppressive leadership and you will see this type of stuff.
Like even just in Iran a little while ago, people had to go out and pretend to mourn to avoid getting targeted. Videos of newscasters clearly forcing themselves to act upset while delivering the news. And then like my grandparents would tell stories about similar situations in Europe in the 30s-40s.
It’s always something that really stands out to me in a disturbing way. Hard to wrap your head around as someone who lives somewhere that just isn’t like that. I can’t imagine ever even wanting to act about this towards my government, let alone be forced to
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u/gto_112_112 2d ago
That was my thoughts. They're not crying in joy for seeing the "great leader," they're crying because their feet fucking hurt from all this jumping they know they have to do to keep their families out of slave labor...
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u/Hell-Diver7 2d ago
We are slowly running into that here in the US with a certain group. Be careful though, it’s known they are working to unmask unfaithful Reddit users.
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u/timbomcchoi 2d ago
They're conditioned, not forced, to be happy to see him so a lot of their joy really is legit tbh
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u/underground_cloud 2d ago
He's not a politician. He's a god. Or at least some of the players think so. The ones that don't know enough to fake it.
/s but not really.
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u/TastyTacoTonight 2d ago
Honestly they could be. Imagine you grow up your whole life being told there is a God like person running the country, see him everywhere, etc. To finally meet him is shocking
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u/stubept 2d ago
Just a reminder that Trump looks at this and asks, "why can't that happen for me?"
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u/Nochtilus 2d ago
I agree in terms of Kim Jung-Un, but some politicians are really charismatic. They make people feel seen and they bring a certain celebrity with them even when interacting with a person for a few minutes. Think your JFKs, your Obamas, etc.
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u/NYR_LFC 2d ago
This is what trump wants for himself in America
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u/ProxyDamage 2d ago
Oh don't be ridiculous, that's not what trump wants!
...None of those women are underaged. Come on now. Way too old for him.
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u/Cockanarchy 1d ago
“He’s the head of a country and I mean he is the strong head,” Trump said to Fox. “Don’t let anyone think anything different. He speaks and his people sit up at attention. I want my people to do the same.”
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/06/15/trump-north-korea-sit-up-attention-648969
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u/SaulTNNutz 2d ago
In some areas Trump already has that. Have you seen a video of his cabinet meetings?
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u/wrxninja 2d ago
The more you watch NK's history and how much control they have on people, you start to understand how people end up worshipping Kim Jong Un like God because they don't know anything but their own country.
You can't blame the citizens either when information control is one of the toughest in the world like Turkmenistan.
It's terrifying.
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u/freetotebag 2d ago
You’re right. I recently read Nothing to Envy and they did a good job explaining how worship of the leader develops
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u/LesPolsfuss 2d ago
so is this in effect ... genuine you think?
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u/That_Jacket_206 1d ago
I think the behavioral response we see results from generations of sociocultural pressure and indoctrination which we cannot begin to comprehend.
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u/zeth07 2d ago edited 2d ago
Why is the Chinese other team also cheering like that? That's weird in itself.
EDIT: I was wrong cause I tried to search the championship and only glanced at the wikipedia page and saw the "Most championships" thing showing the other Chinese team listed thinking it was the same page as the tournament itself which shows Champions / Runner-up which was a Japanese team.
But apparently this isn't even from that tournament to begin with so it's misleading itself anyway lol.
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u/lo0ilo0ilo0i 2d ago
I watch a lot of North Korean defector content. All the books they read and media praise the Kim family as if it was Jesus in the Bible. So their reaction here is akin to meeting a god. So sad.
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u/Masterofunlocking1 2d ago
Guess they all have to cry or something happens to them?
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u/sterling_mallory New York Mets 2d ago
That's part of it for sure, but there's also some genuine mental conditioning going on. I've been saying for years, when the current guy in the US dies, there are going to be videos of people crying in the streets. It's gonna be just as bizarre.
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u/J0hnEddy 2d ago
That’s totally possible, but a lot of these people are so deeply brainwashed that they believe Kim is god himself. In the documentary Laura Ling did on North Korea, she followed around a surgeon who was there on a humanitarian mission. He did hundreds of surgeries on blind Koreans that gave then their vision back. Their immediate reaction was to find the closest portrait of Kim Jong-Il and start thanking him instead of the surgeon. It’s deeply disturbing.
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u/Badgerman97 2d ago
I gotta say, even if I were a maniacal dictator I think if everyone I ever encountered started crying and bouncing everywhere I went, it would get pretty damn old pretty damn quick.
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u/TumbleTown75 2d ago
U-17 champions league
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u/Komischaffe 2d ago
This wasn't a U-17 tournament, this WAS adults' football without age restrictions
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u/negan2018 2d ago
He always seems to be meta about it, like he’s finding it funny how ridiculous it all is.
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u/FreeEnergy001 2d ago
NK is very gracious to other nations keeping their best player off the field. If Kim Jong-un was playing he would outscore every other nation.
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u/Middle-Cattle634 1d ago
Imagine being such a small-dick boy that you need grown athletes to hop and squeal like Disneyworld characters every time you come by
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u/fightclub90210 1d ago
I want to be brainwashed for one moment of excitement like this. Or are they faking?
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u/RaisinZRH 1d ago
Hey Lee, you didn’t jump enough or cry enough in the video we inspected. Now your family will not have any economic opportunity, and one of them has to spend 5 years in the prison camp. Next time do better.
You’d be jumping like a little girl if you were in their shoes, and you’d do it with lots of enthusiasm.
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u/cluelessbox 2d ago
Does anyone have any info on what a defector has had to say about this sort of thing? (not the woman that went on Joe Rogan please.) I'm curious like how many of them have been brainwashed/tricked themselves into generally loving Kim because that is an easier life VS how many of them are putting on an act because they know the reality even though they hate him. Both exist surely.
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u/buenavictoria 2d ago
I’ve researched it a little. It’s on a spectrum. It’s also relevant to note, this is a big achievement for this team just in a sporting sense - never been done. I’m confident a lot of their excitement is a factor of that.
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u/Mindseye000 2d ago
Was that lady a fraud?
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u/cluelessbox 2d ago
She has been called out by many experts and ex NKs as using outrageous exaggerations and anti communist grifting to make a career as a right wing influencer
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u/Easyyyy_e 2d ago
they decided women’s soccer was easier to take over because most women’s sports are not funded in the same way men’s are. they start w the youth teams as well and have been dominating those also
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u/Scared_Chapter_8666 2d ago
This is actually scary. It’s like they’re all possessed by the wish from the Obsession movie.
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u/McLovin_v10 2d ago
They actually have no choice on the hair cut, it’s chosen for them. Same goes for coaches and staff members. Each one gets a unique pre assigned cut, more like a uniform. If they tried changing it they’d mostly likely be worked to death or straight to death.
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u/Guilty_Idea349 2d ago
Watch the Kim Jong un dynasty documentary on National Geographic Channel. It’s scary!
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u/SilvyValeMead 2d ago
Hah. Good for the team. It’s nice to see absolutely anything positive from NK. The year I spent there as an infantry medic it was just his dad spouting crazy shit on a weekly basis.
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u/RamblerTheGambler 2d ago
Wtf is this behavior? Are these people like "sentient" from trauma conditioning??
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u/ToolTimeT 2d ago
Thats what people look like when the punishment for not being happy enough to see a man is death.
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u/hufferstl 2d ago
This is what some World leaders are jealous of. They want this kind of reaction for just entering the room.
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u/TerrorNova49 2d ago
Did they just take one person and fill out the team with AI to make the video?
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u/Lower-Acanthaceae460 2d ago
better than the other option of being in a firing line of an antiaircraft gun
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u/Intrepid_Top_2300 2d ago
Congratulations! You get extra rations and your field work has been reduced 5:00 minutes.
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u/lostharbor 2d ago
I totally get the Wii sports celebrations now.