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[Fniff]

Well, you know how Europe is less extreme then the other continents. Belarus is just less exciting then North Korea.

[Owlbread]

I'm sure that the sources which are read by dear comrade Owlbread are more reliable than mine, though.

Forgive me for my cheekiness, but I should say that as Fniff has put it - by European standards Belaus is our North Korea.

I love how indignant you get when anyone ever makes an unfair comparison of Belarus, yet you regularly compare the West to Nazi Germany. Although I must say there's been less of that recently and I thank you for your restraint.

[Sheb]

Well, it's still an unfair comparison. It's like saying that Greece is Europe's Zimbabwe.

[Mr. Strange]

Well, it's still an unfair comparison. It's like saying that Greece is Europe's Zimbabwe.

This is just asking to be used...

[Guardian G.I.]

The most North Korean-like country in the former USSR and probably the whole of Eurasia was Turkmenistan under the rule of Saparmurat Niyazov, also known as "Turkmenbashi". He was well known for his highly eccentric personal decrees, intensive monument building in the capital Ashgabat financed with money from oil and gas exports and a very ridiculous cult of personality. When Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow became President of Turkmenistan after Niyazov's death, the country became a run-of-the-mill Central Asian authoritarian state, but it's still pretty much isolated.

EDIT: A typical Turkmenistani TV news bulletin from June 2014

[10ebbor10]

Turkmenistan is not in europe though.

[Baffler]

The most North Korean-like country in the former USSR and probably the whole of Eurasia was Turkmenistan under the rule of Saparmurat Niyazov, also known as "Turkmenbashi". He was well known for his highly eccentric personal decrees, intensive monument building in the capital Ashgabat financed with money from oil and gas exports and a very ridiculous cult of personality. When Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow became President of Turkmenistan after Niyazov's death, the country became a run-of-the-mill Central Asian authoritarian state, but it's still pretty much isolated.

EDIT: A typical Turkmenistani TV news bulletin from June 2014

That guy was about as close to Tropico's own El Presidente as anyone in real life can get.

Edit: Except maybe the bunker guy from Albania.

[Owlbread]

I think the funniest story about Turkmenbashi for me was either the one where he renamed bread after his mother, or when he decreed that an ice palace be built in Ashgabat (which is in the middle of the desert), and after the plans to build the ice palace fell through due to the obvious reasons he decided to settle on a large ice rink instead.

[RedKing]

And then there was his book -- which replaced everything from school textbooks to first aid manuals and which he demanded be treated on par with the Quran. When mosques refused, their imams were jailed and the mosques bulldozed.

Oh, and he outlawed gold teeth and lip-syncing. So he did have THAT going for him.

[Fniff]

Yep, he wrote a book he demanded everyone read... which he wrote despite the fact he couldn't read.

[Sinistar]

A typical Turkmenistani TV news bulletin from June 2014

At first I thought I was just watching some typical, kitsch-y intro not unusual for any state-sponsored TV channel.

Then the madness starts at 1:35.

WHY IS EVERYONE HOLDING A BOOK

WHY IS EVERYONE DOING THE SAME EXACT POSE AS THE GUY BEFORE

WHY IS EVERYONE STANDING IN FRONT OF EITHER SOME JUMBO REGIONAL PICTURE OR PICTURE OF BELOVED LEADER

WHAT EPISODE OF MONTHY PYTHON IS THIS AND WHY DON'T I REMEMBER EVER SEEING IT

Except maybe the bunker guy from Albania.

I quite like this description of dear comrade Hoxha.
I like it a lot.

[olemars]

Much like this thread, Kim Jong-Un has been absent for a surprisingly long time.

[Sheb]

I've just seen on the NYTimes website that North Korean TV annouced the Dear Leader "isn't feeling well".

[Darvi]

Oh gods it's happening isn't it?

He's undergoing surgery to become the mega-Kim.

[smjjames]

I've just seen on the NYTimes website that North Korean TV annouced the Dear Leader "isn't feeling well".

Could just be a cold or a stomach bug.

Okay, it's more than that because whatever it is, it's bad enough to force him to not attend a major state meeting and hasn't been seen in public for at least three weeks.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/26/world/asia/north-korea-kim-absent/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

Inb4 he dies and his wife/fiance becomes queen regent because his child and heir is still a baby.

Yes, I just said queen regent. The Kim dynasty is a hereditary monarchy in all but name.

Although, I don't know how legitimate his heir is viewed over there and it doesn't seem like his fiance would be the type to handle the reigns of the government. More likely what will happen is some sort of military coup and chaos.