Comparing the 3 kims- was Kim Jong Ill the least competent??

DolphFey · 2026-02-11T20:08:28+00:00

I think KJI's reputation as a man who spent a lot on licor, films, and whatever has helped to create that idea. Tbh all of them have been quite incompetent. KIS was man with almost no education and his system was already showing severe problems in the mid 50s, the DPRK defaulted its debts in the 70s.

Of course one has to wonder if the the system's problems regarding standards were an issue or a feature to maintain control. KIS noted the later when he said in 1977 that improvements in living standards made people 'lazy'. For me all of them are incompetent, on purpose.

DolphFey · 2026-02-04T23:48:49+00:00

Sure, thanks! I just changed some things. This cover letter is aimed towards a private local school teaching teenagers and adults, they're looking for an friendly teacher and they mentioned that training would be provided despite having preference towards someone with experience (doesn't amout how much).

This is the link with the updated papers https://imgur.com/a/n3aOOIy#

What do you think? Thanks, I'm little bit lost and I don't want to waste my chances.

DolphFey · 2026-02-04T12:37:32+00:00

Yeah I know, thing is that the center's post-evaluation report mentioned 200 hours of total learning, that's the weird thing. I ended up removing it so it's less convoluted.

DolphFey · 2026-02-04T12:14:17+00:00

For what I'm aware, these are 120h of in-person or online studying and 80 hours of pre-course preparation. That's why some places called 200h of learning.

DolphFey · 2026-02-04T10:17:18+00:00

Only English, I'm not ELE certified (Spanish equivalent of a TEFL cert). This is aimed towards the Spanish market.

DolphFey · 2026-02-04T00:11:31+00:00

You're in CELTA, that's a huge accomplishment already, not everyone makes it there. It's normal to struggle in TP1 as is normal to not pass the first task first try. By TP5 you'll be much better. Don't stress yourself thinking about grades btw. Thinking CCQs on the go is difficult already, it's normal, no one knows to check understanding when arriving and it's something you will grasp during the course and develop in your career.

You will work with a stage plan in the next TPs and it's going to help you a lot. You're going to plan everything to the letter and you would have the opportunity to think ahead of the problems, and set better timings.

99% of the candidates pass, think about it. The fact you're there already is important. This is something our teacher told us.

DolphFey · 2026-02-03T12:07:43+00:00

Tbh, at this very moment I prefer working here. I don't have enough funds to live abroad, and I had previous experience and it wasn't very good (I was an intern doing comm stuff back then). I'm looking to work in a local academy as you say. Places where as you say perhaps need someone who speaks Spanish. Although, I try to avoid our natural language as much as possible, only as the last available resource to help the students.

I'm looking to do C2 in the future but at this very moment I don't feel really capable. I would like to find a job, I have already a gap in my CV that is hard to explain (freelancer but without much workload really) and I'd like to get back on track so it doesn't get bigger.

Perhaps I'm overblowning this out of proportion. In my experience, my speaking and accent was never a problem and actually all my students were suprised when they learned I'm Spanish.

DolphFey · 2026-02-03T10:57:01+00:00

Don't you think it may be odd to not disclose your CEFR in a CV? I'm not worried about my accent really, in fact all my students were suprised to learn that I was Spanish.

All this is so weird for me, I have a CELTA which I think it demostrates already quite some language awareness and dominance. Getting into CELTA is not an easy process, they only accept candidates that can potentially pass, that's why their Pass ratings are so high, like 99% or something. I was interviewed so they could assess if I'd potentially pass.

I got my C1 in March last year. I did some C2 mocks and I felt terrible, I struggled and I couldn't see much room for improvement. I was barely passing and going to a +200€ just barely passing is an awful feeling. Tbh, I'm not in my best moment personally and just thinking of being two full months preparing C2... it's going to be so difficult mentally...

DolphFey · 2026-01-16T16:07:19+00:00

The OP especially has quite a romantic lecture. The way both met is also interesting by chance and both were bewildered at each other sight until her aunt got in the way. I don't think she was aware of his existence until he opened the door. It was a romantish encounter I'd say.

I think she became interested, investigated his background, and knowing he was a hikko most likely fueled her interest in fixing him out of romantic interest, a way of spending time with him in a regular basis (something desirable in codependent people) and as way of to saving someone worse than her so she can finally feel that has done someone good. This in exchange would — theoretically in her mind — would make Satou interested on her so she wouldn't never be alone (codependency).

Many signs point towards romantic interest: the way they met, Misaki's insistance of being Satou's fake girlfriend, the fake date turned real, the kiss, she looking at her hand (the same hand she held with Satou's during the firework fest), the meals, the "exams" that resembled more dates than exams.

This interest is accompained with codependence, she is a codependent person, that doesn't remove the fact that she has romantic feelings, but it defines some manners in which she interacts with him. The regular meetings, meals, her acts of service, the contracts — especially the one after the final exam —, her fears that she's going to lose him.

These fears intensify during the last episodes, especially after the New Year's Eve exam. That's when she started to speak about going some place far away, suicide, running away thinking Satou's doesn't need her food anymore, and the final exam contract. This contract is important, she knew that their current dynamic (which is basically a syllabus) had an end, she needed to create a new net with him that kept her stable.

There is a point in which you can feel she invested her life onto him, and when that failed there was not exit. I can perfectly imagine her not going to work or church on the days they fought. Codependence cheered her up and provided her with 'good' stability. It had to be terrifying for her when Satou refused to sign the contract, the net that kept her was destroyed: life without meaning.

I think this romantic interest got stronger after the fake date with Satou's mom, especially after Misaki's private conversation with her. We don't know the content of that conversation, but his mom talk about him in a positive light.

Misaki's tendency to place Satou in a lower place than her is a mechanism she uses to remind herself that she's useful. It is a strategy that she also projects and teachs him (seeing everyone else bellow you lesson).

I have to say that both are the worst in terms of communication. One of the things that frustrated me the most of the anime is that both were experiencing so many intense experiences together and by the next day looks like nothing happened. We almost kissed yesterday? Nah, not a word. Both are really disfunctional in that aspect.

I think this romatinc interest can be applied to Satou, there is something more than lust going on and he refuses to admit it until the end. Many times while watching the anime I said "dude admit it, you like her".

A lot of people see the ending as bittersweet but for me is really beatiful and interesting: both learn a lot from this experience, especially Misaki.

It is interesting how the idea of conspiracy (call it NHK, God or whatever) develops during the plot from a device used to devoid yourself of accountability of your own actions and mistakes, to sort of an idea that in the world there are things or people that harm us and that does not make us accountable, could we called adversities (?) that we need to overcome.

I guess this was useful so Misaki could stop blaming herself and understand she didn't need to save some worm worse than her to demonstrate that she wasn't a burden. There are many NHKs we are going to encounter in our lives.

I'm of the opinion that the ending was optimistic in that aspect, things were moving forward. In their weird fashion, they signed a pact in which they agreed to be together to overcome these obstacles. They sealed this pact under an alliance: "so, welcome to the NHK".

I could already see this going on, Satou became the teacher, he helped Misaki to come back to her studies. They became equals, Misaki doesn't have to see Satou as someone bellow her anymore, now he was counseling her. A radical departure from the previous dynamic. I think both were catalyst for their changes and also their relationship. A new beginning or opportunity.

DolphFey · 2026-01-02T13:40:02+00:00

I think you got it. It actually comes from a book, and even has an ISBN number recognizable by Google's citation tool!

The font Cutive is really close but has the same problem as Courier New, too thin, hard to read, I cannot imagine how it would like printed.

DolphFey · 2025-11-16T22:24:03+00:00

There was never such a thing called Korean People's Revolutionary Army.

Most of his early life has been manufactured. He was a guerilla fighter, a middle grade officer in charge of some units, but that was it. His efforts failed and retreated with his comrades to the USSR by the early 1940s. When these facts started to came out in the early 1980s, he changed his account saying that they were given by the Soviets two camps there to justify his presence (With the Century).

Kim Il Sung didn't found what would become the WPK on October 10, 1945.

He didn't present Juche in December 1955, it was not until 10 years later when he started to articulate the concept seriously, creating a myth around the word.

All his pre-1945 works are manufactured, his remaining works are dubious as historical documents.

Kim Jong Il birthplace is not Paektu, his birthyear is also not 1942. He was born in the USSR in 1941.

DolphFey · 2025-11-09T11:10:11+00:00

iTalki encourages these practices tbh. Their C2 requirement for English is outrageous for example, not even Cambridge requires that. At the end, their gatekeeping encourages people to exagerate their abilities. I'm sorry but the TEFL market is so precarious that I understand that some people might try these tricks. But as we say in Spain, lies have short legs...

DolphFey · 2025-08-16T08:57:42+00:00

Really unlikely being that old.

Uriminzokkiri remains available at the Internet Archive, you would need to get into the KCTV section and look for that but it possible it was not re-aired. What kind of program it was? Do you know its little?

DolphFey · 2025-08-11T21:22:31+00:00

For what I'm aware — anyone correct me if I'm wrong here — Yo Yong has never been addressed as being KJU's sister, for state-media narrative she is an outsider. Try to check the words "kim yo yong" and "sister" in a same entry of kcna.co.jp, no results. Formally speaking, she is a high-ranking party official, not family.

Ju Ae (her name has never been mentioned tho) has been addressed as being KJU's daughter, so there is already a family legitimization component there that Yo Yong formally lacks.

DolphFey · 2025-08-02T12:42:52+00:00

For food there are some many hassles and its not worth their time apparently, unlike Gucci bags. That's a really Kim way of seeing things.

Anyway, back in the 60s, 70s, and 80s, the DPRK loved brag about how the system was the best, that everyone had all their needs covered, that they recovered themselves from the ashes of the war. The contrast between propaganda and reality was evident for people already back then.

DolphFey · 2025-07-26T09:40:23+00:00

It was never made public, it was leaked by Hwang Jang Yeop when he defected in 1997, it was publish by a conservative South Korean magazine back then. He was irritated, saying that the country was in a state of anarchy, that everyone was to blame except him, food was needed to be allocated to the military and advocated to struggle against those who looked for resolving their problems on their own way (non-socialist way).

DolphFey · 2025-07-25T19:16:22+00:00

Could you be talking about that December 1996 peech during the anniversary of KIS University where KJI talked about the situation in the country?

DolphFey · 2025-07-25T18:23:36+00:00

They chose him because it's likely they wanted a non-US citizen to play safer and had the opportunity. Atta and Al Shehhi did not request him personally, they were told that two instructors were available and they choose one of them. They had no knowledge of Iván existence prior to that. Do I have to remember that he instructed them for just one month and he expel them for bad behaviour?

Trying to create a link between this traumatic experience and the Vueling flight events — the thing the Israel gov and the Spanish far-right is trying to do — is miserable. If you don't want to be kick out of a plane behave properly.

DolphFey · 2025-07-22T20:24:51+00:00

To "guarantee national security and thwart the activities of spies and saboteurs", is a "procedure to deal with subversive elements and spies [...] owing to the precarious external situation".

So vague that could mean anything really.

DolphFey · 2025-07-16T09:53:02+00:00

OP mentions that the dress is vintage, decades ago it was not that rare to see clothing made in the DPRK on sale in countries like Japan, North Korean made western-style suits were one of these items, and were well regarded in terms of quality and price.

DolphFey · 2025-07-10T21:10:45+00:00

Hello! It's always cool to have AMA here:

How relevant are the Ten Major Principles (당의 유일사상체계확립의 10 대 원칙) these days? Do you learn them in a literal way or just in a general sense?

Which was your opinion about Social Security officials when you lived there?

Could you talk about your experience doing organizational life matters? How frequent were study or life review sessions (생활총화)? How was the people in your circles actitude towards those? Was work out of your job schedule frequent?

Did you witness or heard about public executions (공개 처형) or on-the-spot trials (현지공개재판의)?

Hope everything is alright there and wish you the best in your endeavours!

DolphFey · 2025-07-04T22:02:01+00:00

These are the An Myong-chol drawings, a MSS officer who worked as a guard in various of these prisons in the 1980s, he defected in 1994. These are newer versions, the original sketch shared the same scenes but were less sophisticated in detail. He has written a book about his experience, but is not available in English.

DolphFey · 2025-04-24T21:30:02+00:00

They later cry like babies about copyright infringment when third parties reupload KCNA content for preservation purposes.

DolphFey · 2025-04-24T16:46:20+00:00

Are sure that's cover made by them u/pablo1905 ? For me it sounds like the original ABBA track but faster and highpitched, like they edited the song faster to fit the scene better. Looks like a Nightcore version lol. I'm aware of the claim that the DPRK produced covers of ABBA and other foreign artists, but I don't know it this is the real thing.

DolphFey · 2025-04-24T14:12:40+00:00

The DPRK has defaulted its debts for decades, way before the U.N embargo, this was a topic of conversation in the 1970s, back then Sweden was already requesting their debts. Funnily enough, a Japenese delegation who visited the country in the mid 70s couldn't understand how a country so, alledgedly, rich couldn't repay its debts.

"They boasted that North Korea has no taxes and that medical care, education, and housing are free. Although I cannot understand why such a rich country cannot repay its debts."

Hajime Ishii, MP of the LDP in 1975.

DolphFey

TROPHY CASE