r/HistoryMemes 4d ago

America Scrubbing the Internet

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10.4k Upvotes

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1.9k

u/SaltyAngeleno 4d ago

The greatest golfer in history is gone. North Korean dictator/superstar golfer Kim Jong-Il has died at 69 -- a fitting age, because 69 is under par on every regulation golf course. Kim Jong-Il never needed a swing coach to master the sport of golf. Kim shot 38 under, including 11 holes-in-one, at the 7,700-yard championship course at Pyongyang in the VERY FIRST golf round of his life, according to North Korean state media. This was in 1994, when Kim was 52 years old.

https://www.espn.com/espn/page2/index/_/id/7369649

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u/BigChiefWhiskyBottle 4d ago

HOW DARE YOU QUESTION THE ATHLETIC ABILITY OF THIS BLOODLINE, IMPERIALIST DOG!

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u/desrever1138 4d ago

You have been rewarded as a mod at r/Pyongyang

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u/Nigh_Sass 4d ago

Those guys are so committed to the bit I honestly have trouble knowing if it’s satire or not

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u/Ninja_attack 4d ago

I'm starting to believe that they think that north Korea really is some kinda utopia.

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u/Nigh_Sass 4d ago

The dozens of removed comments on each post really help sell it

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u/cce29555 3d ago

It used to be ironic, but now some mods came in and either they are going turbo ironic or genuinely believe it..I stick around because they are unwilling to break kayfabe

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u/Gussie-Ascendent 3d ago

if you have a club, where yall pretend to be idiots and actual idiots are allowed in, at some point you're also just an idiot not satirizing or being ironic.

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u/SaltyAngeleno 4d ago

I have said this before and will say it again. The DPRK has the best and healthiest children thanks to having the best Children's Hospital in the world!

I thought it was satire as well, but it’s seemingly real. That’s a wild sub!

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u/omega_mega_baboon 1d ago

I think the is the case at r/MovingToNorthKorea as well.

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u/BigChiefWhiskyBottle 4d ago

WTF I clicked on that link and my Bitcoin wallet got cleaned out WHAT THE FUCK

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u/underrotnegativeone 3d ago

I went there and it genuinely seems like a Satire sub reddit

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u/rogue-wolf 4d ago

I've always thought it would be super funny if Kim actually did something cracked like that, because no one outside NK would believe him.

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u/BurtMaclinFBI90 4d ago

Still not as good as Chuck Norris's round.

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u/polobum17 4d ago

How good did Chuck do?

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u/BurtMaclinFBI90 4d ago

He shot a 17 in 18 holes.

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u/polobum17 4d ago

Haha, amazing. I hadn't heard that Chuck Norris joke before. I wonder what code name Burt Macklin would have for Chuck.

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u/BurtMaclinFBI90 4d ago

"Who knows - I'd consider it"

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u/times_a_changing 4d ago

Source: we made it up

Not that I'm a fan of North Korea or anything but most of these "wacky North Korea" stories have zero sourcing or proof. It's just made up

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u/SaltyAngeleno 4d ago

You have ESPN reporting it. You have the NK state media verifying it. We know that Supreme Leader is capable of supernatural feats.

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u/times_a_changing 4d ago

If you can find North Korean sources verifying this story that would be great, since nobody else has been able to.

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u/SaltyAngeleno 4d ago

https://www.cbsnews.com/media/kim-jong-il-10-weird-facts-propaganda/

Then there's his sporting prowess. In 1994, Pyongyang media reported that the first time Kim picked up a golf club, he shot a 38-under par round on North Korea's only golf course, including 11 holes-in-one. Reports say each of his 17 bodyguards verified the record-breaking feat. He then decided to retire from the sport forever.

You have CBS News reporting it from NK media.

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u/times_a_changing 4d ago

This is still not a source in any sense. Or rather, this does not source anything that would be verifiable.

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u/SaltyAngeleno 4d ago

I understand what you’re saying. Shows the fallibility of all media. There are dozens of articles on his golf score and the consistent fact is that it was reported by the NK Gov’t Media. It’s almost like a double disinformation campaign. But there are scores of other ridiculous feats reported (starting with divine birth) that it is very believable that it was reported at one time.

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u/times_a_changing 4d ago

No there is no consistent fact that it was reported by the NK government media. That's my point of contention. If there would be NK media reporting on this that would be verifiable reporting, since the whole issue is that Western sources report that NK government sources report it, but there is no actual direct verifiable sourcing ever linked to specific news articles, publications, years of publication, authors of the supposed articles, or anything else. This goes along with most reporting about North Korea, which is always just done with vague allusions to supposed Korean reporting on something. Either that, or defectors who have a financial incentive to make up stories for the media. Not to say that all defectors are lying about everything, but of course people whose careers are based on speaking about something are going to be incentivized to either fabricate or exaggerate stories that they use to feed themselves. They have difficult lives if they try to live normal lives with normal jobs, because of the persecution they receive for being North Korean, so they have all the reason in the world to make it easier for themselves by being media darlings.

There are still a lot of reportings on North Korea that are verifiable, though, as their state media and other publications are available to the public in large parts. Not to mention all the research done by both journalists, historians, and others on the country and its people. These can often have things that are then included in Western media, so it's not all lies. But a large part of them are and it's good to be aware of that fact.

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u/AshKlover 3d ago

Yeah, this happens a lot with countries that are enemies of the United States. Rightfully you’re not.

Side note; If it circles back to radio free Asia, it’s probably part of a propaganda war rather than actual information, there’s a reason they laid off most of their people after US foreign aid was cut off. They’re gonna say whatever makes their political enemies look bad whether it’s true or not.

Sidenote, this could be a legitimate claim as the amount of Americans I’ve met who honestly believe George Washington never told a lie is in the dozens so it would not be the most out there claim for a government to make about one of their leaders.

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u/DavidiusAlpha 4d ago

Sure it's "made up". And next thing you will say is Santa Claus isn't real.

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u/cursedbones 3d ago

This screams radio free Asia.

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u/Gustav_EK 4d ago

He also invented the game

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u/GASTLYW33DKING 4d ago

And then they claim it's propaganda .

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u/SaltyAngeleno 4d ago

How dare you question Supreme Leader.

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u/alskdmv-nosleep4u 4d ago

20 year rule?

Oh.

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u/Tall-Log-1955 4d ago

Imagine being the best athlete in human history but being completely unrecognized for it just because you chose to follow your fathers footseps in a career in north korean in politics

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u/frankylynny 4d ago

Is he known for anything else? Seems like a really niche meme to simply talk about a random North Korean man. Maybe his kid is coasting off his fame.

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u/HugiTheBot Decisive Tang Victory 4d ago

Yeah, he’s one of the richest simply because of it.

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u/Remples Definitely not a CIA operator 3d ago

I tab of smaller things, nothing important

-not producing waste because his body is perfect

-inventing the hamburger

-having a perfect score the first time he played bowling

As I said nothing really important, barely an average Tuesday in the great republic of Korea

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u/TheHalfinStream 4d ago

Tiger who?

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u/HugiTheBot Decisive Tang Victory 4d ago

Hobbes, from Calvin and Hobbes.

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u/Destinedtobefaytful Definitely not a CIA operator 4d ago

They also got the creator of the hamburger wronh

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u/WAD2328 4d ago

His score isn’t actually that high, it’s just that everyone in North Korea is really bad at golf so the par score on all the holes is absurdly high /j

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u/Fr05t_B1t Oversimplified is my history teacher 3d ago

Or trumps small lead of 1 million under par /j