FatTonyDaBoss

Vice reports snuck into N. Korean labor camps in Russia and were told that they too were committed to 10 years of "labor service". It seems to be a magic number.

My questions are about the Korean language and how it developed since the creation of the DMZ / cessation of free travel on the peninsula:

1) Has a distinct dialect of Korean evolved in the North? Put another way - can you tell that someone is from the North based on the way they sound while speaking;

2) Does the North use different words to refer to things than the South? E.g. - in America, parts of the country refer to soda as pop;

3) Does the North's version (if there is one) omit specific words or radically re-define them to serve their political purpose. E.g. does the word for "liberty" mean something other than individual autonomy?

Thanks!

Stories of famine in N. Korea are fairly common, and I have heard stories of groups of abandoned children running around savaging for food. My questions are related to the food stability in the North:

1) Are the food shortages that bad? Do you know if the problem is generally a lack of food or is it a lack of nutrition. To clarify, are people routinely hungry or are the people simply eating the same thing on a regular basis and are therefore missing out on vital nutrients;

2) Do the people, particularly those outside of Pyongyang, receive food assistance from the DPRK or aid groups;

3) Are NGOs / aid groups permitted to operate in the DPRK to provide food and basic assistance to the people;

4) If a war were to break out ~or~ if there was a disruption in the relationship between Pyongyang and the rural areas, how likely is it that people would starve en mass;

5) What is the relationship between Pyongyang and the rural parts of the country? Does the capital city pull resources from the rural parts (i.e. is it dependent on the agricultural labor and products of the rural parts)? Is it a one-sided relationship (does Pyongyang return any goods or services to the rural parts of the nation?