An official atlas of North Korea

North Korean war narrative & status of the peninsula

• Several commenters dispute the article’s claim that North Korea insists the whole peninsula “has remained united” under its rule.
• Described prevailing view: both Koreas see the war as ongoing, each claiming to be the sole legitimate government for the entire peninsula, while recognizing a hostile rival controls the other half.
• North Korea’s recent constitutional change explicitly calling South Korea a “hostile state” is cited as evidence they recognize it as a separate state de facto.
• Comparisons are drawn to PRC/ROC (China–Taiwan) dual claims and to both Koreas teaching the “country” as the entire peninsula while not accepting the other’s legitimacy.

Propaganda, doublethink, and authoritarian parallels

• Commenters invoke “1984” and “doublethink” to explain how people can live with obvious contradictions when dissent is punished.
• One view: most citizens know official narratives are wrong but avoid drawing explicit consequences to stay safe.
• Parallels are drawn to Soviet practices, modern US partisan media, and general patterns of authoritarian loyalty tests and “purity spirals.”

Map design, rail focus, and technical oddities

• The atlas appears heavily rail-centric: red lines often match railways, sometimes obscure or long-closed ones, but with many omissions and inaccuracies.
• Some maps seem decades out of date; others mix rail and major roads in confusing ways.
• There are puzzling features like a nonexistent Polish river and rail in Iceland, suggesting bad data rather than deliberate “copyright traps.”
• Centering the world map on the Pacific is defended as standard in East Asia and Australia, not evidence of special narcissism.

Disputed territories and Israel/Palestine

• The atlas reflects geopolitical stances: Palestine labeled as occupied, Western Sahara and other disputes highlighted; Arunachal Pradesh and Kashmir shown in non‑Indian ways.
• Israel is reportedly treated as “nonexistent,” which commenters tie to an anti‑imperialist, pro‑Palestinian line and broader Cold War–era alignments.

Humanitarian situation and intervention

• Commenters discuss North Koreans’ suffering but argue that military intervention risks massive civilian casualties and great‑power war, so outsiders largely tolerate the status quo.

Interest in the encyclopedia artifact

• Multiple readers express strong interest in a full CD image of the atlas/encyclopedia, seeing it as a rare window into North Korean state world‑view and priorities.