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http://deadspin.com/5564578/north-korean-soccer-fans-are-actually-chinese-volunteers
****in el oh el
North Korea's World Cup debut elicited touching stories about the ragtag group of soccer fans "hand-picked" by the Communist regime to support their squad in South Africa. Turns out they were hand-picked for their skill at not being Korean.
The UK's Telegraph reported last month that China had already recruited actors and provided them with tickets to South Africa, so they could go and pretend to root for their sort-of allies. No North Korea citizen could possibly get a visa to leave the country and even if they could, they could never afford the bus trip to Pretoria. Even so, some the fans and some media outlets went along with the ruse, even as Chinese officials admitted as much to Reuters.
...
Sure, North Korea could have actually selected an elite group of propaganda-loving supporters to represent their country as spectators, but the last time they did that, the group of mini-skirted cheerleaders who attended a tournament in South Korea broke their promise not to reveal to their countrymen what they saw south of the DMZ. They reportedly ended up in concentration camps.
****in el oh el