Slow down, my dude. I said I live in Korea. I'm not a citizen.

There are many laws about what people can and can't say in Korea, but in practice, they only apply to what you can say broadly in media. The defamation laws here are also very severe, but there's always banners around Gangnam Station calling the CEO of Samsung a pedophile. So take that with a grain of salt. The intent is to prevent defectors from spreading Northern propaganda. There are plenty of documentaries about things defectors found nice in the North and have struggle adapting to in the South.

I'm realizing I wasn't clear at all. The "tricks" I was referring to were thinking that communism leads to a healthy, vibrant society. No, modern China and Vietnam are not truly communist. The USSR was communist, and that was all sorts of no bueno. Pure communism doesn't lead to good outcomes. The DPRK is trash. China went pretty capitalist. The USSR collapsed. If China loosened up on the one-party and media control bits or if Europe didn't start swinging right again, I think those might be pretty cool.

Not sure how much you still want to hear my opinion knowing I'm not a citizen, but why not. Yeah, the military dictatorships during the early ROK's history were fucked. Yes, US intervention was fucked. No, the US doesn't occupy South Korea. Koreans have their own elections. Koreans decide their own laws. US soldiers aren't patrolling the streets. The US controlling the schools and universities. Shit, I watched Park and Yoon get impeached. The US government probably loved those idiots.

As for the drills... yeah? And the US and other countries run joint military exercises together, too. That's what allies do...? For sanctions, also yeah? The South is at war with the North, and the US doesn't like the North. Why wouldn't there be sanctions...? I don't think it's necessarily the best strategy, but it's not unexpected.