Book Report : Escaping North Korea

In the book Northing to Envy, Barbara Demick describes North Korea as an undeveloped country. “You can see the evidence of what once was and has been lost…” (4,Demick) The North Koreas aren’t up to the modern world and still haven’t learned that all humans need rights to be happy. Many aspects of human rights are broken in North Korean society that affect the people negatively, making them feel violated.

Reading Escape from Camp 14, provided me with a lot of thought provoking insight into some of the most extreme struggles of those living under a dictatorship, who are being denied of basic human rights. This also illustrates how propaganda is used to dispel the seriousness of the situation against North Korea, and to keep the citizens predominantly complacent.

In a gripping tale of the horrors that take place in the labor camps of North Korea, Escape from Camp 14 by Blaine Harden retells Shin Dong-hyuk's life in Camp 14 and his miraculous escape. Unlike others who managed to escape North Korea, Shin is the first to have been born inside of one of the concentration camps. Since he grew up inside the camp, Shin was never exposed to any of the North Korean propaganda. The book follows Shin’s entire life up to the time of publication, starting with his time in the camp, then his escape, and finally his life after arriving in South Korea.

This is stemmed from the animosity their leader holds for the United States. In turn making hatred a part of their culture enforcing it in elementary school. In North Korea they do not have social class due to the fact they state their society has done away with them. The people of North Korea are broken basically into two groups in, which determines your status in North Korea. Depending on your family history you fall under revolutionary or un-revolutionary origins; this means that the more your family helped in developing the country the higher status you will have in the country. The majority of the people in North Korea were not veterans, or do not have an extensive history. They do not have any kind of social reinforcement from their ancestry to have a real future. There is no family that is not more famed than Kim Il Sung’s family. If you are a relative of the Sung’s

Kim Jong-Un started the building of North Korea already falling into an evil state. Seen in, “Kim Jong-Il began to prepare Kim Jong-Un for succession to leadership in 2010. Upon his father’s death in December 2011, Kim Jong-un assumed power.” Kim Jong-Il lead a very vicious and up front country, Kim Jong-Un entering would naturally work harder to succeed his father's dream along his own. North Korea was set on the brink of failure due to the leaders and the way they entered their dictatorship. The start of a good nation is the family dynamics, but Kim Jong-Un shakes the family foundation. This is clearly shown, “Whole families are affected if a person violates a law or is sent to a prison camp- meaning grandparents, parents, and children of the offender are sent to work too.” Knowing that is one mistake can lead the whole family into hard labor or possible danger causes people in North Korea more acceptable to evil acts happening to them. Now people who tend to live in fear look for anyway out, possibly revolting or causing a tidal of backlash on the government and eventually causing it to crumble, the foundation isn't strong enough to bare them. Becoming aware of a problem and actually facing it is two totally different things, the people of Korea know that first hand. According to intelligence reports from North Korea, “there were 17 public executions in 2012, the first full year

North Korea beings a country engulfed by hunger and poverty can not risk showing their citizens the lifestyles of flourishing countries. This alone can start a subvert of the government, as to why they will not permit it to happen. They make it seems like certain pleasures do not exist. In a way it makes it seem like they are stronger than their adversaries. Luxuries in the country are everyday things to people in more progressed countries like the United States. The citizens do not know of this through media control thus thinking they are living a great life and better than average living standard. Despite this not all are contained and many escape which signifies the insubordinates shown in 1984 who do everything to turn on their government. Whether it be doing the bare minimum such as eating or loving an object, or running away from the

I liked the book because it taught me about a new country and its situation. An aspect that I loved about the book was that it followed the lives of people with different backgrounds. Hence, I could see how the issues of North Korea have affected people of different classes. The book also explained how the six North Koreans defected and adjusted to life in South Korea. The way each North Korean adjusted to the new society reflected their values. And their adjustments highlighted the core differences in each culture, even though North and South Koreans are the same ethnic group and speak the same language. For example Mi-ran stated “The instant gratification of modern communication killed some of the magic between [Jung-sang and I]. [Our] relationship was one that thrived in the adverse conditions of North Korea. Emotions somehow meant more when they were handwritten on precious scraps of paper and conveyed on slow trains running out of fuel.”(283) This example shows how the privilege of the internet changed Ju-sang and Mi-ran’s relationship. Hence, it highlights how North Koreans are accustomed to traditional methods of communications due to North Korea refusing to enter the twenty first century and the surprise defectors face when they gain access to modern communication. One thing that was missing from the book was that it did not go into detail about the lifestyle and outlook on the life of the ruling class during the 1990 famine. If it had,

In Guy Delisle’s graphic novel named Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea, he is exposed to the strange culture and atmosphere that is present in everyday life in North Korea’s capital. Being a primary source and in the first person, the reader is introduced effectively to exactly the kind of environment the city is, as well as what Delisle’s opinions and thoughts are. Guy is shown in the novel as a cartoon animator struggling to find order in his occupation during his time in North Korea, but the story still does well to give the reader a sense of the cult of personality around Kim Jong-Il, as well as the omnipresent propaganda. Overall, the message conveyed by Guy Delisle features the odd nature of the political adoration centered on Kim Jong-Il’s bloodline, in addition to the general unbalanced state of the country as

In the article “Escaping North Korea”, the author reassure the existence of living God. God always has the right plan for the country, and the people who dare to flee the country. “I know God has not abandoned North Korea. But most North Koreans live and die under the rule of the Kims and have never heard of a God who creates, cares, and cherishes.God however makes a way for His servants. He miraculously opens doors and hearts to fulfil His great commission”. (Waugh 1) God never stopped giving hope to Yeonmi and her mother along their escape, and provided them with many ways to find her sister, Eunmi.

North Korea’s underground railroad shares a similarity with Mao Zedong and the long march in term of a dangerous journey and want to achieve a better life. Some may die along the journeys. These journeys are like putting them in lifeline between life and dead. If they are lucky, then they could live peacefully. But if they don’t do it, they may not ever get freedom as they wish to have.

The North Korean citizens have had their own trouble even surviving day to day. Kim Jong Un would rather feed his growing army than his own people, whom he’s supposed to rule over and take care of. Not only that but while the country is in famine he’d rather spend money building nuclear missiles. The people in North Korea don’t have many freedoms, they’re constantly monitored

This makes it so hard to escape North Korea. In “Escaping North Korea” it says “ twelve years have passed since that day, and Yeonmi 21, is one of tens of thousands of North Korean defectors who have escaped one of the world's most reclusive repressive regimes.” The first of all, people can’t come and go as they please. North Korean soldiers stand at the border. Secondly the leader makes it so difficult to escape that many people die trying. In “Escaping North Korea” Yeonmi recalls it being

The North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is considered like a totalitarian regime. The leader Kim Il-sung, his son and now his grand-son were considered like god, especially the first dictator. The entire population is sorted by a status classification system called Songbun: based on their behavior and the background of the whole family, (uncle and niece included) on three generations. If someone goes to jail, the whole family has to pay. That status can determine the access to adequate food, education, work and the possibility to join the ruling party. The population doesn’t have the freedom of association, expression and movement; the deviants can face arbitrary detention, torture or public execution. We can also find labors camps or total control zones where a lot of atrocities

North Korean citizens are the most oppressed people in the world. The people there have no basic radio communications, they are blocked from most internet and television and most foreign journalists are not allowed in the country. The government is also technically not a communist country, it is in fact a

Hyeonseo Lee gave a presentation on TED Talk entitled, “My Escape from North Korea”, summarizing about her life in North Korea. She was born and raised there and sing patriotic songs. All the history books told her that North Korea was the best country in the world. As she got older, a famine struck North Korea in the mid-1990’s. Although, she never experienced starvation, she witnessed the events first hand. This was the pushing point for Hyeonseo, who decided to leave North Korea. Due to China and North Korea’s stringent border policies and the Chinese government immigration policy, the life of a North Korean refugee is challenging and extremely risky. They risk being deported back to the very country that they escaped from. There are reports and stories about the violation of human rights and labor camps in North Korea. She would live in China for ten years before moving to South Korea. Hyeonseo was forced to help her family escape from North Korea. The regime caught Hyeonseo for sending money to her family. Lee’s family to be relocated by the order of the North Korean government. She needed to smuggle them through China to a South Korean embassy in Laos. Unfortunately, Hyeonseo Lee’s story won’t be the last we hear about the abysmal conditions in North Korea. There are, potentially millions more, stories detailing the humanitarian disaster in the country and we must take steps to prepare for the eventual collapse of the country.