Comparison And Contrast Of North Korea's Regime

As evident through the striking similarities between the totalitarian government of 1984 and the Communist regime of North Korea, it really is as if Kim Il Sung obtained an early copy of George Orwell’s 1984 and used it as a blueprint for his system (Hitchens n.p.). George Orwell had been exposed to various types of imperialism throughout his early life, leading to a realization of his resentment for authority. Orwell produced the novel with the intent of warning future societies of the dangers of totalitarian governments, yet North Korea epitomizes a flawless depiction of the very authority that Orwell yearned to avoid through providing a detailed illustration of the ramifications of submitting to a tyrannical government (Merriman n.p.).

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.

Life in North Korea’s high contrast with life in the United States is marked by nonexistent personal freedoms and harsh punishments. One example of restricted freedom in shown in their leader, Kim Jong-un. He, who they address as Dear Leader, is treated like

In North Korea, compulsory conscription of men women, and sometimes young children, along with public executions of military leaders, instills fear in the citizens. The government also continues to subject its power over citizens through threats and using the punishments of those who do not follow their laws to embody fear and control over the citizens. This ultimately leads to more control and manipulation of the individuals by the government through the fears of the public and lack of rights individuals can

Shortly after World War II, North Korea’s central government was renamed the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Conflicts began to rise when the North and South’s political systems contradicted each others. These differences led to warfare between these two countries. During the mid to late 1900's, the North Koreans under the Kim family, went to war with South Korea inflicting many casualties while economically isolating their country internationally creating economic struggles for their own people.

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, also known as North Korea, has always had a history of imprisoning people that disagree with the governments policies, or for “disrespecting” the countries leaders, but these prisons are not just any prisons, they are prison camps, which function similarly to Nazi Concentration Camps.

The country of North Korea has long been under the watchful eye of not only the United States but also the United Nations for many years over concerns of it nuclear weapons program but now, they are being looked at for an entirely different reason. Recent reports about the inhuman treatment of an estimated 200,000 North Korean citizens in the countries six political prison camps are been closely looked at. These reports show the mistreatment, starvation, and even unlawful killing of North Korean citizens from everything from owning a Bible to watching soap operas.

Of the myriad human rights abuses that are presented by the North Korean regime, the American detainees present a special interest to the United States. North Korea has made a policy of detaining certain American journalists and tourists that enter the state. These detainees may be held for indeterminable amounts of time and face horrid conditions in labor camps (North Korea). The human rights violations involved with these detentions are what draw ire of the United States and many other countries around the globe. To fully understand this policy, North Korea’s history of abductions and the current prisoners’ situations should be examined. With that insight, one can determine that North Korea is detaining Americans for three specific reasons: to promote domestic security, restart international negations, and to gain additional economic capital.

Prison camps in North Korea have been likened to Auschwitz and other Nazi concentration camps by survivors of the Holocaust (Anna Fifield). The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, commonly known as North Korea, is a Socialist Dictatorship that was split into the North and South after World War II. The USSR, after gaining control of North Korea, appointed Kim Il-sung as their leader in 1948. After the Korean war ended in 1953, North Korea started to transform into the nation that we are familiar with in today’s world. North Korea has been described by some human rights activist groups to be one of the biggest and worst modern violations of human rights ("OHCHR | North Korea"). The people there are restricted from leaving, most follow a strict

Hazel Smith has lived and participated in aid project for North Korea after its economic difficulties. On that experience, she realized that lives of people have no significant difference from others, and North Korea is not unique and inexplicable. As she stated in this book, “North Korean society is remarkably similar to societies transiting from communism to capitalism (330).” Rather, many prevailing stereotype of North Korea have usually illogical and self-contradictory assumptions as well as surprisingly little evidence bases, and North Koreans are highly educated and conscious of the outside world. With those realities, which contradict the common knowledge, Hazel set uncommon approach to North Korea.

In the aftermath of World War II, a new state which was regarded as a Soviet Union satellite state was founded in 1948. North Korea is a country under complete authority, totalitarianism and dictatorship with a society which has fallen ill. It seems to the world that the governing system which can’t possibly function in any other countries, has it’s own way of keeping the people under control. However, it continues to face more challenges as the people are exposed to the popular culture while the country itself is still in isolation with an economy and education system that have fallen behind. Kim Jong-un, whom is known as the “Supreme Leader”, is the grandson of Kim ll-sung, the founder and the Great Leader of North Korea. Although the North Korean regime has gained to it’s firm power since the end of the World War II, there are indications that the current leadership of Kim Jong-un is facing unprecedented challenges as he tries to hold on to power.

There are various types of government systems in the world, and the each kind comprises the set of laws and political bodies in many different forms. Whether the size of government is small or big, it was established to empower its citizens depending on the different degree to which it is free of limitations and restraints. Today, many countries focus on the North Korea's dictatorship towards its citizens. Not only because North Korea’s ambition of nuclear but also their systematic human rights abuses upset all the democratic publics and institutions considerably. According to Democracy and Dictatorship, “In a dictatorship, the government tightly controls all aspects of the state and will often ban or tightly control groups and meetings” (Democracy

North Korea or The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea a.k.a (DPRK) is one of the hardest places in the world today for outsiders to understand. North Korea is one of the most hated states because of their political standpoint and how things are there. North Korea has a lot of issues with the U.S. North Korea has always had political issues and they always will.

Countries under the rule of a dictator, or a tyrant leader are another obstacle towards a set of universal human rights. North Korea is an example of one of these countries, being condemned by the United Nations Human Rights Council for its “systematic, widespread, and gross human rights violations” (Human Rights Watch, 2016b). These violations have arisen from the leadership of Kim Jong-Un, who has continued to restrict freedom of movement, speech, and association, as well as other basic human rights in North Korea (Human Rights Watch, 2016b). Any person that does speak out against Jong-Un’s cruelty is arrested and taken to a political prison, where they are forced to carry out back breaking labour (Human Rights Watch, 2016b). Since dictators like Kim Jong-Un have complete control of a country, they have no obligation to enact a set of incontrovertible human rights as it does not fit their agenda, severely restricting the ability of human rights to be universal. The cultural differences in non-western countries such as Saudi Arabia, and the rule of dictators like that of Kim Jong-Un prevent an incontrovertible and permanently valid set of human rights from being

“North Koreans who seek to assert their rights are perceived to show insufficient reverence for supreme leader Kim Jong-Un or the ruling Korean Workers’ Party. Those who act in ways viewed as contrary to state interests face arbitrary arrest, torture, and ill-treatment, detention without trial, or trial by state-controlled courts. North Koreans also face severe penalties for possessing unauthorized videos of foreign TV programs and movies or communicating with persons outside the country.”(World report). It would seem that the standard for human rights in North Korean is nonexistent purveying a citizenship of suffering and indignity as well as stifling the wants and ideas of its populace. It would seem that North Koreas control of its citizens extends even beyond its borders since “At least 50,000 North Koreans are stationed overseas in some 20 countries as forced laborers and human rights advocates are calling for accountability. The involuntary workers bring in as much as $300 million annually for the North Korean regime, the workers are stationed in 14 sectors in more than 120 companies, including China, Russia, Mongolia, Malaysia and elsewhere.” (Kaplan, 2015). Which means that the Human rights issues of North Korea extend to other countries and cultures bringing into question what such oppressed human rights issues have done to the culture of the North