Escaping North Korea Essay

In writing Escaping North Korea Mike Kim brought to light the struggles North Koreans face in North Korea, then escaping, and seeking asylum. Kim, before working on the China-Korea boarder, had his own financial planning business but one trip to China changed his world drastically. After hearing the stories of North Korean refugees, Kim found his calling to help these refugees escape a tyrant leadership and create a new life for themselves. Kim in writing Escaping North Korea described his experiences in aiding these refugees escape a repressive country. Escaping North Korea addresses the aspects of life in North Korea that led for them to escape, the problems they face once crossing to China and the

The country of North Korea compares rather closely to the world in Ayn Rand’s Anthem. Both nations of people are very closed off from the community and the outside world. The citizens only know about what the government officials want them to know about. In North Korea everyone depends upon and worships their leader, Kim Jong Il, almost as though he is their god. They all only depend on what they classify as “we” and they rely only on that because they do not have access to anyone else or even know what it means to be an individual. In both the book and North Korea, the citizens are locked down and watched with a careful eye. Breaking the rules in Anthem would send you to the Uncharted Forest, which is very similar to what happens to those

North Korea is a Totalitarian country that often uses many different fear tactics to control their citizens. “ Her brother who was arrested in China in 1994 for attempting to “defect” from the DPRK... As an example to others against committing similar “anti-state” offenses, he was tied to the back of a truck which took him to their hometown, Musan.”(North Korean control #3 doc A) Someone's brother was arrested in China for trying to defect from North Korea, and as an example, he was dragged around by a truck to show people not to try and escape. This shows that North Korea wanted to impose fear on their citizens, so they wouldn’t try to leave. “The woman she knew was lined up alongside eight other prisoners... her crime was having watched South

In this particular section of the book, the main power in North Korea is controlled by blood line rather that by the most qualified to rule the country. The perspective of the North Korean people is corrupted by the powers in the government. Their perspective is altered by the constant government sponsored propaganda being thrown at them twenty-four hours a day. “Portraits of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il- the centerpieces of every classroom in North Korea- were nowhere to be found. Instead, the school taught rudimentary literacy and numeracy, drilled the children in camp rules, and constantly reminded them of their iniquitous blood.” (27). But this same hypnotizing governmental tactic isn't used in the camp because they want to send a clear

This is the primary culprit as to why so many people want to escape these types of regimes. Hundreds of people escape North Korea every month because they hate what the government is doing to them, they are simply not happy in North Korea (“The World Factbook:

The conflict I am focusing on is the conflict between North Korea and the USA.

Kim Jong Un is systematically trying to eliminate every person who disagrees with him publically. Anyone who commits an illegal crime or gets exposed by gossiping or disagrees with him politically will be confined to these horrendous prison camps. Over one-hundred thousand people were imprisoned in labor camps and about forty thousand have died due to starvation,disease and execution. These camps oppress, degrade and violate innocent people for as long as they live. Prison camps in North Korea are considered the most gruesome throughout the world. Many people are ignorant of these conditions in North Korea, but are defenseless and intolerant towards this dilemma. Prison conditions in North Korea horrific and not much is being done to stop this.

The Secret State of North Korea offered a great look into what basic things North Koreans are lacking. Even within the realm of Communism. Lack of freedoms, lack of food, lack of community, lack of trust, lack of a social society, lack of programs for children, lack of equality, and a lack of information. When Kim Il-Sung created North Korea, the government was based on Marxism and Leninism, called “Juche.” Just as the Soviets, the North Koreans followed suite with massive inequality between the government officials and the common people. The documentary showed its viewers what the government is omnipresent in the everyday lives of its people, so much so that recordings of daily life are illegal, and “random” searches take place commonly.

On June 25th, 1950 the United States engaged in conflict with North Korea. This left a mark on North Korea. Prior to when we engaged, Korea was ruled by Japan (1910) until after WWII ended. In the summer of August 1945, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan. The United States joined and by 1948, as a result of the cold war between the Soviet Union and the U.S. Korea split into two separate countries. This resulted in a government argument between the two sides and neither agreed on a final answer which leads to war. On July 23, 1953, an armistice was signed between North and South Korea, they agreed to lead each country the way they believed was correct ( Korean Demilitarized Zone). To this day, both sides of Korea are far within peace. This is exactly why we shouldn’t engage with North Korea because it would lead innocent civilians to death. Not only will it cause death but it will also lead to a change of lifestyle for the North Koreans, which we do not want.

North Korea, also referred to as the bridge between Japan and China, is located in the eastern part of Asia. North Korea is half a pennisula, particularly the northern half, in the Korean Peninsula. North Korea, is a bit smaller than Mississippi, and about eighty percent of its land it mountainous (Kummer, 19-20)

North Korea appears on the international stage as a country existing beyond the world we all know. It isolates its citizens from the rest of international community and does not obey any rules determined by international law, but requires respect and recognition. Moreover, North Korea is one of the countries that remains aggressive towards its neighbors and applies various terrorist techniques, i.e. illegal contraband, political terror and mass abductions of other countries’ citizens in its foreign policy. The reasons for which the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) behaves so unpredictably and irrationally are diversified. First of all, the DPRK as a country is managed very irrationally – regimes of Kim Il-sung and

The third source that I decided to use was an English newspaper. The headline from the article was the first thing that stood out, suggesting that Trump might bomb North Korea next. The article barely covers the event, instead, it covers Eric Trump's comments and the possibility that North Korea can be next. The newspapers instigates that the United States might use military action against North Korea though including Eric Trump's statement hinting that his father is not afraid to make "North Korea...next on the hit list if Kim Jong-Un carries on developing atomic weapons" (Daily Mirror, April 14, 2017). The newspaper just adds more fuel to the existing tension between the United States and North Korea with such a provocative statement.

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.

The rising tension over the sinking of a South Korean ship reached to a serious conflict between South Korean and North Korea. South Korean is accusing North Korean for firing the torpedo on purpose which resulted in 46 sailors deaths. According to Yonhap news, North Korean military official accused the South of intruding into North Korean waters in the Yellow Sea. North Korea sends a warning message to South Korea by firing torpedo to warn South Korea to not intrude in to their waters in Yellow Sea. North Korea doesn’t want to admit to their mistake; instead they are threatening to retaliate with military actions if South Korea won’t stop with accusations.

Since the 1950s during and after the Korean war, North Korean people have been fleeing their country for political, religious, economic or personal reasons. The main cause of defection is that the social rights of North Korean people have been severely violated under the Kim family’s political dynasty.  The violation includes famine, imprisonment, torture, murder and enslavement. North Korean refugees go through the life threatening process to get a better life while going through many obstacles.