Introduction The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, better known as North Korea, is a country in east Asia. North Korea officially describes itself as a socialist state, but it is widely recognized as a dictatorship. Kim ll-sung is the first supreme leader of North Korea, and the grandfather of the current leader, Kim Jong Un. Under the regime of the Kims, North Korea isolated itself away from the rest of the world. It is a perfect archetype of a “closed society”. Since the beginning of the rule of the Kims, the condition in North Korea have worsened, where citizens have little to no civil rights. For years that Kim Jong Un and his ancestors have ruled North Korea, they have made it their mission to eradicate people’s minds and put themselves …show more content…
The man, the legend, the one and only, supreme leader, Kim Jong Un. Standing at a height of 5’9, and 210 pounds, he is one of the world’s youngest supreme leaders, and in under 4 years, has managed to continue his own father’s legacy. Kim Jong Un has managed to successfully take complete control of North Korea just like his past family members who have been in power. At age 32 the supreme leader happens to own the longest list of honorifics anywhere, in which every single one of them is unearned, and is also most likely the last hereditary male in power. Kim is the third and youngest son of his father, and the second-born son of Kim II’s second mistress, Ko Young Hee. His grandfather, Kim Il Sung, ruled for 46 years, with Kim Jong Il, his son, taking over after his death in 1994. Kim Jong Un took power after his father's death in 2011, in which he was favored for by his father. Kim Jong Un has two older brothers, named Kim Jong-Chul and Kim Jong-Nam, who should’ve been next in line, but weren’t when their father decided to not make either one supreme leader because they were too “feminine in character”, while Jong-un was "exactly like his father". Around the same time he took power, he got married, in an arranged marriage, to a woman named, Ri Sol Ju, who is a former cheerleader and singer. Mrs. Kim is seen a lot with her husband in public. (unlike his
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.
The government structure of North Korea has its existence in one man, Kim Jong Un. It existed in his father, Kim Jong Il, before him, and in his grandfather, Kim Il-sung, before him. North Korea has one of the few successful hereditary dictatorships based on a personalistic regime where the leaders are worshipped as almost a deity (after Kim Il-sung’s death he was made “eternal president”) creating a dynastic transfer of power (Aoki, 2012). In China the one party of the Chinese Communist Party will rule as an Authoritarian body over the nation, but in North Korea the sole power rest dangerously in the arms of one person. Some of the reason for this dissimilarity between the two government structures lies in the country’s differing political cultures.
Blood ties are particularly significant to North Koreans because of lineage (Kim, 2014). According to the Center of Global Education, North Koreans consider themselves to be connected to their ancestors as if a piece of them has always existed. As long as their heirs live, another piece of them will always exist. Male kinship is considered to be most important because it continues the family line. For this reason, families are patriarchal. Traditionally, the eldest male was the head of the household and
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.
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
Kim Jong Un: is the third and youngest son of Kim Jong-il. He is the supreme leader of North Korea and the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces. He has limited experience in military and political because he was in Europe during North Korea's famine of the 1990s. He has several positions in the North Korea such as chairman of
It's one thing to know that third-generation strongman Kim Jong Un maintains an iron grip on North Korea's 25 million people. It's another thing to read the horrifying particulars of how his regime wields its control — through starvation, torture, rape, summary executions and the disappearance of tens of thousands of citizens into an extralegal prison labor-camp system.
The fact that North Korea strips their citizens of the right of free thinking robs the citizens of their ability to be human. According to Evelyn Glennie, we can be defined as human by the fact that we “often turn to
Kim was born January 8, 1983 in North Korea. His predecessor and father was Kim Jong-il, and mother Ko Yong-hui, an opera singer. Kim went to a school in Switzerland and had to use a fake name for security reasons. He returned home in 2000. Fast forward to 2009 and Kim gets the title “Brilliant Comrade”, a title similar to those held by the two former supreme leaders. Though Kim is the youngest, he was still chosen to be the next leader of North Korea, and “is apparently
North Korea is an extreme isolated country and is known for continuously violating human rights. Defectors, North Koreans who escaped the isolated country, “continue to report that North Korea maintains a record of consistent, severe human rights violations, stemming from the government’s total control over all activity”(North Korea: Government). The similarities between North Korean society and the society in the dystopian novel 1984 by George Orwell are very much alike. A government constructed by sole trust in a supreme leader, complete control over the media, and sectioned ministries with individual roles that restrict the people from various free will behaviors and thoughts are the factors that have facilitated the control over the
“All of North Korea is a jail.” (Kim Young-sam) , this quote may appear farfetched but when looking into how North Korea treats its people, its not so out of this world. Sad but true, North Korea has issues upon issues regarding human rights. Stripping the local’s freedom and expression, every word you might say could be your one way ticket to prison. Along with being sent to detention centers and camps for offenses not even acknowledged internationally. Yet North Korea continues to deny the citizens rights, and that should be stopped since it violates their right to freedom , as well as their basic human needs.
Understanding how North Korea as a country defines itself in a changing world. Where do they derive their customs and practices, political standings and military power? Define North Korea’s history leading into the modern age and define its culture and characteristics and how they interact with the world today. Understanding a subject as broad as the term culture begins where the culture began with the birth of civilization and the people that influenced it. There are many factors that play a role in the shaping of a nation none so much as turmoil and conflict and the Korean peninsula saw its fair share for the better part of a millennia. A complete statistical breakdown of North Korea shows a struggling nation that strongly depends on
Kim Jong Un, the name itself brings fear, terror, and despair in the hearts of millions. This so-called leader, terrorized the people of North Korea since April 11th, 2012; his cruelty is subject to the fact he has no mercy towards anyone who speaks against him, no matter if they are a civilian or political figure. The supreme leader is perceived as a devil, as he has total control over the country, using his power to manipulate the North Korean media. People are unaware that there is a genocide that is happening at this very moment. Although, many people may not believe this argument, a genocide is defined as an act committed with the intent to destroy, and unfortunately that is exactly what Kim Jong Un is doing. He is eliminating all the bureaucratic parties that oppose him (1). In this country, there are internment camps that are still functioning with the sole purpose of forced labour and extermination. Similar to the captives in the Holocaust, prisoners endure lifetime isolation, inhumane conditions, and humiliation. Therefore, the North Korean internment camp, Kaechon is proven to be just as horrid as Dachau.
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 Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is an improvised country, mostly isolated from much of the world that has committed numerous human rights violations. Ruled by Kim Jung Un, North Korea has created a personality cult around the Kim family for several decades, which has kept the Kim dynasty in control with an iron first. Any opposition to the regime is quickly silenced, and many citizens are starving through the huge economic downturn in the country. The DPRK has tense relationships with many Western powers, especially the United States due to its aggressive military policies. In February 2013, it has been repeatedly and continuing their nuclear weapons programs despite heavy backlash from the international community. Fortunately