The words “North Korea” has almost an eerie connotation to it, there is hardly any good news that follow after those words. North Korea also known as, DPRK which stands for Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is a communist state under totalitarian dictatorship led by Kim Jung-Un. According to Leila Haddou, “DPRK is one of the few countries that still participates in the death penalty, but unlike North Korea, many countries and states that have the death penalty have not had any executions in the past 10 years” (“Death Penalty Statistics 2013: Country by Country”). I remember hearing the news on TV, and reading numerous articles in 2013 when Kim Jung-Un announced a “public execution of 8 people, whom were accused of watching illicit South Korean dramas or because of prostitution. The execution took place in a city called Wonsan, and 10,000 people of all ages were forced to watch as the firing squad shot at the “criminals”. Throughout the month of November, there were 80 recorded executions total due to possession of the Bible, watching South Korean dramas, porn, and for prostitution” (Presse “North Korea ‘Publicly Executed 80 People’”). As a Korean and a Christian, when I hear devastating news like this it makes me question why and how Americans and everyone else in the world can continue to live their lives as if nothing else is going wrong in the world. The most prominent answer would be that it is because it’s not affecting Americans directly.
People don’t really
There are daily examples of discrimination and oppression throughout the world, but one of the most substantial examples is in North Korea. North Korea is an Asian country ruled by a totalitarian dictatorship, although it calls itself a socialist state. The Jong family has ruled North Korea for three generations since the Korean War. The country is said to be a cult as the country’s citizens are forced to worship the countries leaders, discouraged from holding religion and often punished from doing so, and are not allowed to leave the country. Additionally, in North Korea there are no human rights. People are killed or sent to labor camps for even the smallest infractions. North Korea remains one of the most repressive authority’s states on the world. A 2014 United Nations Commission of Inquiry (COI) report on human rights in North Korea stated that systematic, widespread, and gross human rights violations committed by the government included murder, enslavement, torture, imprisonment, rape, forced abortion, and other sexual violence, and constituted crimes against humanity (McCurry,2017). Under international pressure North Korea always denies these allegations, but through defectors and satellite images the evidence is clear. Time and time again North Korea has violated human rights. North Korea is a superior example of oppression and discrimination because of the countries laws and judicial system, and the treatment of North Korean citizens.
Also the lack of jobs has led to the majority of the people to be below the poverty line. And the ones with jobs do not get paid much or at all due to government corruption. For example, “Men are forced to work long hours for the government, often without pay, and those that don’t show up for work risk imprisonment”. Which has led to men working worthless jobs and women becoming the breadwinners of the families but still not having the same respect as men. The North Korean government is forcing these men to work for free while their families have no food to eat. Brainwashing and propaganda are also major aspects of the regime to keep the people scared of the world outside North Korea, namely the United States, Japan and South Korea. As shown, “Ak (evil) may be the single most commonly used word to describe Americans. The derogatory term nom, similar to calling someone a bastard, is inevitably attached to the end of any word referring to Americans”. Children from a young age are taught to refer to Americans in such manner to install fear in them to always distrust Americans and their aid. Americans are the worst of the worst type of people, according to the Kim regime, because they prevented the reunification of the two Koreas. Followed closely behind by the Japanese, since there is still resentment from the Japanese colonial rule. South Korea is not as
In North Korea, a totalitarian or dictatorial government prevails, where one “Supreme Leader” is revered and even worshipped. This government features a monolithic system, which plays “a crucial role in enabling the continuing monopoly of power by a sole leader” (Park 5-6). All components of life and society thus become fully oriented toward the goals of the head of state, Kim Jong-un, and the Kim dynasty. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, the government-headed Korean Central News Agency heavily commands the “dissemination of information, and all papers are strictly censored” (Lee et al.). This control over the movement of ideas in the population not only fosters the spread of government ideology but also prompts citizens to remain ignorant regarding certain issues, such as government actions
North Koreas government uses its power to control information and restrict independent thought and freedom. The BBC News mentions, “North Koreas economic hardships or famines are not reported to the domestic audience” (North Korea’s Tightly Controlled Media). This shows how the government in North Korea uses their power to keep the inhabitants of the country blind to issues that would cause worry amongst them. The BBC News author later on mentions that rather than inform its citizens on real life issues occurring, they are informed of technological advances developed by their leaders’ revolutionary thinking. By doing this the North Korean government keeps the people blind and ignorant to complicated
It’s easy to imagine that the Holocaust is behind us and that the Earth is moving towards a bright future. However, in many countries around the world, people are still being treated as less than human beings! North Korea is one of these countries, but many people do not understand what is happening there. In fact, North Korea is currently quite different than many other modern societies largely because of its immensely restricted human rights.
The government claims that citizens get the full amount of basic rights and claim that DPRK has the best rights in the world ( Federal Research Division, 172-175). Contrary to what they said, the DPRK is one of the most repressive governments on the face of the earth. Their constitution claims that they get freedom of religion, speech, press, and more ( 175-176). The North Korean government instead ignores every single word in their own constitution (United Nations Human Rights Council 3). The Supreme People’s Assembly meets only once a year ( Federal Research Division, 175-176). The current state of modern North Korea is based off the policy of aggression, fear, and governmental brainwashing. (Daily Mail Reporter). North Korean citizens can and will be placed in a labor camp if they do anything that goes against the regime (“North Korea”). Not only can North Korean citizens get placed in a labor camp for going against the regime, but foreigners can and will be placed in a labor camp for committing that crime, too (David Brunnstrom). In the North, the government boasts about many of their so-called achievements and superiority over the others. Their media constantly shows how plentiful and how powerful the country is (“Kim Jong Un's New Year Address”). Videos and images of industry, food, technology, and stocked stores picture the country as a perfect
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.
Over all though if I was living in a society such as North Korea, I would not noticed there is anything wrong. Everyone around me would all be the same. I could survive in a society compare to North Korea and Oceania. In all the celebrations of North Korea, I would be just as all the other people excited for their level of deadly weapons.
According to senior editor Peter Weber of the political The Week magazine, “North Korea isn’t Nazi Germany--in some ways, it’s worse.” In this column Weber points out a 36 page report and its 373 page addendum report conducted by retired Australian judge Michael Kirby of the United Nations that revealed grisly details about the human rights abuses occurring in North Korea. The report was based on testimonies from witnesses and former inmates who had spent time in one of the encampments and who luckily made it out alive. Pyongyang 14 is one of the many camps that Kim Jong-un has in place to exterminate, murder, enslave, torture, and starve his people as the report notes. In addition, there are also forced abortions and other sexual violence that take place in this inhumane setting. North Korea forbids that their citizens know about life outside of the country, so if they attempt to do so there will be room for them in one of the prison camps since Jong-un is expanding their capacity. Something as little as watching a soap opera can land a North Korean in one of these camps, that is if they are not killed right away. For example, 10 people in the country were executed last year by firing squad when upper echelons in the North Korean hierarchy found out that they were watching “foreign” soap operas (Ryall). It is beyond belief that one’s life can be taken for something of such small magnitude. In Weber’s column he describes an interview Kirby had with a one-time prisoner at
In every world publication they sent out, they recall a country that is successful and coming together as one. Stating that the citizens never suffer from famine or poverty and that citizens would sacrifice themselves for their leader(10 most censored Countries (2006). However, everyone knows that this is false and that the country's people are in trouble. One of North Korea's recent lie from within the country is the reconciliation of the Munitions Train explosion. The government and police force reported that the citizens displayed “spirt of guarding the leader with their very lives.” Everyone in the proximity tried to save the leaders posters and reminders before they searched for their families or even saving household goods.(10 most censored Countries (2015) However, they completely skipped over the thousands of citizens injured, the 150 plus citizens killed and the amount of damage the town took. The government took a major event in the country and turned it into something about the leader, leaving people wondering about the damage and living situation citizens were left in.
The New York Times has declared North Korea as the world's most oppressed nation. North Korean journalists all belong to the ruling party and they use their position to make their supreme leader Kim Jong-un seem like more than he actually is. Similarly, the internet is restricted to only regime elites and prestigious university students. North Korea has created its own online server called the intranet which is again only available to selected individuals. The North Korean government has implemented strict rules like getting permission from government authorities and registering your computer with the police in order to legally have access to the internet. North Korea's amount of internet access is so low that the country only has 1,024 IP addresses for 25 million people whereas the United States has billions of IP addresses for 316 million people. Internet use in North Korea is not good for the public because most of the public is not aware of it. It is merely used as a government tool for propaganda. The North Korean government ensures that the citizens of the country are monitored by an iron curtain. Individuals living in the country do not have the ability to learn about other nations or accumulate knowledge from another
“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.
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, more commonly known as North Korea, is the nation occupying the northern half of the Korean peninsula. North Korea is a young state, and little is known about the nation in the United States, or in the world. So little in fact, that most Western Media depicts North Korea with negative connotations. North Korea has a closed-country policy, which hides its culture, history, and the daily lives of civilians in the nation from the rest of the world. Not many foreigners have visited the People’s Republic of Korea, and not many North Koreans have traveled to the rest of the outside world.
According to North and South Korea by Greenhaven Press, North Korea’s leadership “focuses on regime, survival, reunification, and achieving status as a “great and powerful nation.” To accomplish this, the modern-day leader Kim Jong-un relies heavily upon military and security forces. Kim Jong-un abuses his power as the hereditary dictator to prevent the citizens from leaving, learning too much, and having free speech. These forces and Kim Jong-un’s abusive leadership disrupt the citizens and take their rights away. To illustrate, citizens in North Korea have limited rights because they don’t have freedom of speech. If a citizen of North Korea were to speak negatively about the government, they and their family would ‘disappear.’ Furthermore, they don’t have freedom of the press because news providers go through the government before the people. Because of these limits, North Korea has evolved from a peaceful country to a commanding and dreadful dictatorship. This conversion occurred out of a misuse of power by Kim Jong-Il and current leader Kim Jong-un. Their abusive power was not checked, as there was no way to check the government in North Korea. Since there are no checks on power in North Korea, the innocent citizens there are often victimized. The people follow the laws and do what they are supposed to, as they had always done, but they are still punished. Kim Jong-un rules