Should North Korea Use Nuclear Power

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.

Nuclear energy is defined as energy released by reactions within atomic nuclei, as in nuclear fission or fusion (“Dictionary”). Nuclear fission is defined as a nuclear reaction in which a massive nucleus splits into smaller nuclei with the simultaneous release of energy. The definition of nuclear fission is as reaction in which two nuclei combine to form a nucleus with the release of energy (“Dictionary”). The process of nuclear fission and fusion happen inside of a nuclear reactor that is located in a nuclear power plant. Also needing to be defined, a nuclear reactor is a device in which nuclear fission initiates a controlled chain reaction, producing heat energy typically used for power generation, and neutrons and fission products (“Dictionary”). It is also important to know that there are a few different kinds of nuclear reactors. The different kind of reactors include: pressurized water reactors, boiling water reactors, gas-cooled reactors, and light water graphite reactors (Blau 117). Finally, a nuclear power plant is a facility for the production of electricity using

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.

North Korea’s prison camps are extremely horrifying. A decade later after World War l, North Korea established its own system of prison camps (Szoldra). As same as concentration camps, prisoners were inhumanly punished. Since then, prison conditions in North Korea are horrendous and not tolerated by prisoners as well as their family members and society. North Korea’s prison systems not only frightened the prisoners, but the society as well. Because of the issues generated by North Korea’s horrifying prison conditions have not only been serious problems in history but also today, this issue is being resolve by the collaboration of society.

Nuclear energy is the energy released by a nuclear reaction (fission, fusion). In nuclear energy, the water is turned into steam, which in turn drives turbine generators to produce electricity. This can be dangerous! Some of the major disadvantages include radiations, radioactive waste that would be produced and accidents that can occur in nuclear reactors.

The research has shed light on the corruption of the North Korean government and the reign of ruthless leaders such as Kim Il Sung and his son Kim Jong Il. The politics of North Korea have been questionable at best in the nation’s history. Finally they are making progress to renew laws that better fit into North Korean society, but the process is slow. Change does not come to North Korea quickly.

Nuclear energy is gathered by the process of splitting uranium atoms. By splitting these atoms, there is some mass loss, and this mass can then be used as energy. This process is called fission. The heat from this fission is used to turn water into steam, and this steam turns the turbine generator in a reactor, which produces energy. Nuclear power plants have many advantages when compared to other renewable energy sources.

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.

In “Does North Korea Have the H-Bomb?,” Patricia Smith informs the readers about North Korea’s latest nuclear test and the country’s history. Kim Jong Un alarmed the world when he revealed that his nation had detonated a hydrogen bomb which would signify an increased risk. While the test may not have been a hydrogen bomb, it signified the threat North Korea poses to the world and proof that the country is working on advancing its weapons. The conflict between the United States and North Korea began when the Soviet Union established a communist regime in North Korea and the U.S. controlled the South. While South Korea developed into a democratic and high-tech country, North Korea developed into a communist country and a repressive regime. Furthermore,

North Korea has been hiding concentration camps from the entire world for years. Their restrictive laws keep the rest of the world from finding out, or that’s what the tiny country tries to achieve. This results in a major problem. Many people are being held against their will in camps that feed them barely any food and other necessary resources-- Some even resorted to desperate measures. “One witness said that young male inmates in North Korean prison camps became so desperate for food they would eat live worms or snakes caught in the field to feel something in their stomachs” (Park, CNN) This catastrophe affects “...up to 200,000 prisoners...” (Reist 5) and needs to be fixed. There are many stories about people who have been taken by the North Korean government and were put in concentration camps. For example, two foreign journalists were visiting North Korea and were put into a camp with no real reason specified from North Korea; it’s believed that these two girls are innocent. “[The ladies] were tried and convicted of grave crimes against North Korea, the nature of which was never specified” (NPR 6). They are

Kim has used nearly all of the income of money on nuclear weapons and other testings of the sort. In the article by world affairs journal, they say that,” There is unparalleled humanitarian and human rights emergency unfolding in the country every day.” Because of all the weapons testing this causes a lack of money for citizens allowing for thousands of people to starve to death all around. This genocide isn’t primarily targeted towards any one group but is instead depriving people of their basic rights. They are getting tortured, killed in masses, and having their freedoms ripped away. In an article by hir.harvard.edu they said that,” Hundereds of thousands of North Koreans have fled to China to survive. The majority are women, 80 percent of whom are sex-trafficked or sold into forced marriages.” An example of having freedoms ripped away would be the camps set up in North Korea. Christians and other people of religion are not allowed to pray anymore and people get tortured to death. The laws are so strict that even if you minorly step out of line you could get killed. An article entitled “Genocide in North Korea” states that North Korean refugees who flee to China carry a knife, because they would rather kill themselves then get caught by the

1b/process. “How do we harvest this lost energy,” you might be wondering? Well, nuclear energy receives its power from the fission, or splitting, of atoms in very dense radioactive metals. Once one atom is split, the halves separate into 2 or more less dense atoms, and remaining neutrons can be shot out at high velocities. If these neutrons slam into another atom and are captured by it, that atom has a chance that it too will undergo fission. This cycle of splitting atoms is a chain reaction. Nuclear fission requires power to start the chain reaction, and it needs a certain amount of Uranium, called a critical mass, before this chain reaction can support itself and create excess energy. This excess energy is released as heat, usually into water. This changes the water into steam and is used to turn turbines to produce electricity. According to an article written by the U.S. Dept. of Energy, the first successful attempt at a self-sustaining nuclear reactor was on December 2nd, 1942.

Shin Dong-Hyuk’s earliest memory was of the sound of gunshots and an execution. Underneath Shin Dong-Hyuk’s clothes, he bears numerous burn scars on his lower body from being held over a fire, dangling by a hook. This was after his mother and brother were caught trying to escape Camp 14 in North Korea. There was no such thing as love or mercy in the world Shin was born into. His mother was publicly hung and his brother was shot by the firing squad. As Shin watched his mother die, he felt no remorse. She deserved it and with her gone there was less competition for food. He could receive a bit more of a scarce helping of corn grown from the homemade fertilizer straight from the prisoners into the ground. This was the place Shin Dong-Hyuk called home. This is only one story from the few escapees out of the 80,000-120,000 inmates believed to still live in the prison camps. X

What? - A nuclear power plant is a power plant that uses the process of fission to generate electricity

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.