While growing numbers of labor camp prisoners rise, Kim Jong Un, supreme leader of democratic

1984 demonstrates a dystopian society in Oceania by presenting a relentless dictator, Big Brother, who uses his power to control the minds of his people and to ensure that his power never exhausts. Aspects of 1984 are evidently established in components of society in North Korea. With both of these society’s under a dictator’s rule, there are many similarities that are distinguished between the two. Orwell’s 1984 becomes parallel to the world of dystopia in North Korea by illustrating a nation that remains isolated under an almighty ruler.

As a result of the regimes isolationist policy the people of North Korea suffered greatly in both mental and physical health. The hold the state had over the beliefs of the citizens presented in “Nothing to Envy”, varied from absolute belief to uncomfortable awareness. The reader is presented often with Mrs. Song’s dedication to the regime, and Kim Il-sung himself. A mother of four she was often gone from home, working and attending ideological training sessions. “Fridays she stayed especially late for self-criticism. In these sessions members of her work unit- the department to which she was assigned- would reveal to the group anything they had done wrong—Mrs. Song would usually say, in all sincerity, that she feared she wasn’t working hard enough” (Pg. 43).When Kim Il-sung died, she

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

Throughout time, humankind has been known for many characteristics that make it notable and fascinating. Man is praised for many capabilities like creativity, art, and altruism, but perhaps the most notable trait we claim as our own is the ability man possesses for adaptation and survival, both emotionally and physically. In the memoir The Aquariums of Pyongyang by Chol-Hwan Kang, the author details the events that led to his imprisonment, his time in captivity, and his release from prison camp as well as his escape from North Korea. The autobiographical work is not only touching because of the suffering Kang and the other prisoners he writes about experience, but primarily because the story focuses on the desperate struggle of individuals to survive and adapt to even the most horrendous of circumstances. The memoir shows the tenacity and resilience of man through its accounts of prisoners’ struggle to feed themselves and their families, Kang’s desire for comforts as coping mechanisms, and the reluctance of Kang to adapt to change.

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.

revealed frightening similarities in the structure and nature of the camps to those of North Korean

After spending 23 years inside Camp 14, it is pivotal to know the psychology behind political prison camps. Philip Zimbardo, psychologist and professor at Stanford University known for the 1971 Stanford prison experiment, shows particular interest in the “human transformation of good, ordinary people [...] into perpetrators of evil in response to the corrosive influence of situational forces” (Cervenka). The effects political prison camps have on the prisoners is indisputable, but Zimbardo gives further insight into how. In all aspects of history, including Camp 14, it is vital to understand who the perpetrators are. In this case, the only undeniable transgressor is the Kim family. Although guards could be considered perpetrators and often exert their authority to the fullest extent, one cannot assume they came into authority willing as many of them are wary of becoming a prisoner themselves. The diffusion of this blind authority from the government to the guards to the prisoners leaves the guards to do as they please with their power. This power in the wrong hands is deadly. “One of the former guards stated that, “after being deported to a labour camp, they are not treated as human beings anymore, they are treated like animals. We, the guards, screamed at them: ‘You son of a bitch, if you were a pig, at least we could eat

Over 400,000 North Korean citizens have died from the torture of concentration camps, and more than 200,000 are still being held there to this day. Every day, North Korean prisoners are being beaten and abused, only a few of the many unthinkable tortures inflicted on them. William Golding, author of Lord of the Flies, believes that the defects of society can be traced back to the defects of human nature. However, in contrast to Golding’s statement, countries like North Korea demonstrate that the torture in concentration camps can be traced back to defects in the government, depending on the circumstance.

Imagine life on the brink of death and being completely isolated from the outside world. Your surroundings are filled with the scent of rotting corpse and the image of walking skeletons with deformities due to scarce supply of food and countless beatings, torture, and even executions. What I am describing here is the reality for the prisoners in the concentration camps of North Korea. This is a clear violation of the UN Declaration of Human Rights because these prisoners are subjugated under these harsh treatments by the government of North Korea. One living example of the brutal treatment endured in these camps is about a survivor of the camps whose name is Shin Dong-hyuk.

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.

Nothing to Envy by Barbara Demick provides insight into the lives of North Korean defectors while in North Korea. Their accounts give inside information about the North Korean regime which makes it possible to analyze to what extent society was an egalitarian utopia. The interview reveals that people were discriminated by social class as evident by those who were richer, and thus in a higher social strata, having more opportunities for success. There was also economic inequity which was apparent by people having different degrees of struggle. However, the problems North Koreans faced was similar, which showed there was some equality from their struggles. Overall, the interviewees give accounts which contradict the idea that the North Korean regime was promoting egalitarianism through their accounts which give counterexamples regarding social class and economic status, so their claim of egalitarianism is mostly false.

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 North Korean government keeps on requiring constrained, uncompensated work from specialists, including even schoolchildren and college understudies, Human Rights Watch said today. In late meetings with Human Rights Watch, North Korean defectors say they have confronted years of work for either no wages or typical remuneration and either needed to pay fixes or confront extreme disciplines in the event that they didn't report for work at alloted work environments. Defectors answered to Human Rights Watch that they were required to work at an allocated working environment in the wake of finishing school. The viable breakdown of a great part of the North Korean economy implies that a large portion of these occupations are either unpaid or give

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

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.