Wednesday, August 7, 2013
Essay on NK
North Korea is a country hidden in darkness from the rest of the world, and this is exactly what it means to be. Living up to its nickname, the hermit kingdom is surrounded by a cloud of mystery and dread. The government embodies that of George Orwell's 1984, holding complete control of a nation of people who only know what they are told, which is not much. The regime of Kim Il-Sung took Control of North Korea and has used it's totalitarian actions to maintain maximum authority over a captive people. Under the supervision of the past three Dear Leaders, the country has become a well oiled machine, perfect for oppressing and terrorizing. One of the most effective means of control the dear leader employs is that he is seen as the one and only God.
It is commonly believed by the North Korean people that Kim Il-Sung and his descendants can do no wrong. All good things come from the great leader and any hardship that may befall the citizens is the doing of the dear leaders enemy, the United States. U.S. citizens are seen as the epitome of evil, those selfish bastards and the rest of the world only wish to eradicate the Kim dynasty and enslave the only pure communist nation left. According to defectors, this is the type of propaganda perpetuated by the schools, the few television channels in existence, and every other form of media within the countries borders. The approved messages of the government cannot be contested because It is all that is known. The authorities do everything they can to make sure no other information is allowed in or out of the country.
The power game is further perfected by the dyer situation in which the North Koreans live. An official death tole is impossible with a country that would never admit weakness, but it is clear that the population has been ravaged by famine, malnutrition, and flood. There are countless numbers of people living on the streets. It is not uncommon for children to be orphaned at a young age. Either their parents cannot care for them, have died of malnutrition, or have been relocated to one of the countries many prison camps. It seems like the North Koreans have to be extremely careful not to do or say anything that could be misconstrued as an act against the regime. Everyone may be discontented with the quality of life within the country, but a complaint breathed to the wrong person could lead to imprisonment. Stealing a piece of food to keep yourself alive could lead to imprisonment. Conspiring to defect could lead to imprisonment. Even having a family member speak against the government could lead to imprisonment. Faced with the very real danger of being sent to a concentration camp, North Korean citizens would rather play along than acknowledge any problems. The citizens are also kept quiet by the Norths policy of immediately imprisoning not only the lawbreaker, but three generations of their family as well.
All of this information has only been speculated at until recently when North Korean defectors, who can be sure they are finally safe from the reach of angry government officials, have started to report just what was going on in the Hermit Kingdom. We now have information of at least 6 force labor camps where the conditions are worse than those of the country in general. The camps are home to political prisoners, religious traitors, and their families. Many children are born into these camps, never knowing the outside world. Public executions are a common practice within the camps. One defector, a twenty-some year old man remembers seeing his mother and brother publicly killed when he was a boy. Sadly, events like this occur too often to surprise the prisoners. It is the sadistic policy of the prison guards to dehumanize the prisoners. The believe is that once someone enters a camp, they have lost all privilege as a human being and are now seen as tailless animals.
No one was ever meant to escape North Korea and this is all radically different than what the country would wish to portray to the rest of the world. North Korea still desires reunification with its Southern counterpart. Perhaps this explains the facade that is Pyongyang. Pyongyang is the capital city and the only part of the North that can be seen from the DMZ, the border with South Korea. It is believed that Pyongyang was intended to make citizens of the South wish to defect to the North. Pyongyang is filled with big buildings, hotels, and some modern day amenities. Renovations are constantly being made to the city, and the standard of living there is the best you will find in North Korea. It seems the plan to tempt Southerners has failed and most of Pyongyang has been deserted. The few apartment units and schools still in use are occupied by high government officials and party members who have been appointed to live there.
Ether these North Korean elites are being awarded for their loyalty and a job well done, or are too high up to be trusted to live without monitoring. It has been reported that there are T.V. like screens mounted on the walls of Pyongyang home constantly streaming propaganda and songs of praise to the Dear Leader. It is unknown if these screens also listen for any decent ion against the countries ideology, but with all the secrecy and paranoia, I would not put it past the North. The Pyongyang front is also the only part of the country that is likely to be shown to outsiders. Some tourists from outside countries have been granted the ability to enter North Korea, a brave few have risked smuggling in video cameras and compiling documentaries of their experiences. In all of the, the information given to outsiders by defectors is confirmed. The city is mostly deserted, the tourists are usually the only patrons of the huge hotels, at meal times, massive amounts of food are set out on the tables to give the appearance of abundance, and minders are assigned to regulate what the tourists are able to see. The few people going about their lives in Pyongyang are not allowed to talk to the tourists. If a visitor poses an uncomfortable question about the prison camps or the unsavory living conditions, the minders quickly change the topic or threaten the asker with deportation.
Of the 24 million people living in North Korea, not many have the privileges afforded to he lucked few Pyongyang citizens, if you can call them privileges. For most, their voices are never heard, their faces are never seen. Here in the U.S., we a large population of working poor, but even these know nothing of barely scraping by. Sufficient food is hard to come by, medical care is scarce, there are people dying in the streets and the North Korean people no longer find this unusual. What is the Kim family really doing for its country? The people are stuck in a world of fear with no idea that there is any other way. Some 200,000 people are reported to be held in the nations prison camps, but it is suspected that that number is under represented. We will never know how many poor souls are really held captive in these camps. The people of North Korea are a good people with hopes and dreams and fears just like anybody else. We cannot assume that they are lost to the political ideologies of the authorities, that they believe in the oppression and hatred of the party. They are slaves that only long to be liberated.
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