The Problems Of Human Rights In North Korea
Imagine living in a country where citizens have little to no rights. A place where the government can kill them at any time for any reason and where the citizens are required to worship the ruler as a god. This scenario is reality for people who are unfortunate to live in North Korea. The North Korean ruler Kim Jong Un is a reckless dictator who stops at nothing to get what he wants while his people are suffering.
Firstly, to understand the current North Korean regime, people must understand the formation of the country. In 1945, after Japan surrendered to the allies at the end of World War Two, they lost the ownership of Korean peninsula. The Soviet Union, a communist nation, occupied the Northern half while the United States, a capitalist democracy, occupied the southern half. In the Soviet occupied North, Kim il Sung, who was trained and backed by the Soviets, rose to power. In 1950, the south, known as South Korea, declared independence which angered the North which led to the North invading the South. The United States came to the aid of the South and pushed North Korean troops into China. China thought they would be invaded so they helped the North. The two sides stopped fighting in 1953, where there was a military stalemate in the middle of the Korean Peninsula where the current North and South Korea border is today known as the demilitarized zone, the most heavily armed and guarded border in the world. The Korean war was never formally ended as there was only a ceasefire, not a treaty, between the North and the South which means that they are still at war today.
North Korea’s official country name is the Democratic People's Republic Of Korea. The name fools the people into believing that it is a peaceful democracy. North Korea is purely communist and there are no elections to elect new leader. North Korea was and is ruled by the Kim Dynasty. It is currently ruled by Kim Jong Un the grandson of Kim il Sung and son of Kim Jong il. Un came to power in 2011, when his father Kim Jong il died. Under the leadership of Kim Jong Un, the North Korean people have been even more oppressed than ever before. Human rights in North Korea are extremely limited. North Koreans do not have the right to free speech as they must not speak against the government or else they will be punished. It is illegal to practice any religion as Kim is believed to be a living god. Citizens are required to worship statues of the Kim family. If anyone is caught possessing a Bible, they will be killed. North Korean children are taught from a young age that the United States is evil and are trained to kill American soldiers. The propaganda posters can be compared to the propaganda shown in Nazi Germany. The only TV station they have is the North Korean news which is a government run network that only shows North Korean propaganda. North Korea is like a pest which is slowly is running out of oxygen and will soon die.
Punishment in North Korea is nothing like in western countries. If someone is convicted of an offense, they will be sent to a concentration camp where they are subjected horrible conditions. Prisoners are required to do forced labor physical with little access to necessities such as food and water. The worst part about it is that there is the rule called the three generations of punishment, which means that if a North Korean citizen is found guilty of committing a crime, not only will the offender be thrown into prison, but their parents and children as well. Why don’t they leave the country, I hear people asking. North Koreans are simply not allowed to leave. There are various routes in which the oppressed citizens attempt to flee. The most popular route is to cross the Tumen river, a five hundred kilometer body of water which stretches between the borders of China and North Korea. If someone manages to cross the river into China without being shot by guards, they have to hide from the Chinese authorities. Since China and North Korea are allies, if China catches any North Korean refugees within, they will send them back to North Korea where they will be executed. To make things worse, the North Korean people little access to food. A study conducted by The United Nations concluded that 41% of North Koreans are malnourished. Instead of feeding his people, Kim spends all of the countries money on producing nuclear weapons so that he could threaten the west. For the North Korean citizens, North Korea is considered to be worse than hell. Kim, being the wise fool that he is, has broken hundreds of UN sanctions by his nuclear program. Kim fired multiple missiles into the Korean sea, near South Korea and Japan, both allies of the United States. Kim has made no effort to improve his country’s problem.
In summary, the current North Korean situation is one that has been going on for decades. The people are starving, and have little to no human rights. As time goes on, it seems like the conditions get worse. With rising tensions in the news, the question we should be asking is, when will North Korea collapse?
