The North Korean regime uses every possible method to protect its own little regime. For example the idolization of the family and propaganda of Kim Jong Il [Kim Jong Il was the dictator of North Korea from 1994 until his death in 2011.] and Kim Il Sung [Kim Il Sung was the founder of North Korea’s communist state and ruled from 1948 until his death in 1994, when he was succeeded by his son, Kim Jong Il.] are used to brainwash the people ever since they are young and they do not even realize that they are being turned into mental slaves.
The most important ways that North Korea uses it is to insulate the people from information and use only news that the regime produces and they show the people the same news over and over again, which makes the people of North Korea to be insulated from the world. So the control of information is the most important factor for this self-sustaining regime. The North Korean regime never gave up their efforts to maintain control over their political system. But I think that the North Korean people are experiencing what I call an evolution and we cannot ignore this effort entirely.
For example I was caught by the North Korean security police because I exchanged three letters to a South Korean journalist. These days, the North Korean people have cell phones. Therefore I can talk freely with them. They talk to me about the public executions and sometimes they send me videos of these public executions that they take with hidden cameras. Just this morning I was speaking with people from North Korea and we discussed how the people were reacting to the Supreme People’s Assembly [North Korea’s parliament] session held yesterday.
This is how the North Korean people are evolving. There are North Korean people who out of their own will are seeking information about the outside world even though there are strict restrictions. They also told me that they are living harder because of the rationing system since they don´t have support from the state. All of these efforts are an ongoing process of evolution. I think that the Kim Jong Il regime has a system where there is complete control over the people. For example, there are 1.5 million soldiers on active duty, 200,000 in the police force, and there are other kinds of armed forces across the nation. The regime is able to control the entire population because of this system.
For example when they show their military parades or mass gatherings it is not only for display but to show that the Kim Jong Il regime has absolute control over the people. But there are still some things that Kim Jong Il does not understand. For example the currency reform removed a lot of the wealth that the people struggled most of their lives to save. [In 2009, the regime revalued North Korea’s currency, wiping out savings for much of the population.] The North Korean people are angry and want their revenge.
Also the so-called “Arduous March” [a phrase used to describe the North Korean famine of 1994 – 1998] left three million dead from starvation and the children who of the people who died are still alive and witnessed this event. This will cause the North Korean people to be angry and eventually confront the system because there is not outlet for anger, which I think will lead to democracy in North Korea.
Kim Seong Min was born in 1962. He grew up and received his education in Pyongyang, North Korea. Kim is the son of a poet and was trained as a writer. After serving ten years in the military, he worked in one of the regime’s propaganda offices. Troubled by the society in which he lived, Kim escaped to China in 1997. He eventually arrived in Seoul, South Korea in 1999, and ever since has fought for the liberation and democratization of his homeland.
In 2004, Kim established Free North Korea Radio (FNKR) to broadcast messages about freedom to those being oppressed and exploited by the regime in Pyongyang. These tireless efforts have been recognized by several international awards, including the “Prize for Press Freedom” from Reporters Without Borders and the “Asia Democracy and Human Rights Award” from the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy. Recently, Kim was elected as a Representative of the Coalition to Promote the Democratization of North Korea, an alliance of North Korean defector organizations based in South Korea.
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North Korea (the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) is a country of 23 million people in northeast Asia, ruled by Communist dictator Kim Jong-Un. His deceased predecessors—father, Kim Jong-Il, and grandfather, Kim Il-Sung – respectively retain the titles of “Eternal President” and “The Great Leader.”
The Korean War began in 1950, when Kim Il-Sung, backed by the Soviet Union and China, attacked South Korea. The conflict ended in a cease-fire rather than a peace treaty, and the border between the two Koreas remains tense and heavily militarized.
Kim Il-Sung employed harsh tactics to consolidate his power and propagated an extreme personality cult that has been continued by his successors. A blend of communist doctrine, state terror, xenophobia and hyper-nationalism has given North Korea its unique ideology. Despite some recent openings, North Korea remains largely isolated from the rest of the world.
With the end of Soviet communism and withdrawal of economic support, North Korea’s economy collapsed in the 1990s. A massive famine, aggravated by the regime’s indifference, killed as many as 2 million people between 1994 and 1998. While conditions have improved, even today, North Korea faces problems of malnutrition and insufficient access to food.
Tensions between North and South Korea remain high. In 2010, North Korea sank a South Korean naval vessel, killing 46 sailors and attacked a South Korean island, killing four civilians. North Korea has developed and tested nuclear weapons in contravention of several international agreements. The country withdrew from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 2003 in order to test ballistic missiles and eventually a nuclear device. Multilateral negotiations have so far failed to constrain North Korea’s arms buildup and nuclear program.
North Korea is among the world’s most repressive states, engaging in widespread and systematic human rights violations, including extrajudicial executions, torture, forced abortion, arbitrary detention, and denial of the rights of expression, association, assembly, and religion. The government pervasively regulates all aspects of the lives of its citizens, each of whom is categorized as “core,” “wavering,” or “hostile,” according to the history of his or her family’s relationship with the regime. Access to housing, employment, education, and other social and economic goods depend heavily on these security classifications. The government determines where each citizen will live, and travel within the country is strictly limited.
Emigration is prohibited. Refugees who have escaped to China have frequently been forcibly returned to North Korea where they are imprisoned, subjected to torture and other ill-treatment, and sometimes executed. The government operates a network of forced labor camps for an estimated 120,000 political prisoners. While persons convicted of ordinary crimes serve fixed sentences, those convicted of political crimes are confined indefinitely. Punishment is extended to three generations – the offender’s parents, siblings, and children are also incarcerated, as a way to pressure North Koreans to conform. Political offenders are often denied food, clothing, and medical care, and many die in prison.
Freedom House’s Freedom in the World report classifies North Korea as “not free” and as one of nine nations whose lack of political rights and civil liberties are considered the “worst of the worst.”
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