The Factors for No Freedom in North Korea

After World War Two (1948), Korea was created. The political differences between North and South Korea caused the outbreak of war in 1950. After that time, they have been in conflict. Now, this country shared a border with the South. Since the 1950s, the same family was in the government. Nowadays, we have Kim Jong-un who it’s the actual leader of this country. Moreover, he does not want people entering or going out of the land to avoid the spread of information in other communities around the world. Hence, TV shows and radio are control by the government. North Koreans are living a dictatorship in the 21st century. Every year, over 1,000 people escape from North Korea ((2019, September 7). North Korea defectors: Meet young people who have fled from North to South Korea. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/48883403). Yeonmi Park is one of them. She said that when she lived there, her purpose was to survive and support the regime. Mrs. Park felt that North Korea would not be a poor country if the dictator would not control them. She explained in one of her TED talks that her school taught her that Americans were their enemy. How was she going to know the truth if she had not had the Internet to search for it? Yeonmi said that their lives are not important enough for the President Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un. If she would not go out of this country, she would never know that she was living in a dictatorship. She explains how due to the dictatorship innocent people are paying the consequences (YouTube. (2019, June 5). How I Escaped From North Korea | Yeonmi Park. Retrieved December 14, 2019, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7izNBrWMNLc). Donald Trump has the dictator's attention and don’t use it to free North Korea. This dictatorship is leading to a lack of any freedom and maltreatment of their citizens.

First, North Koreans do not have freedom of movement. They cannot leave their country without permission. If they do it, they are exposed to harm punishments. Furthermore, they cannot even move in their own country. They must have a specific purpose and permission. For some people is very hard to survive because they live apart from the capital. So, they have denied access to some human rights like for example food and healthcare. Not only lack freedom of movement but Mr. Kim does not allow freedom of religion too. Because it is seen as a threat to the regime. North Koreans who were Christians or Muslims were persecuted. They have received hard punishment or even sentenced to death for practicing or spreading it. Even kids were obligated to see these punishments, so they feel scared and do not think about doing the same “error”. As a result, it is impressive how these people live in fear and cannot struggle to change it.

Second, freedom of speech in North Korea does not exist. They do not have free access to media. Kim Jong-un is the one responsible because he is the one who censored TV shows, radio, etc. North Koreans are only allowed to talk about the positive characteristics of the regime. They cannot neither think or express criticism to the leader. Because those who do not respect the rules end up in political prison camps. We see how they also controlled the freedom of information with manipulative propaganda that is spread in their country. Kim Jong-un achieved this way that people do not think they are living in a dictatorship. As well as, the regime invested so much money to control and change the software to block the information coming from the outside. As a result, they do not have access to the Internet, they cannot do international calls and they have one TV channel. Nobody is doing nothing to change it. Hye Won said that in North Korea people can study what the regime allows them to study (Liberty in North Korea. (n.d.). THE PEOPLE’S CHALLENGES. Retrieved December 14, 2019, from https://www.libertyinnorthkorea.org/learn-nk-challenges/). Even to think, it is not a free choice like in developed countries.

To continue, it is impossible to go against the regime. People living there do not think about doing strikes because they know the consequences. The teachers in North Korea are obligated to show the kids how you must behave there. Students are forced to learn the history of the Kim Jong-un family. Furthermore, books idolize Kim Jong-un's work saying that he has always treated people with kindness. It is said that Kim Jong-un has worked many labor-hours so the economy of the country could grow. But everyone knows this is not true, but they cannot go against it. It is so unfair that people living there cannot protest for their human rights.

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Thirdly, the lack of food sources in North Korea achieve that people do not have enough to eat. Joseph Kim (2013) explained that “when I lived in North Korea, all I worried about was getting food.” (Liberty in North Korea. (n.d.). THE PEOPLE’S CHALLENGES. Retrieved December 14, 2019, from https://www.libertyinnorthkorea.org/learn-nk-challenges/). Because of this malnutrition, many people suffer from stunted growth and health problems. If people want to have healthcare, they must ask for permission to go to the capital. The capital is the only place who has a hospital. In the end, the government is closing the citizens the chance to have health, even though is a human right. It is a fact, that people are dying due to this reason and we do not know because the government hides it to the whole world. Again, the ones who can afford it, they can live better. Economically good people are never going to protest for the ones who are not.

Next, North Korea created the “Songbun Political Apartheid System” to prove the loyalty of the citizens. Even though, they look for the background of their family to see if they were a danger for the regime. This reduces, even more, your life opportunities in North Korea. Because if they or their family were disloyal to the government, they are going to punish their family. If they go against the regime three generations of their family can be harmed. Moreover, Kim Jong-un created political prison camps to harm these people. According to Liberty in North Korea, the number of prisoners is between 80,000 to 120,000 people (Liberty in North Korea. (n.d.). THE PEOPLE’S CHALLENGES. Retrieved December 14, 2019, from https://www.libertyinnorthkorea.org/learn-nk-challenges/). Here we can find an analogy with Hitler's dictatorship, where he constructs concentration camps to punish Jewish people. The big analogy is that in both cases innocent people went to jail. An Amnesty International report affirms that thousands of people who went to prison in North Korea were because of protesting against the regime (BBC. (2019a, July 9). North Korea defectors: Meet young people who have fled from North to South Korea. Retrieved December 14, 2019, from https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/48883403).

Following this, they are many people that are dying because they try to escape from North Korea. The regime has forbidden the fact that people go out of the country. But this does not impede North Koreans. They prefer to risk their lives for going away from this country. Many people who were caught suffered from violence punishments, even faced death. Kim Jong-un invest loads of money to improve the security system of the country. Consequently, the number of refugees in South Korea has decreased. Many of these people tend to recur to China because they do not have enough resources to go to someone else. In the end, they work in illegal industries, like sex traffickers, so the government does not notice them. After they escape from North Korea, they are vulnerable to the world. They do not know how to deal with the modernity that we have today. So, the regime is marginalizing them from the world. Again, people prefer to suffer from Refugee exploitation instead of living in North Korea.

Last but not least, Donald Trump prefers to come to agreements with Mr. Kim instead of trying to speak with the leader to achieve changes in North Korea. The US president, Donald Trump, signed one of the most important documents of world history on June 12, 2018. This paper included unknown security guarantees between both countries (Time. (2018, June 12). President Trump and Kim Jong Un Just Agreed to Work Toward Denuclearization. Read the Full Text Here. Retrieved December 14, 2019, from https://time.com/5309425/donald-trump-kim-jong-un-summit-document-full-text/). Instead of struggling for change in North Korea, Mr. Trump decided to ignore the problem and keep with the negotiation, so none of the countries lose money. This shows how we live in a capitalist world that acts to benefit themselves. Governments must act like humans who care about other humans, not as if they were independent of the money. We see how money rules the world and move masses. Therefore, not so many people are helping the North Koreans.

To conclude, we see how the leader of North Korea is violating citizens' human rights. Kim Jong-un is killing innocent people because they try to live in freedom. These people are suffering, and nobody does anything. Even Mr. Trump who has enough power to speak with the leader of the regime do not struggle to achieve that. In my opinion, it is very sad that we have dictatorships in the 21st century. We are fighting for freedom all over the world. We want the freedom of speech in Latin America, we want the freedom of information in Palestine. And, we want freedom in North Korea. Where is the government’s support? We should work together as humans and help us not to gain money but because we care about each other’s rights. We must stop thinking that some problems cannot be solved and that we cannot do anything regarding this. Sometimes wrong help us to find right. There is light despite all the darkness. Even though it is difficult to find a solution to this problem. We must be aware of this issue, help NGO’s, invest in better worldwide education and do not let governments shape our reality. We can never lose hope and the purpose to help people despite they are far away from us.