Choeunchan Lee, Week 11 - Power of KIM JONG eUNchan
Growing up as a Korean in America, I got asked the question “North or South?” more times than I can remember, both jokingly and in serious ways. I still distinctly remember in my first year in Fremont, I was in the playground during recess when a girl approached me and asked, “Are you from South or North Korea? And why are there two Koreas? Aren’t they the same?”
Despite having lived in South Korea for the majority of my life, it's a little embarrassing to admit that I actually don’t know much about North Korea. The border that crosses the middle of the Korean peninsula creates a complete blockage of communication between the two; therefore, I’ve only learned about what it’s like there through Youtube videos and interviews of those who had successfully escaped.
North Korea is best-known for its totalitarian dictatorship. With its one-party-rule power structure, all authority flows under one, single supreme leader. Since the end of World War II, three generations of the Kim dictator-family have ruled the country with absolute power: Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong-il, and Kim Jong-un(current). Using numerous manipulative strategies such as propaganda about foreign countries and brutal use of the military, the government maintains its authoritarian control by pushing for the ideology of nationalism. With its intricate network of security agencies, those found making offences against the government must undergo “reeducation,” or in serious cases, could even result in execution, further preventing revolts or political oppositions. This is worsened by the society's rigid social classes, where members in the higher class such as elite families or highly-ranked officials receive significant privileges, including desirable jobs, houses, and food. In fact, an approximate number of 10.7 million people in North Korea (around 40 percent of the population) are undernourished.
This abuse of power in North Korea is a great model that showcases how dangerous power can be when it is not regulated under careful supervision. Civilians are monitored constantly and isolated from the rest of the world—barely experiencing a bit of freedom, almost as if they are trapped inside a jail-like bubble. The country’s corrupt government continues to take advantage of its capacity to influence others to this day and I really hope this violation of basic human rights comes to an end someday.
Hi Eunchan! To start off, I really liked your creative and attention-grabbing title! Elsa and I were laughing a lot about it.
ReplyDeleteI think it’s crazy how some people ask questions like “Are you from North or South Korea?” and “Aren’t they the same?” I feel that not only are they ignorant about the topic, they are willing to openly show that ignorance and some disrespect towards an individual. It’s okay to not know about something, but expressing it in a natural and genuine way would be way more comfortable to answer.
I think it’s okay to not know a lot about North Korea—most people don’t either. Their government is really structured in a way where we aren’t supposed to know the truth about what goes on in their country, and the people of North Korea aren’t meant to know about what goes on outside. Actually, I used Kim Jong Un as evidence in our argument essay on artifice—Kim Jong Un is able to maintain political power by creating the narrative of North Korea being a strong and respectable country, by keeping all outside sources of information out and telling blatant lies to support this narrative.
It is genuinely saddening how the situation in North Korea is so disheartening. However, after watching some YouTube videos about North Korea, it seems that there isn’t much that we, or anyone else, can do to help dismantle this power regime. I share the same hope for the future as you—that the North Korean citizens will eventually no longer experience violations of their “basic human rights.” Thanks for sharing!
Hi Eunchan! I’m sorry you had to deal with people’s ignorance from such a young age. I suppose the argument can be made that most young children legitimately do not know better, but it saddens me that many adults who should know better still ask these same questions and still decide to be insensitive. I think this especially pertains to places where people have unrestricted access to the Internet and the information it holds. It is important that we educate ourselves as much as we can about the world around us, not always getting stuck in our own affairs. Even if we cannot do anything to directly help North Koreans, like Max points out, it makes it easier for everyone to be a little bit more educated, open-minded, and accepting of people from different backgrounds, showing them compassion if and when they need it. I, too, have seen videos of people who escaped North Korea, and it is heartbreaking to see how much they suffered, both under the regime’s “abuse of power” but also the discrimination they faced when they escaped and had to build themselves from the bottom up again. The indoctrination of the “‘reeducation’” system especially emphasizes how dangerous censorship can be, completely cutting a group of people off from the rest of the world and from opportunities of a better life by painting the life they already have as a perfect “ideology.” Since censorship to this extreme degree does not exist in the United States, it is up to us to take advantage of it in order to avoid trapping ourselves in a “jail-like bubble” of our own.
ReplyDeleteHi Eunchan, unfortunately, as a very sheltered child, I never really knew the difference between North and South Korea, and especially when I was young, I never knew of the different governmental policies in South Korea; I had only heard of the negative oppression of North Korea. The first time I saw a survivor story of a woman who had escaped North Korea as a young child, I was surprised at the malnourishment that she described most people in North Korea faced. Living in America, I grew up thinking most countries also harbored similar values that attempted to benefit their citizens instead of causing them harm. Similar to Adolf Hitler, Kim Jong Un also blatantly abuses his power and creates propaganda within North Korea to deceive people under the face of nationalism. I’ve also heard that in North Korea, every household must have a portrait of Kim Jong Un, and if it is damaged in any way, they could be killed or punished for their “crime.” I hope in the near future, with the continuous development of technology, we can help protect other people’s basic human rights on top of simply our own.
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