Can we really agree with North Koreas current supreme commander Kim Jong-un in saying that their people are liberated from exploitation and oppression? Let’s first agree to disagree with powers controlling North Korea in calling their government Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Furthermore, to examine this country as a true democratic republic rather than communist Korean Workers' Party can put a bitter taste in any American’s mouth. Hence, the general citizens have no say in any aspect of their country, which contradicts the meaning of democracy in America’s ideology of a constitutional democracy and its Greek root meaning of democracy “rule of the people” and not North Koreas leading party’s interpretation, which is the rule over the people. North Korea is rated second to last in the world for exploiting and oppressing its own citizens, according to the World Press Freedom Index. In 2009, Kim Jong-il, Chairman of the National Defense Commission, which is the highest office of the State, declared North Korea and China’s relationship as “unbreakable.” Since 2006, China has economically supported North Korea’s stability, yet China implemented United Nation sanctions against North Korea. Looking at North Koreas government system and how it is sponsored, this is why we should not back China’s economy through our trading arrangement in turn supports this tyranny and injustice that occurs in North Korea, that conflicts with our own God-given rights.
Without the support of China today North Koreas totalitarian regime would disintegrate. This government system acts like a dictatorial of successors who fall under Kim Il-sung family line, prime minister then president of North Korea until his death in 1994. This absolute dictatorshi...
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...tions we will leave behind when it is time to move on from this world.
Works Cited
"2014 Index of Economic Freedom North Korea." 3 June 2013. The Heritage Foundation. Web. 19 March 2014. .
Brooke, James. The Age Company. 19 November 2004. Web. 24 March 2014. .
"globalEDGE." April 2012. North Korea: Government Principal Government Officials. Web. 20 March 2014. .
O'Neill, Mark. Kim Il-sung's secret history. 17 October 2010. Web. 15 March 2014. .
"U.S. Department of State." 31 January 2014. U.S. Relations With North Korea. Web. 1 April 2014. .
"North Korea: Human rights concerns." Amnesty Australia. Amnesty International, 28 Nov. 2006. Web. 2 May 2014. .
(migrationinformation, 2008). Citizens of North Korea do not attain the freedom to leave and experience other states. North Korea’s lack of freedom not only affects their citizens but also individuals from other countries in a negative sense, cutting off social bonds as a result. Not having mobility rights is an infringement on their negative liberty on account of the option of immigrating or emigrating not being available to them due to the laws placed by the government. In actuality, citizens “caught emigrating or helping others cross the border illegally are detained” (migrationinformation, 2008).
Climate, conflict, isolation, and corruption culminated in millions of lives lost, surely with no small amount of pain and suffering endured. Though international intervention can only help to the degree that authorities in North Korea will allow it, we are not left entirely without recourse. It is too late now to undo the damage of the North Korean famine, and although power has since changed hands, the country remains famously isolated. If, however, we tell the story as best we can, and deny ourselves the comfort of closing our eyes when faced with such a colossal tragedy, then perhaps in the future we find a solution. Silent are the Koreans who perished, and silent still are the authorities that chose seclusion over security. If we wish to prevent this from happening again, we must not let their silence be our silence as well.
No one would ever think that a small country could create a controversy known the world over, but North Korea has achieved this goal. The North Korean genocide has claimed 2000 people a day and these killings are from starvation and beating. Many people think communism is better than democracy, but it has its faults. For example, North Korea is Communist and whatever the leader’s beliefs, the Communist citizen has to believe. What is happening and what happened is genocide.
Rogue states under dictatorial rule threaten the fragile peace, which exists in our modern world. Constantly as a society Americans have always fought against these said foes. However all too often we pass a blind eye to the humanity of the enemies’ civilian populations. For more often than not, those who live within these systems are chronically oppressed. The nation of North Korea is no exception, with “Bing-brother always watching.” The government in North Korea pervades all aspects of life.
Since the end of the Korean War, the United States has enacted policies to isolate and undermine the Kim Dynasty in North Korea. A key development took place in the past several decades where North Korea broke away from the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) to develop their own nuclear weapons and while lacking launch capabilities, they have been successful in their development. During this process, the United States took active policies to deter the North Koreans in pursuit of their goals. It is easy to assume that the United States took this stance in order to maintain a military edge in the region. But under closer examination, this neo-realist perspective does not explain why the United States pursued this policy. In reality, North Korea to this day does not pose a significant military threat, even with limited nuclear capabilities. A constructivist perspective is more able to explain US policy in this instance because it does not focus on sheer militaristic power. It takes into consideration the state's identities which drives their interests. The identities of the US and North Korea and the interactions between them drove both nations to the point of acquiring and deterring nuclear use.
Meetings were held with North Korea and the U.S. would always demand that North Korea remove those nuclear weapons, but every time they would decline. Kim Jong-Il’s health started to descend and that left him to give his power to his son, Kim Jong-Un. After his father’s death in 2011, Kim Jong-Un continued doing nuclear tests, even if that meant that North Korea wouldn’t be accepted into the international community. In conclusion, it can be said that dictatorship still exists to this day and that still many people aren’t free.
Relations between the United States and North Korea have been unstable since the second world war and with each passing decade the relations have become more tense. The U.S has never have formal international relations with North Korea , however the conflict has caused much controversy in U.S foreign policy. North Korea has been the receiver of millions of dollars in U.S aid and the target of many U.S sanctions. This is due to the fact that North Korea is one of the most oppressive regimes on the planet, that uses unjust techniques such as murder, torture, and starvation to get their citizens to be obedient. They restrict contact from their citizens to the outside world, through censorship of technology and rarely allowing visitors to the country. The root of the US-North Korea conflict however ,has been on the basis of nuclear weapons and North Korea threatening to use those weapons against the U.S and neighboring South Korea. The U.S and other nations have been working for the last few decades to stop the regime from purchasing and utilizing destructive nuclear weapons.
North Korea could be described as a dystopian society. For all of its citizens, the Internet is widely monitored and restricted, allowing only limited access. “One could speculate that it is more propaganda about the country, its leaders, or negative coverage about the US.... ... middle of paper ... ...
...p them from achieving peace and order. Today, there is enough evidence that Korea has been a prosperous country aside from all their sufferings; their presence is felt by the whole world.
.... The two countries are reconnecting rail lines and sent a combined team to the Olympics. Even the United States is providing $500 million dollars a year in food to the starving North Koreans. The new South Korean President, Roh-Moo-hyun was elected on a peace platform and suggested US troops may be gone within ten years. Works Cited North Korean military and nuclear proliferation threat: evaluation of the U.S.-DPRK agreed framework: joint hearing before the Subcommittee on International Economic Policy and Trade and Asia and the Pacific of the Committee on International Relations, House of Representatives, One Hundred Fourth Congress, first session, February 23, 1995, Publisher: U.S. G.P.O.: For sale by the U.S. G.P.O., Supt. of Docs, Congressional Sales Office; http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/2340405.stm http://www.iht.com/articles/95391.html
Communist North Korea continues to be an underdeveloped country while South Korea continues to prosper in all areas such as technology, and agriculture. These two countries have vast differences with their political and government views. North Korea at one point was influenced by the Soviet Union but no longer. However, North Korea continues to be influenced by and receive aid from China. South Korea continues to be influenced by the United States of America. North Korea is governed and controlled by a dictatorship, which has complete control over media and social
Throughout the global media North Korea’s isolation and Harsh rule has become increasingly secretive, although some facts have been detected (“North Korea Profile”, 1). According to data collected from The Guardian, eighty-one out of one-hundred people in South Korea have access to the internet, yet in North Korea around .1 out of one-hundred people have access to the internet . Not only is the greater population of North Korea disconnected from outside sources, yet leaders in North Korea are also isolated from outside sources; putting themselves at a disadvantage. North Korea may launch a war, but they are unaware as to what they are up against because of its secrecy . Around one million are serving in the North Korean Army, but when South Korea’s army; combined with the U.S’s army (their ally), the ratio of the North Korean Army is signi...
South Korea, once a broken country filled with broken families, has transformed itself into a fine example of perseverance in a tough situation. South Korea and its neighbor to the north have developed past where they were before the Korean War, but in different ways. The two countries, while certainly dependent on each other, are vastly different. Their conflicting styles of government and their differing cultures speak for themselves in this case. South Korea has, over the years, changed dramatically from the crippled country of the Korean War into a blossoming beacon of Asian cultural and economic changes. The combination of its recent economic importance, its heavy cultural influence, and its constant danger of participating in a war makes South Korea one of the most influential countries in the world.
Kim, Yongho and Yi, Yurim “Security Dilemmas and Signaling during the North Korean Nuclear Standoff”, Asian Perspective, Vol. 29, No. 3, 2005, pp. 73-97