Isolationism In North Korea

Even though The Korean peninsula has been occupied for as long as time can tell we will begin to look at the historical context of North Korea in the 1900’s. By 1910, Japan’s colonial rule over Korea was a “brutal experience. [Tensions were high as] resistance groups formed in Korea and China, mostly adopting leftist politics in reaction to the right-wing Japanese administration” (libertyinnorthkorea.org). Before WWII, Korea began to modernize, and Pyongyang developed into a city influenced heavily by Western culture and Christianity. After WWII, the United States and the Soviet Union divided the Korean peninsula, which was acquired through the defeat of Japan, into a two parts divided by the 38th parallel. This started the many conflicts that

Isolationism was a common practice in the Asian region but unlike China, Japan, and South Korea, the North Korean leaders decided to remain closed off from influences from the outside world giving them the nickname the Hermit Kingdom. Control is the main aspect of Isolationism. The government in a closed off society is in complete control of all things from the media to the working environments. Knowledge is controlled as the government censors the information flow to the best of their ability, as well as creating propaganda to control the people’s thinking. It is estimated that around 3,000 people a year escape and go to South Korea, but only to find a world they don’t know. They leave one of the most isolated country in the world to enter a very highly technological society that is South Korea and have to “spend months in special government schools to learn how to cope with the 21st Century” (Roberts). The isolationism also represents a sense of fear of globalization as outside influences could inform the people that they are trying to control, telling them that the government is corrupt and inhumane to the people. As of now most people in North Korea feel loyalty and treat the leader, Kim Jung-Un as if he were a

Oppression is not something new for North Korea, and in 2014 the “UN Commission of Inquiry found that abuses in North Korea were without parallel in the contemporary world. They include extermination, murder, enslavement, torture, imprisonment, rape, forced abortions, and other sexual violence. North Korea operates a series of secretive prison camps where perceived opponents of the government are sent to face torture and abuse, starvation rations, and forced labor. Fear of collective punishment is used to silence dissent. There is no independent media, functioning civil society, or religious freedom” (hrw.org). Looking at how the government treats its people raises more issues from the United States. The tensions remain very high as the United States strongly opposes countries who do not promote freedom for its