North Korea's Public Distribution System

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North Korea is a communist dictatorship which was established by Kim Sung Il. It had its own government-ran food distribution system, commonly known as the Public Distribution System. North Korea’s Public Distribution System was a failed attempt to help the government fully control its citizens. This system was designed to give the dictator, originally Kim Sung il, full power over North Korea.
Kim Il Sung was the original founder of North Korea, and he founded it in 1948, shortly after the Korean War. The first thing he wanted to do as the dictator was to deny that he had started the Korean War. This was a power move, or simply a way for him to try to have more control. By not accepting that he had started it, he could be seen as a “Great …show more content…

After the Korean War, when North Korea had to begin fending for itself, it had to run on very little money for a lot of people. North Korea has always been a country of extreme poverty, as a result of Kim Il Sung’s dictatorship (Kim 135). Another reason for the creation of the Public Distribution System was for the government to have total control over the people. Kim Il Sung had all the power and manipulative abilities, and those traits have continued through the decades to his descendants. According to Kaplan and Denmark (2011), “Kim Jong Il consolidated power before and after his father’s death and cannily manipulated the Chinese, the Americans, and the South Koreans into subsidizing him throughout the decade”(pp. 10). The entire Kim Family wanted to establish full control over their country, and they did. Kim Il Sung threatened brutal punishments for anyone who tried to defy him. He also took over the Korean Workers’ Party (Sonneborn ?). This gave him a lot of his power over North …show more content…

They had to work in order to be given food, but at times when there were food shortages, they had to take full responsibility. Those who complained about their lack of food in public would soon disappear (Fahy 19). Any disrespect to the government would not be taken lightly. Most who “opposed the government” would be sent to a labor camp, where they would be tortured, sometimes even for the rest of their lives. However, those who showed loyalty or gratitude to Kim Il Sung or the government would receive great rewards of more food rations (Sonneborn

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