he Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) is a communist dictatorship led by Korean Worker's Party Secretary Kim Jong Il. Kim is the son of eternal President Kim Il Sung, the first leader of North Korea and author of the country's original Constitution, who died in 1994. The North Korean Constitution emphasizes the idea of the " a nationalist ideology based on self-reliance, while unabashedly glorifying its author. Economic activity is centrally planned and all labor unions are government controlled. Individual freedoms are virtually non-existent and all interests are subservient to Kim and the party he controls. The government has no real system of checks and balances, and the legal system is based on German, Japanese and Communist systems without any framework in place for judicial review, reports the CIA World Factbook.
While North Korea has a constitution that guarantees freedoms such as religion, assembly, association and the right to a public trial, in practice, these rights are not recognized. The Penal Code is described as "draconian" by the U. S. State Department. Freedom of assembly is allowed, but the government will not allow public meetings without authorization from the party. Freedom of religion is permitted on paper only and it "should not be used for purposes of dragging in foreign powers or endangering public security." Freedom of worship is permitted only when the leaders are in step with government policies. Capital offenses include "crimes against the revolution," such as defection, attempted defection, slander of the party or the state, writing or owning "reactionary" material and listening to foreign broadcasts. "Collusion with imperialists," "ideological divergence," opposing socialism and counterrevolutionary acts can all lead to a death sentence as well. Defense attorneys for the accused serve to get confessions of guilt from their clients. The right to a public trial can be revoked and political offenses can include something as minor as damaging a picture of Kim Il Sung or Kim Jong Il. Political offenders are often sentenced to "re-education through labor" camps where they are forced to do manual labor in harsh conditions, according to the 2002 U.S. State Department Report on Human Rights Practices.
Beginning in the 1950s, the Party classified the population into three sections: "core," "wavering," and "hostile." There are subcategories within each group, and the distinctions serve to determine eligibility for employment, educational opportunities and housing, among other things. Estimates place the amount of "wavering" and "hostile" citizens at 50% of the population. Additionally, indoctrination of all citizens is rampant and approaches "the level of a state religion." Lessons about party ideology take precedence over academic matters in schools, the media is owned and controlled by the party, and mandated ideological study sessions are required for workers, according to the U.S. State Department Report on Human Rights practices for 2002.
A January 2003 NBC News report on North Korea, which contained interviews with former inmates, prison guards and officials from the U.S. and South Korea, estimated that 200,000 political prisoners are being held in remote camps along the Russian and Chinese borders. Women are forced into having abortions; people are used as guinea pigs for testing biological and chemical agents, and up to 25% of prisoners die each year, according to estimates. A former prison guard told NBC News that "they trained me not to treat the prisoners as human beings. If someone is against socialism, if someone tries to escape from prison, then kill him." Adults are forced to work from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days a week. Children work from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week also, according to a 1996 report in the New York Times.
According to the June 8, 2001 Insight magazine article "How North Korea Starves Its People," North Koreans outside the modern city of Pyongyang live in "unspeakable "" The humanitarian aid sent by international relief organizations was stopped after it was discovered that the food and supplies were given to "friends of the regime" instead of the needy. Dr. Norbert Vollersten, a German emergency care doctor worked in North Korea for two years, said "people in Pyongyag have no idea that most of their country is starving." According to Dr. Vollersten, "North Korea was two different countries - Pyongyang for the elite and the countryside for the poor."
In its annual report on North Korea for the year 2003, Reporters Sans Frontieres detailed the strict control the government keeps over the media. Placing it at the bottom of the list in terms of freedom of the press, television coverage is usually propaganda praising Kim Jong Il and the violent Korean People's Army. The KCNA, the state run news agency, is a mouthpiece for the party. In a letter to members of the Korean Journalists Union, Kim Jong Il told reporters that they are "the ideological standard bearers who defend our system and our cause." In addition, he said that they should "brandish their pens to bring an end to reactionary and imperialist forces" from the western world, namely the United States.
The North Korean government does not even attempt to disguise its perversion of government to the rest of the world. Leaders claim that the current situation concerning nuclear weapons on the peninsula could be solved only if the United States and South Korea "cool their heads overheated with war fever, do soul-searching, and behave with discretion" according to a KCNA report. Meanwhile, North Korean citizens live in an alternate reality without access to legitimate, credible news, and base their beliefs on false propaganda. Those who dare criticize the government are hauled off to labor camps along with their families, and those who are lucky enough to defect live in primitive conditions over the border in China and Russia, constantly fearing capture. Outside of Pyongyang, the country is in shambles and the government is unable to feed its people. Without access to the freedoms experienced in a democratic society, the situation in North Korea will inevitably become worse, and if Kim's fears about United States intervention become a reality, those enforcing terror could begin to experience it.
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