Separate Governments In North Korea

Words: 844
Pages: 4
Open Document
North Korea is a relatively new country and its human rights problems are partly due to the fact that its government lacks focus. Since 1910, Japan controlled the Korean peninsula until the end of World War II in 1945, when Japan surrendered to the Allied powers. The peninsula was divided into North and South Korea, with the North falling under the USSR’s control and the South under the United States. Separate governments were set up for each half, with North Korea’s first leader being Kim Il-Sung, who is, to this day, called “The Great Leader” and “Eternal President of the Republic”. With the approval of Joseph Stalin and Mao Zedong, the communist of the USSR and China, respectively, Kim Il-Sung attempted to invade South Korea, beginning the …show more content…
Much of the citizens’ loyalty is due to the massive propaganda created by the state. A lot of the propaganda is used to enforce the Kims’ cult of personality. In North Korea, the leader is more than just a dynamic leader- he is a god among men. Kim Il-Sung’s death day, July 8, 1994, is as significant to the North Korean people as September 11, 2001 is to the U.S. and the Eternal Leader’s birth year is the first year of the North Korean calendar (Lee, 16). He was the beginning of time. Propaganda also spreads hatred of Westerners, especially Americans, South Koreans, and the Japanese. “Lying between them made me feel safe from the monsters that I learned at school were always wanting to invade my country and enslave me: the Americans, the Japanese, and the South Korean army, which, of course, is controlled by the United States” (Lee, 13). The three groups were past aggressors of the North Korean people and are used as a source of fear to keep the North Koreans in …show more content…
Loyalty to the government is the priority and anything and everything has been done to enforce this. Numerous reports from defectors have said that there is a police force known as the Shangmoo that wrangle up the kotjebi, or street urchins, especially abandoned children, and send them to prison/labor camps (Lee, 59). Besides kotjebi and criminals, these prison camps also house political prisoners and enemies of the state. “In North Korea, it's not only the person who commits the crime that is punished. Often their whole family will be arrested for guilt by association”, up to three generations (13:57-14:25). The conditions inside these prisons are horrific. On prison conditions of the guhoso in which he was imprisoned, defector Sungju Lee said that the kid prisoners ranged “age from ten to eighteen, which made me wonder where the little ones went” (Lee, 126). On the girls’ side, he recalled hearing guards raping the “prettiest” female prisoners in the night. “That’s why during the day many of the girls hid in the back of the jail, cutting their lips with sharp sticks and pulling out their hair. They wanted to be ugly, so the guards wouldn’t choose them” (Lee, 127). While the government officially denies these claims, many survivors report their stories and satellite imagery does show visual proof. There is no ban on cruel and unusual punishment in North
Show More

Related Documents: Separate Governments In North Korea

Essay on 6.04

Somebody Wanted But So North Korea Wanted a communist South Korea wanted government a democratic government North Korea split from South Korea and created a capital at Pyongyang General MacArthur To help South Korea President Truman win the war and to did not allow him to destroy the Chinese invade China Communist Party The Chinese army crossed the Yalu and pushed the UN below the 38th parallel President Truman Wanted General MacArthur to follow his orders…

Words 433 - Pages 2

The Korean War Essay

ideologies. The Soviet Union desired a communist based government, whereas the United States pushed to further its spread of anti-communism and democratic ideas. Both North and South Korea were caught in crossfire of these two raging nations as they divided Korea’s territory across the 38th parallel into two separate divisions following the end of World War two. The Korean War should be considered an international war due to the notion that Korea was occupied by two different nations other than itself…

Words 932 - Pages 4

Korean War Essay

the Korean War (Joel Diemond).” After WWII, the Soviets and Americans failed to reach an agreement on a Korean Government which led to two independent governments. The South which was American zone became Republic of Korea, while the North, which was Soviet zone became Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Both Koreas claimed their government was the legitimate government of all Korea causing more drastic tension between the two. The Korean War was an atrocious war that left millions dead during…

Words 731 - Pages 3

Essay on North Korea Government

Duong 1 Trung Duong Professor Otsuji English 1A 29 November 2014 Songun – The Double­edged Sword North Korea has known to be the most mysterious country in the world. Because North Korea is a communist country and is the only remaining Stalinist state, it maintains many strict policies. Songun, which is also known as “Military first” policy, is considered as a “double­edged sword” since it has many favorable and unfavorable sides. While the policy has guaranteed the nation’s security, it has also made the nation to pursue the…

Words 1720 - Pages 7

Cold War Effects

“If we let Korea down,” President Harry Truman stated, “the Soviets will keep right on going and swallow up one [place] after another.” The “hot war” of the Cold War period, which had suffering effects, lead into the background to the Korean War and the subsequent roles of the superpowers’ roles at the beginning of the war with Kim II Sung, Joseph Stalin, and Mao Zedong. In 1910, Japan had formally annexed Korea and was still in occupation of Korea when World War Two (WWII) ended. It was decided…

Words 1014 - Pages 5

History: Cold War and 1946 Winston Churchill Announced that Europe Had Been Essay

U.S. system of democracy and capitalism, citizens elect their political leaders and are free to buy and sell products in an open market. However, in the Soviet Communist system, the leaders of the Communist party chose the nation’s leaders, and government officials decided what products were available to buy. Another reason for the outbreak of the Cold War was the disagreement over the future of Europe after World War II. The Truman administration wanted strong, stable democracies in Europe to…

Words 590 - Pages 3

first amendment Essay

not true. I researched country such as Cuba and North Korea who have not constituted nor enforce any laws to protect their people’s freedom of speech, press, religion, petition or assembly. Our first amendment is fundamental. Without our first amendment the government could very possibly establish a national religion thus causing minority religions to be persecuted. Protesters would be silenced, press would be punished for criticizing the government and its officials. Citizens would not be allowed…

Words 912 - Pages 4

Scale Of Individualism

Many people look at their government and how it affects them on a day to day basis, but do not see what it does to everyone at once. The government’s total authority over a country from place to place, but they all make laws and rules that constrict their citizens in some way. Sometimes those laws can either have positive or negative consequences, which is dependent on the government’s views on how to run the country. Those consequences lead the country into on of two categories – individual or collective…

Words 1289 - Pages 6

A Shrimp Amongst Whales Essay

military rule and martial law would dominate much of the next three decades until the foundation of the Sixth Republic of South Korea would take over in 1987. Under its newly revised constitution, South Korea would develop into a fully functioning and successful, liberal democracy based on the sovereignty of its people. Today, the Republic of Korea divides its government into executive, judicial, and legislative branches with powers shared among the presidency, the legislature and the judiciary,…

Words 4292 - Pages 18

Red Beach Campaign

assault on Red Beach located on the North beach of Inchon would exhibit to the world that the United Nations were willing to conduct the riskiest strategies to ensure the successful mission for the war. Korean War efforts faced many obstacles that they were not aware of, the actions that the Communist powers were in places due to the Japan-Russian War. The Korean War began in 1950, but before the war, there were friendly troops in place located in North Korea. General MacArthur’s tactical decisions…

Words 956 - Pages 4