In 1948, Kim Il Sung declared communist North Korea the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. In the following years what became commonly known as North Korea, invaded South Korea for control of the peninsula. Hoping to prevent the spread of communism, the U.S. supported by the UN became involved, fighting for a southern victory. By 1954 the fighting had ended but thousands were dead from all sides. No one had won the war, and a demilitarized zone at the 38th parallel was established to separate the North and South. Although fighting had ended, life for North Koreans continued to be a daily battle. Human rights violations have plagued the country for decades since its conception, and almost no one seems to be concerned.

The human rights epidemic is one that has killed millions of North Koreans from starvation, disease, and execution in the past decades, according to Amnesty International. Their people are dying at an alarming rate because of the government’s oppressive dictatorship and lack of human rights. After an extensive, costly, and largely unsuccessful war in Korea, it is understandable that the U.S. and UN aren’t taking more direct actions to protect human rights, but the lack of pressure and attention to the issue is alarming. More attention needs to be paid to the atrocities in North Korea so that human rights everywhere are better protected.

The tyranny in North Korea controls every aspect of its people’s lives, ensuring that basic human rights are not something they receive. Censorship is a key part of the government’s power. North Korean televisions and radios are hardwired to only receive government broadcasts, cell phones were banned in 2004, and the internet is virtually unused by North Koreans outside the top tier of government, according to Tom Zeller Jr. writing for the New York Times. A satellite image of the area at night showed South Korea flooded with lights and electricity, and North Korea drowning in darkness. Understanding how uninformed the people of the Democratic People’s Republic are can help us understand how the government is able to control so much of their lives. The majority of the information that people do receive is concerned with their, “Dear Leader,” Kim Jong Il, or previously his father and grandfather, Kim Jong Il, and Kim Il Sung. Government propaganda is everywhere, and citizens are taught that their leader holds divine powers. Their government has been called a cult of personality by the BBC because of its dependence on and near worship of its dictator. The government has a strict policy of no dissent that its extensive army is used to enforce. In addition, the government classifies its people into three groups according to their assumed loyalty to the leader. The majority of the nation’s wealth is concentrated in the “core” group, while those in the “hostile” group are subject to torture, starvation and execution.
Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights tells us that as humans we have a right to a standard of living that includes food, something that North Koreans are not guaranteed to receive. Although the country had been a breeding ground for oppression and misery since the 1950s, a severe famine beginning in 1994 made life worse, something many thought was impossible. According to Donna Lee, writing for Harvard Law School, the North Korean government made decisions in planning and distribution of food that may have caused or extended the deadly famine. The Asia Society reports that the 22 million people of North Korea rely on the food produced on less than 20 percent of their country’s land. This coupled with floods and natural disasters in the mid-nineties, helped bring the country’s food crisis to a food emergency. During this time, Hwang Jong Yup, the highest ranking North Korean defector today, has stated that the North Korean government internally estimated deaths from the famine to be at about 2.5 million people out of a population of about 24 million. The BBC relying on information from a South Korean survey puts the number at a staggering three million people. Haggard and Nolan of the Human Rights International Response estimate that by the end of the famine and new millennium, the North Korean government could only feed 6% of the nation although 62% depended on their support. In recent years these numbers have decreased, but that is no reason to consider the problem resolved.
Although the famine is officially over, the country still faces a serious food crisis. After a visit last year to North Korea, former president Jimmy Carter voiced his concern to the BBC, explaining that many of the children he saw were malnourished. He also told the station that the country rationed its adult citizens’ food intake from 1,400 calories to 700 calories; the average recommended caloric daily intake for a normal, healthy adult is about 2,000 calories according to the U.S. Department of Health. In a recent article by Andrew Jacobs for the New York Times, a rare interview with a North Korean citizen, Mrs. Park, showed that lifeless bodies, killed from starvation are not an uncommon sight along the streets of many North Korean cities. Even in 2012, starvation continues.
The injustice of starvation is appalling enough, but the prison camps are worse: there, people are starved, tortured, and forced to do hard labor to support the government’s failing economy. Despite rare testimonials from survivors, and satellite images that show they do exist, the North Korean government continues to deny their existence. Stories from those who have escaped, like Shin Dong-hyuk, who was born in a North Korean prison camp, tell of the horrors that were his everyday life and explain why immediate action in shutting down the camps and helping North Korean people is necessary. In the new book, Escape from Camp 14, Dong-hyuk described being starved, beaten and emotionally traumatized; his earliest memory was being forced to watch the execution of his mother and brother. Song Ee Han, another survivor, still bears scars on her head from when a North Korean soldier beat her and shattered the parietal bone in her skull. Her physical scars and the memory of her five year old son, BoKum, who she was forced to leave behind ensure that she will never forget her life before she escaped. Although few have escaped, their powerful stories speak for the thousands who continue to suffer.
By turning on the news it is easy to see that suffering doesn’t only take place in North Korea. Over eighty countries deny their people human rights, and the World Hunger Organization claims that 925 million people are suffering from hunger today. It’s easy to see that there are many who need our help, and after past involvement in Korea, and the recent wars of the Middle East, lack of concrete action on the part of the U.S. can be seen as understandable. History has shown us however, that military action isn’t necessary to bring great change. The Apartheid in South Africa ended in part due to protests and pressure from citizens in first world countries. Peaceful measures can be effective. Martin Luther King Jr. told us that, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,” and we must remember this when standing up for the rights of our fellow humans.
The human rights nightmare that is North Korea is long overdue for a rude awakening. Millions of deaths and a poor standard of living are the result of an oppressive tyranny. Nearly every human right ensured to the citizens of the world by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is denied to the North Koreans by their government. From total control of citizens’ lives, to starvation and prison camps, the crimes of the North Korean government against its people are devastating in every way possible. These people’s personal stories are proof of the atrocities and of our need to act now. Human rights are being violated in North Korea. As humans, it’s our job to stop this.