2014 marks North Korea’s third year under Kim Jong Eun, coming after father and former leader Kim Jong Il passed away shortly before
Christmas 2011. The last two years have seen reshuffling and replacement of cadres across the board, an attempt by the Kim regime to overcome the inevitable weaknesses of a transitional
dictatorship.
In December last year, the transition to Kim’s dictatorial rule was completed with the removal and execution of his uncle and erstwhile mentor, Jang Song
Taek. Jang had been the husband of Kim Kyong Hui, Kim Jong Il’s sister. Meanwhile, domestic and international attention was
drawn all year to state-led boondoggles such as a ski resort at Masik Pass in Gangwon Province, Munsu Water Park in Pyongyang and Mirim Horse Riding Club.
Although Pyongyang has spent two years showing
the outside world that life is progressing smoothly, the
prospects remain grim. Everyday North Koreans are still concerned for their
food security within a society that remains, despite modest
progress, largely
shut off from the outside world. Their survival still hinges
upon unhesitating allegiance to the new leader. Although
living conditions have improved thanks to better food distribution and declining market prices, North Koreans are required to pay
this “generosity” back through frequent acts of forced mobilization to state projects.
In pursuit of some clarity going into 2014, Daily NK spoke to three eminent Seoul-based experts from the North Korea human
rights movement. They shared their outlooks for
2014, and delivered messages of hope to every ordinary North Korean.
▲ Yoo Se Hee, Chairman, NKnet
 Yoo Se Hee, Chairman, NKnet |
North Korea has been showing unusual
signs of coming collapse for quite some time, but I think last year
was the year when the collapse of the Kim dynasty began in
earnest […] People
living centuries ago believed that they would thrive in life if they could please the gods, and therefore they sought the will of the heavens. In the
21st Century, however, prosperity is for those societies that accentuate democracy and human rights. Countries that abide by the international system
flourish; North Korea remains backward.
However, it would still take a long time for the North Korean system to fall if it were left alone. It would be unethical and unjust
to yearn for its immediate destruction, but
I do think that it is the duty of South Korean brethren to help the process. With international cooperation, in 2013 a UN Commission of Inquiry
on Human Rights in North Korea was created, and in March this year its final report is scheduled for publication by the UN Human Rights Council. This New Year we must further strengthen cooperation with the international community in order to work with all those who hope
for better human rights conditions in North
Korea.
South Korean citizens tend not to take North Korea very seriously [but] the current changes taking place in North Korea
must not be looked upon with indifference. The North Korean issue can only be dealt with effectively if South Koreans stand together as one.
Unexpected changes in North Korea pose a great threat to everyone living on
the Korean Peninsula, and therefore it is imperative for South Koreans to
comprehend the gradual changes taking place inside North Korea.
▲ Lee Dong Bok, President, North Korea Democratization Forum
 Lee Dong Bok, President, North Korea Democratization Forum |
News emerging from North Korean territory in 2013 bespoke the cracking of the system’s “iron rice bowl.” Liberation is coming. We are finding out that the end of that 65-year-old
dynastic regime has begun.
If Kim Jong Eun does not change; if he stubbornly persists with his current mode of thinking, he will hasten the collapse of his system. Unfortunately,
nothing has changed. Over the last seventy years North Korea has fossilized as a society, and the recent purging of Jang Song Taek was
the first sign of the disintegration of that fossil.
My message for North Koreans in 2014: it is
time for the North Korean people to stand up. A state
devoted to freedom and welfare cannot be brought about if one does
not battle for it. Although the North Korean people’s will to struggle has been undermined by the state
over recent decades, I hope they will now listen to the information they are receiving and stand up. The time has finally come to stand.
▲ Hong Soon Kyung, Chairman, Committee for
Democratization of North Korea
 Hong Soon Kyung, Chairman, Committee for Democratization of North Korea |
Kim Jong Eun sacrificed many innocent people in 2013 to build up his dictatorial regime. By executing his own
uncle without due process, he showed off his calibre
as an outrageous, ignorant dictator. This was what the people of North and South
Korea alike learned: that North Korea is a dictatorship, a violent state unparalleled in human history. We were shocked. […] Watching
all this, I became more convinced than ever that North Korea must be
democratized.
The purging of Jang demonstrated that North Korea is no place of reform and
opening, it is a place wedded to an outmoded monolithic
dictatorial model. While a dictatorship, it cannot develop its economy.
Private economic activities have to be accompanied by
institutional guarantees. Partial private trade in public
markets cannot be seen as free economic activity. First, North Korea has to abandon
its nuclear and missile ambitions, and there must be democracy. Private SME activities and freedom of travel must both be enshrined.
