It comes as no surprise that North Korea
refused to attend the recent UN Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva,
Switzerland, an absence emblematic of North Korea’s overall attitude toward
international norms. In actual fact, North Korea not only rejects the UNHRC,
but regularly issues condemnations of human rights in the US and other
countries in the developed world, declaring that, “North Korea’s welfare-based
society respects human rights more than any other country in the world.”
Those of conscience may resolve to treat
this statement as an invitation for further scrutiny of human rights in North
Korea. The Kim family regime and the North Korean elite have been subjecting
the North Korean people to some of the most systematic and enduring human rights
violations in recorded history.
One of the more tragic affirmations of this
situation is that the vast majority of North Koreans lack even a basic
understanding of the concept of human rights. With the aid of the Soviets, Kim
Il Sung established his dictatorship in 1948, euphemistically naming it the
“Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea,” declaring that it was “the
legitimate people’s government.” In the following decades of oppressive rule,
the government methodically intensified its assault on the rights of its
people, subjecting its population to compulsory indoctrination and idolization
of the Kim family.
The North Korean authorities insist that
all North Koreans have the right to vote, claiming that the people’s confidence
in their leadership is confirmed by the fact that the Korean Workers’ Party
consistently wins 100% of the vote. In truth, the regime does not allow other
candidates to run for office, and those who oppose the regime face strict
punishments, including execution.
One contemptible aspect of the sham
elections in North Korean is that its citizens often have no foreknowledge of
who the candidates in their local electorate are. When they arrive at the
voting booths to cast their vote, they are given a predetermined list of
candidates solely representing the Worker’s Party. Although the regime claims
that all people are eligible for candidacy, the Supreme People’s Assembly
maintains absolute control over the process.
The regime also asserts that all citizens
have the right to 12 years of education and proper medical treatment free of
charge. In reality, only Kim Jong Un’s inner circle, party members, and
other members of the elite have access to the best hospitals and care
available, such as Ponghwa Emergency Hospital and Namsan Hospital. Ordinary
citizens are limited to hospitals with facilities and practices dating from the
1950s. They have no choice but to purchase their own medical supplies,
including syringes, at the markets and bring them to a hospital in order to receive
even the most basic care.
Routine surgeries are invariably an
expensive undertaking. Patients are required to provide their own sleeping
mats, food, rubbing alcohol, IV equipment, syringes, antibiotics, and bandages.
This is in addition to mandatory payments to the doctor of more than KPW 50,000
as well as extra payments for nurses.
While the North Korean constitution
guarantees freedom of the press, association, and religion, in actuality these
statements are pure propaganda. Freedom of the press and freedom of expression
do not exist in any appreciable form in North Korea. If an individual is caught
freely practicing religion or protesting against the regime in any form, they
and their family members face arrest at a minimum.
Presently, more than 80% of the prisoners
being held at the State Security Department’s Kwaliso (political prison camps)
have been accused of such crimes as counter-revolutionary speech, that is,
remarks perceived to be derogatory against the Kim family, or damaging
portraits of the so-called Kim dynasty, whether deliberate or accidental. These
prisoners are often dragged away to prison without even being informed about
the crimes they allegedly committed. Depending on the severity of the
allegations, the guilty party’s immediate family members are also either
imprisoned with them or subject to intense surveillance. Combined with the fact
that North Koreans are not free to leave the country, it becomes apparent that
the majority of North Koreans are political prisoners by default.
If one is socializing with friends and
inadvertently utters a statement regarded as sensitive while in a drunken
state, there are serious ramifications if a member of the State Security
Department is informed. To illustrate the extreme repression of freedom of
speech in North Korea, if an individual privately expresses a minor observation
about how the public distribution system needs improvement or how the residents
are starving, they can be jailed on the grounds of spreading false information.
Under such conditions, ‘freedom of speech,’ is not so much the relevant
starting point for discussion, but freedom of thought.
It is said that one in every three people
is an informer for the State Security Department, an appalling indicator of the
regime’s paranoia. In addition, the vast majority of college graduates are not
permitted to select their own career path, with their futures instead dictated
by the party. Blind obedience to the regime is a requirement for survival in
North Korea.
When defectors first arrive in South Korea,
just as this author did, they are able to properly learn about the idea of
human rights. Upon understanding the fundamental concepts of human dignity and
freedom, defectors realize the extent of the crimes against humanity
perpetrated by the North Korean regime, having been denied even the information
to properly comprehend their own oppression.
In recent times, the words ‘human rights’
have been appearing in the state newspaper, the Rodong Sinmun. Despite the
deplorable conditions, this seems to be in reflection to the inevitable
changing awareness occurring within North Korea as outside information seeps
in. For instance, there are some examples of market traders saying, “This is my right!” to police who interfere with their operations.
However, the majority of reports involve incidents in which residents are
standing up not for themselves, but rather for others who are suffering
an injustice. People of conscience within South Korea and the international
community must rally together and endeavor to educate North Korean residents
about their most basic rights to human dignity, education, and freedom.
