In celebration of Children’s Day in South Korea, May 5th, the DailyNK presents a special clip on the lives of North Korean children today.
Like South Korea, North Korea also celebrates Children’s Day though this day is recognized as June 1st, “International Children’s Day.” On this day, North Korean children go on picnics and participate in recreational activities. It is a joyous day for children in North Korea.
However, it is not wrong to say that North Korean children only experience 1 joyous day out of the 365 in the year. In elementary schools, 33.3% of academia is based on idolizing Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il. Furthermore, following the times of food shortage, the number of children attending school significantly decreased. It is hard enough for children to earn money to eat and live, let alone attend school and pay for the tuition fees.
During the mass famine in the mid-90’s, North Korean children died of starvation, their lives denied the privilege to blossom. Children that did survive did not grow and develop normally. The height of an average 14~15 year old teenager is equivalent to that of healthy 9~10 year old children in South Korea. What happened was a loss of one generation of children.
When school finishes in South Korea, children busily go to other academies for extra lessons. Meanwhile, children in North Korea busily collect scraps of metal and children in Pyongyang practice flipping cards for a year for the Arirang performance designed for the simple pleasure of one man, Kim Jong Il.
Who drove the lives of North Korean children onto the streets making them into vagrants? Who stole the hopes and dreams of these children making them young slaves of a decadent dictator, when they should be clearly growing to be healthy and strong children.
Children are the future and hope of a nation’s next generation. Whether the child is from South Korea, North Korea, the U.S. or Europe, Middle East or Africa, every child throughout the world has the right to be loved and esteemed for there mere existence. Undoubtedly, this is no different to North Korean children. We all cherish and aspire that children in North Korea will be provided with the love, hope, future and nourished education needed to grow in prosperity.
Then again, who is blocking this path? We love the 23mn North Korean people. And we love the budding children of North Korea even more. We must plan for the day when children of South and North Korea embrace one another sharing love, hope and dreams for the future.
“Children of North Korea, We hope that the day will come sooner than later, when we can say to you that ‘You are the star of your life, not Kim Jong Il.’ And we want to help you find your dreams to become future scientists, doctors, computer programmers or any other dream of your choice. Please do not be discouraged by your lives. A new day will nonetheless arrive one day. We, your brothers and sisters, sincerely love you very much.”
