DPRK HISTORY

From the hilltop where we now stand,

soldiers of an American machine gun
squad had seen the repulsed enemy retire beyond range and then, in plain sight
of our men, calmly change form the green
uniforms of the North Korean army to
the white trousers and blouses of Korean
peasants. And then they had walked back
into the hills, looking like any of the lines
of refugees who on this and every other day come down from the hills, across
the paddies and along the roads past our
lines and command posts. The soldiers
watching from the hill do not forget; they
remember the tiny figures in the distance,
changing from green to white, every time
they see a column of peasants coming toward them, and they reach for their guns,
and sometimes they use their guns.
Report from the Orient: Guns Are Not Enough, LIFE, August 21,
1950, describing the horrible uncertainty faced by troops in the war,
not knowing when refugees were really refugees, and when they were
communist guerrillas from the North.

DPRK HISTORY

02/03

By July American troops had entered the Korean War on the Souths behalf.

DPRK HISTORY

DPRK HISTORY

The division of
Korean people
1592 Korea is invaded by Japan leaving
the country in ruins, this is preceded by the
invasion of Northwestern Korea in 1627 by
Manchuria who were protecting their rear-end
for their invasion of China. Up until the 1880s
Korea preserved an isolationist policy, however
at the insistence of Japan they signed The
Treaty of Kanghwa 1876, defining Korea as
an independent state, becoming a ground for
competition amongst powers.
However Japanese influence became
overpowering leading to Korean opposition
of Japanese dominance, and in 1895 the
Japanese assassinated Queen Min, wife
of King Gojong of Korea. Queen Min was
suspected of encouraging the resistance. King
Gojong remained on the throne until 1907
when he was forced to pass it onto his son.
1910 Japan officially ceased Korea,
Choson Dynasty had come to an end. Koreans
remember this period as a brutal experience.
1945 Japan is defeated in WWII,
surrendering to its allies- Great Britain, The
United States and The Soviet Union. However
The Soviet Union and the United states could
not agree on a single system of governance for
all of Korea so they agreed to split the North
and South between them, establishing the 38th
apparel.
The United states took control of the
South, handing power over to Syngman Rhee
and The soviet union took control of the North
handing power over to Kim il-Sung. 1948 both
North and South claim legitimate governments
and representatives of the entire Korean
people. Syngman declares formation of The
Republic of Korea in Seoul and Kim il-sung
declares the formation of The Democratic
Peoples Republic of Korea in Pyongyang.

Left
Sign marking the
38th parallel,
separating North
from South Korea.

04/05

DPRK HISTORY

In the simplest of terms, what

we are doing in Korea is this:
We are trying to prevent a
third world war.

Harry S. Truman,
April 16, 1951

The Korean war began with the Democratic

Peoples Republic of Korea under the rule of
Kim il-Sung crossing the 38th parallel to attack
the Republic of Korea on the 25th June 1950.
The Korean governments wanted to unify the
peninsula, Sung took his chance of unifying
Korea under his rule, invading South Korea,
ultimately starting the Korean war.
The DPRK army had taken control of almost
all of South Korea, cornering the Republic of
Korea army into a small area around the Pusan.
The united States heard of the attack and called
for a United Nations Security Council meeting,
passing a resolution condemning actions of
DPRK, demanding the withdrawal of its army,
DPRK ignored the demand and carried on with
its attack. The US saw this as evidence that
communism would challenge the free world,
reviewing its security perimeter to include
maintaining a non-communist South Korea,
the UN sent troops from 15 nations to stop the
communist advance.

Korean War 1950-1953

The Korean War

begins

September 1950, US General Douglas

A. MacArthur leading UN forces succeeded in
regaining South Korean ground, pushing North.
Landing at Incheon near Seoul, the troops
managed to cut-off advancing DPRK troops
from its North Korean supply lines. By the end
of September the UN had liberated Seoul and
repaired the status quo that existed before the
war.
However, the question now was whether
the US and UN should attempt to liberate the
North from the ruling of the DPRK. They believed
it was within the parameters of the mission to
unite the country under non-communist rule.
Chinese leaders warned that they would
intervene if the UN went ahead with its plans to
push North of the 38th parallel, the members of
the UN and MacArthur were not convinced that
the Peoples Republic of China or Soviet Union
would intervene in halting the UN forces.
With authorisation from Washington the
UN army pressed North nearly reaching the Yalu
River by October 1950 which marks the border
Fifty-two of the 59 countries which are members between China and North Korea. Chinese officials
of the United Nations have given their support to regarded UN troops approaching its border a
genuine threat to its security, resulting in Chinese
the action taken by the Security Council to
forces being sent into North Korea. The UN and
restore peace in Korea.
U.S. had hugely under-estimated the strength,
The UNs involvement created an
size and determination of the Chinese forces,
internationalisation, bringing in troops from
they were forced back behind the 38th parallel.
France, Ethiopia, Greece, United Kingdom,
Territory around Seoul and central Korea
Australia, Canada, Belgium, Columbia,
changed hands several times as the UN and
Thailand, South Africa, Turkey, Philippines, The
communist forces went back and fourth.
Netherlands, New Zealand and Luxembourg.
MacArthur was removed from his post in
What had begun as an internal conflict, turned
1951 on charge of insubordination for insisting
into a international one. The United States
on the extension of the conflict into China, being
stressed it was preventing the conflict from
replaced by General Matthew Ridgeway.
spreading outside of Korea, avoiding the start of
World War III.

DPRK HISTORY

This attack has made it clear,

beyond all doubt, that the
international Communist movement
is willing to use armed invasion to
conquer independent nations. An act
of aggression such as this creates a
very real danger to the security of all
free nations. The attack upon Korea
was an outright breach of the peace
and a violation of the Charter of
the United Nations. By their actions
in Korea, Communist leaders have
demonstrated their contempt for
the basic moral principles on which
the United Nations is founded. This
is a direct challenge to the efforts
of the free nations to build the kind
of world in which men can live in
freedom and peace.
President Truman
July 19, 1950

06/07

DPRK HISTORY

Top

A soldier of the Army of the

Republic of Korea wounded in
action is carried to a first aid
station by a U.S. infantryman.

Right A grief stricken American

infantryman whose friend has
been killed in action is
comforted by another soldier.

DPRK HISTORY

By July 1951 they had reached a stalemate

with no side being able to force the other to
surrender. However both China and the United
States had accomplished short-term goals of
preserving the 38th parallel. Although North
Korea and South Korea had failed at unifying
Korea they had now begun to discuss peace.
For the next two years various representatives debated over the peace terms. After
agreeing on the 38th parallel line and the
settlement of airfields, the main issue halting
progress was the return of prisoners of war.
Democratic Republic of Korea, Peoples
Republic of China and the UN signed an
Armistice on July 27th 1953 (The Republic of
Korea abstained) agreeing to a new border near
38th parallel as the demarcation line between
North and South Korea. Both sides would
maintain and patrol a demilitarised zone (DMZ)
surrounding boundary line.
The armistice established a commission to
oversee the return of prisoners of war. Each side
would have to deport willing prisoners within
60 days and send unwilling prisoners to the
commission to oversee their deportation to their
preferred destinations.
14,227 Chinese and 7,582 North Korean
opted against deportation. The Chinese were sent
to Taiwan instead of Chinese mainland. A handful
of British and United States prisoners of war
in North Korea opted against deportation also,
choosing to live in China or North Korea.
The armistice was only meant to be
temporarily, not a formal peace treaty ending the
war. Final peace treaty was supposed to be on
the agenda of the Geneva conference of 1954,
however the French colonial began and took
precedence. The United States and Republic of
Korea however did sign a mutual defense treaty,
with United States troops now stationed at the
demilitarised zone as semi-permanent patrol.

The Communist invasion

was launched in great
force, with planes, tanks,
and artillery. The size of
the attack, and the speed
with which it was followed
up, make it perfectly plain
that it had been plotted
long in advance.
Harry S. Truman
April 11, 1951

08/09

DPRK HISTORY

Korea, The Chosen Place,

a poem
Korea, the chosen place
Ravished by war, laid to waste
All United Nations there engaged
In another history Page.
Korea, tis not a beauty site
To see by day or by night.
The eye beholds only the gloom
Of a country buried in wars tomb.
Korea, its been torn up
and torn down;
Marched up
and marched down.
Korea, blood shed, land and mountains
Have been bathed by youthful fountains.
Brave men here have gone to their reward
Perishing neath the sword.
Korea, twas not a war they say;
Only a police action day by day,
A testing place
For the human race.
Korea, two ideals clashing
Communism and democracy smashing;
The U.N.s firm stand
Against the hammer red hand.
Korea, a question of peace there,
A question of peace everywhere
Soon it may be inflamed
Again in blood and wars shame.
Korea, a prayer of the free
That inpeace here we may see
The sword no more to rise
On any land or any skies.

S/SGT Irvin V. Worden, on 14

December 1953 whilst stationed in Korea.

DPRK HISTORY

10/11

South Korean soldiers move in single file toward Koreas east-central front near Lookout Mountain,1953

When the Napalm

hit our village, many
people were still
sleeping in their
homes. Those who
survived the flames ran

DPRK HISTORY

U.S. marines capture North Koreans .

to the tidal flats. We

were trying to show
the American pilots we
were civilians. But they
strafed us, women and
children
DPRK HISTORY

12/13

DPRK HISTORY

B-26s bombing Korea 18 October 1951

DPRK HISTORY

14/15

1951 Korean civilians burned by napalm

DPRK HISTORY

Kim Dynasty
Kim II-Sung (15 April, 1912) was born in Mangyondore near
Pyongyang. He was a guerrilla fighter against Japanese occupation
as well as fighting with the Soviet union during WWII. Kim II-Sung
was handed over power by the Soviet Union in 1948 and elected
president in 1972, to be known as Great Leader.
Kim II-Sung got rid of his last rivals within the Korea Workers
Party becoming the absolute ruler of North Korea, now with
his sight on turning the DPRK into an austere, militaristic and
regimented society. His two main goals were industrialisation and
the reunification of the Korean peninsula through many devices,
particularly terrorism North Korea does not regard terrorism
as a crime, its an essential tool for completing the revolution.
Throughout his ruling he arranged terrorist attacks within South
Korea headed by his son Kim Jong-il.
The Kims remain in power through government units and
security, bodyguards, the police, the military and legal authorities.
On a psychological level they have brainwashed North Koreans as
well as nationwide surveillance to keep tight control over society.
Kim Il-sung based his rule on ruthless rights abuses,
repression of independent voices, and economic and social
controls that led to deprivation and ultimately widespread
starvation.
When Kim Jong-il came to power in 1994 after the death of
Kim II-sung, he is regarded a God just like his father and refereed
to as Dear Leader. North Koreans were required to believe they
were the life givers, the true parents of all Koreans. However Kim
Jong-il struggled to live up to his fathers image.
Kim Jong-il just doesnt have the art that his father Kim
II-Sung did. People were prepared to believe almost everything
about Kim II-Sung because of the circumstances of how he came
to power. Kim II-Sung was the George Washington of his country
who fought the Japanese and who saved North Korea from the
Americans in the Korean War
Kim Jong-il therefore made myths, one being his birth.
Legend has it that a double rainbow and a glowing new star
appeared in the heavens to herald his birth. In his biography he
states that he wrote 1,500 books during his 3 years at Kim II-Sung
University and wrote 6 full operas in 2 years all of which are better
than any in the history of music.
The Kims have brainwashed the Korean people into believing
they are Gods. Images of the Kims are considered sacred, folding
of their faces is considered disrespectful even with newspapers
and money. Each home has to have a pair of portraits of the Kims
hung high on the wall so nothing can be higher then the leaders,
often with home checks to see if dust is found on the portraits,
if so they have to pay a fine, the more dust the higher the fine.
Newly married couples receive a pair of portraits. Thats why we
have to have their portraits, in order to be with them all the time. It
is equivalent to having the cross or statues of Jesus at Church.

Kim Jong-Un took over as

leader of DPRK when his father
Kim Jong-il died in 2011 taking
the Kim Dynasty into the third
generation. He is thought to be
27 or 28 at time of his succession.
He had little time to
establish credibility amongst the
ruling elites before taking power
and was largely
unknown to the North Korean
people so spent his first year implementing a new PR style portraying him as a reincarnation of
his grandfather Kim II-Sung.
Since taking power, Kim
Jong-Un has begun a purge of
senior officials that he deems
disloyal or threatening to the
stability of his regime. Most notably his uncle Jang Song Thaek
which was very
damaging to the regime
murdering his own uncle was
more likely to harm the peoples
loyalty to Kim Jong-Un then
consolidate his power.
Anonymous accounts
from Pyongyang elites believe
Kim to be irresponsible and
have an aggressive personality
and this is affecting all areas of
his hold on power, he is struggling to gain full control over the
military because he
constantly demotes and
promotes military generals. It
is clear that he needs to fully
gain control of the North Korean
elites as well as the people and
is doing so by public
executions and violent purges.

DPRK HISTORY

16/17

Kim-Il sung and Kim Jong-il statue in Pyongyang

DPRK HISTORY

Kim II-sung

DPRK HISTORY

18/19

Kim Jong-il

DPRK HISTORY

Kim Jong-un

DPRK HISTORY

20/21

DPRK HISTORY

24 million people face

the most repressive
regime in the world.

DPRK CENSORSHIP

Censorship is the suppression of speech,

public communication or other information
which may be considered objectionable,
harmful, sensitive, politically incorrect or
inconvenient as determined by government
media outlets, authorities or other groups or
institutions.

Freedom of
Information
North Korea is one of the most oppressive
states in the world. Censorship implemented by
the government restricts North Koreans from
receiving or attaining information from the
outside world and attempting to do either is
extremely dangerous.
Independent newspapers are very limited,
the government decide what they allow North
Koreans to see and read Online or on broadcast
news, even feeding them lies to keep control
of them. In North Korea nearly all of its 12 main
newspapers, 20 periodical and broadcasters
come from the official Korean central news
agency.
Free speech is not a luxury North Koreans
have the pleasure of acting out, they have to be
extremely careful on what they say and to who,
many people have been sent to prison camps
or executed for speaking out against the regime
because in North Korea they are not allowed to
express their own opinion.

Left
Kim Jong-un posing for photos with
soldiers of the Seoul Ryu Kyong Su
105 Guards

22/23

DPRK CENSORSHIP

Independence is an attribute of man,

the social being; it should not be
viewed as the development to
perfection of a natural, biological
attribute of living matter. This is, in
essence, an evolutionary viewpoint.
Of course, we do not deny evolutionism
itself. Science has long established
the fact that man is a product of ages
of evolution. Man is a product of
evolution, but not his independence.
Independence is a social product.
Independence is an attribute given to
man by society, not nature; it is not a
natural gift, but has been formed and
developed socially and historically.
Kim Jong-il

DPRK CENSORSHIP

People arent censored. We just dont allow

outside music or fashions to influence us.
Theres no need for censorship when theres
nothing to criticise in the city.
Alejandro Cao De Benos
(President, Korea Friendship)

Eric Lafforgue
Eric Lafforgue is a French
journalist who has taken photos
in countries that many would
consider off-limits. He has been
given access to North Korea on
a number of occasions with his
first impression being a negative
one due to the lack of freedom
he saw everywhere. On his 6th
trip in 2012 he shot photos of
North Koreans going about their
daily lives and shared them
online.
Lafforgue when asked
to remove them by the
government refused and
consequently was banned.
The photos were considered
offensive.
From the many visits to
North Korea Lafforgue has
noticed some changes, such
as the younger generation
speaking English and not being
so shy towards foreigners. Most
significant, the use of mobile
phones, believing this to be the
influence of China.

10 days in North Korea

Alvaro Longoria a journalist for RT took a trip
to North Korea, the most secretive and secluded
country in 2014. His goal was to make people
think twice next time they are told something
about North Korea, and for his documentary to
be some way of doing so. However he found it a
difficult task when he finally got there A sickle, a
hammer and a brush in the center of Pyongyang
symbolise the solidity of the countrys only
political party to hold power.
Kim Jong-Un was re-elected deputy with
100% of the votes. North Koreans believe they
are being protected from the outside world
because They are our fathers and we are their
children. The most important vow they pass
down to the next generation Kim Chang Yun
told them is to protect Kim Jong-un with their
own lives because hes the cornerstone, of our
existence and our culture.
RT found it impossible to speak to ordinary
North Koreans as they were chaperoned
everywhere by minibus. When they were allowed
to occassionaly ask the public questions the
subjects were carefully chosen by the attendants,
making the responses of the public problematic
in terms of reliability and truth.
Longoria found everywhere he went the
propaganda message for why they have to spend
so much money on their military, reasons they
have no food and reasons why their lives are not
better is because the Americans are trying to
destroy them.
Certain we would be able to gain some
insight into the most unknown country in
the world. 10 days later we knew different.
An impermeable barrier separating us from
them blurs every story we hear about this
country, giving it a sense of incompleteness.

24/25

DPRK CENSORSHIP

We North Koreans
are truly happy.
Tell everyone how very
happy we really are

Top
It is forbidden to
take pictures of
the daily life of
the North Korean
people if they are
not well dressed.
Bottom
Officials forbid
photos showing
malnutrition.

Far right
Kim Jongun during an
inspection of a
military drill.

DPRK CENSORSHIP

26/27

DPRK CENSORSHIP

North Korean Journalists put their lives at

risk every time they cross over rugged land or
gushing rivers in the dark to meet people like Jiro
Ishimaru along the border of China and DPRK to
deliver secret recordings.
By obtaining high quality information
reported by journalists directly from inside North
Korea, interested groups will know better what
relief aid the country needs, for example, or what
kinds of reform North Korean society will have
to make. More than anything else, the readers
will learn that people in North Korea are just like
you and me, not brain-washed robots. Says
Jiro Ishimaru who visited DPRK three times
between 1995-1998. Ishimaru was banned
from North Korea after obtaining rare testimony
and observations and publishing his findings in
Rimjing-Gang.

The work is dangerous if we are caught

we will be charged with treason...I want to
say proudly that I do this for democracy.
It has to be done. It must be done.
Journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee who
worked for the American station Current TV
were detained by North Korean border guards in
2009 and sentenced to 12 years of reeducation
through work. Negotiations by Bill Clinton led to
their release in the same year.
Despite the close surveillance on foreign
journalists they still seek information from inside
North Korea by working with citizen journalists
within. Koreans caught with video footage are
executed on the spot journalist Kang Chul-Huan
claims and according to South Korean officials
a video journalist was publicly executed in 2007
when caught filming, with more executions being
reported.
Despite this Journalists still attempt to gain
information and from 2003 Jiro Ishimaru he
has identified a number of citizens within North
Korea who were willing to work as undercover
journalists and trained them. Ishimaru believes
North Koreans are more likely to divulge their
opinion to a local rather than a foreigner.

DPRK CENSORSHIP

28/29

Cameraman filming at the April Spring Friendship Art Festival in Pyongyang, North Korea.

DPRK CENSORSHIP

Guides love it if you take pictures to show the world that kids have computers, but there is no electricity.

DPRK CENSORSHIP

The Internet
North Korea does not allow its citizens to
have the use of the Internet, instead they have
the intranet (Kwangmyong) opening in 2000,
it is an internal collection of networked servers
and computers that is only accessible from
inside North Koreas borders. They dont have
windows but Redstar, North Koreas custom
made operating system that was reportedly
commissioned by Kim Jong-il.
Normal citizens do not have access to the
Internet, and they need to have permission to
own a computer and for it to be registered with
the government. Only a handful of selected
people are allowed, and tend to be elites or
academics and scientists. It is believed however
that some families have full unrestricted access to
the Internet but they are believed to be relatives
to Kim Jong-un.
What little Internet access North Koreans
do have is used to make their world smaller

As the world becomes

increasingly connected,
the North Korean decision
to be virtually isolated is
very much going to affect
their physical world and
their economic growth.
Eric Schmidt
Google Chairman

On every North Korean site there is a piece

of programming that whenever Kim Jong-un is
mentioned his name is displayed slightly bigger
that the text around it.
North Korea in 2013 introduced 3G,
confirmed by the provider Koryolink, a
partnership between Egyptian telecoms firm
Orascom and the North Korean government.
The service only allows voice calls and not
surprisingly international calls are banned.
However the government allowed visitors
to bring their phones and use 3G as well as the
Internet, however later on in the year the China
based tour operator Koryo Tours posted on its
website to say it was no longer available to
visitors.
When Google Chair Eric Schmidt visited
the country in 2013 he urged the government
to allow citizens access to the wider Internet,
arguing that it would be easy for the 3G
network to include data access.

30/31

DPRK CENSORSHIP

Pyongyang Oct. 11, 2015.

DPRK CENSORSHIP

There is an almost complete denial of the rights

to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, as
well as the right to freedom of opinion, expression,
information and association.
Human Rights Watch

Mobile Phones
Mobile phone use was banned in 2004
but a service was re-introduced in 2008.
Mobile phones in North Korea are now
becoming a central component for everyday life,
with more than 2.5million cellphones registered.
However the cost to buy a cell phone together
with the call rates means that wealth is no longer
based on visible wealth but is now based on how
many cell phone users there are in a household.
Smart-phones cost around $400 in North
Korea with a basic mobile phone costing up to
a fifth of the average annual salary, a price that
means smart-phones are out of reach for a lot of
people in reclusive areas of North Korea.
The department of state security and people
security inspects registrants of cellphones to
find out a person or persons financial situation
to discover whether they can afford to own a
cellphone, if they grow suspicious they will begin
surveillance to discover if they have connections
with Chinese or South Koreans.
However according to defectors from North
Korea, the use of unregistered cell phones are
almost as prevalent as registered. Unofficial
cell phones avoid surveillance as long as users
are discreet because they originate from China,
therefore are not registered with North Korean
authorities. However authorities have set up
moving signal detection units along the border to
obstruct such usage.
In 2010 a North Korean man only known as
Jung was executed for calling a friend in South
Korea who had defected in 2001 to tell him about
the harsh living conditions and the price of rice. It
has be seen as a warning to people, that contact
with the South is punishable by prison or death.

He is believed to be the first man to be

executed since the government has cracked
down on the use of illegal cell phones in February
2010. A Quiet Opening interviewed 420
defectors to give an insight on lengths people
would go to use a mobile phone. A 28 year-old
defector said he would fill up a washbasin with
water and put the lid of a rice cooker over my
head while i made a phone call believing it
would stop frequency being tracked.
Kim Hye-Soon, from Hyesan, says, A
number of people had difficulty figuring out how
to use the newer government-issued phones.
Fortunately, people who had previous experience
with phones could provide help. It was realised
that the supposedly phones functions or usage
methods were almost identical to that of the
Chinese handsets, such that endless gossip
circulated among citizens that these were
merely Chinese cell phones purchased by the
government and repackaged to look like they
originated from North Korea. This shows how
many people were already quite familiar with
Chinese cell phones.
Kim continues, I left my personal cell
phone with my younger sibling before I escaped
North Korea. It is because I knew that I would
be able to contact him through China...I always
used to worry about the moving signal detectors
when making calls, but now I feel safer sending
text messages or messaging via Kakao Talk.
The number of unregistered cell phones on the
China-Korea border, whether originating from
China or South Korea, increases by the day.

32/33

DPRK HUMAN RIGHTS

For them Human Rights is a

different thing.
Alejandro Cao De Benos
(President, Korea Friendship)

North Korea is a totalitarian state that is in a

league of its own when it comes to human rights
violations. In the modern world abuses against
its citizens are on another spectrum, many
comparing it to Nazi Germany.
The UNs commission on human rights in
North Korea built up an array of information
for almost a year on the violations of Human
Rights, including pertaining to the right to food,
those associated with prison camps, torture and
inhuman treatment, arbitrary detention, discrimination, freedom of expression, the right to life,
freedom of movement, and enforced disappearances, including in the form of abductions of
nationals of other States.
Michael Kirby, the chair of the report personally
wrote to Kim Jong-Un in 2013 warning him that
he could face trial at the international criminal
court (ICC) for his accountability as head of state
and leader of the military, in the letter stating,
The commission wishes to draw your
attention that it will therefore recommend that
the United Nations refer the situation in the
Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea [the
formal name for North Korea] to the international
criminal court to render accountable all those,
including possibly yourself, who may be
responsible for the crimes against humanity,
However nothing has seemed to change within
North Korea and its outrageous abuses against
human rights.

Left
Kim Jong-un gives field
guidance to the newly
built Wisong Scientists
Residential District,Oct.
14, 2014.

DPRK HUMAN RIGHTS

34/35

DPRK HUMAN RIGHTS

Hooded North Korean defectors at a Seoul rally protesting against North Korean human right abuses.

DPRK HUMAN RIGHTS

The human rights situation in the

Democratic Peoples Republic of
Korea has remained dire under
the control of Kim Jong-Un. The
government is controlled by a
one-party monopoly and dynastic
leadership that do not tolerate
pluralism and systematically
denies basic freedoms. Tight
controls on North Koreas border
with China continued in 2014,
further reducing the number of
North Koreans able to flee and
seek refuge in third countries.
Human Rights Watch

36/37

DPRK HUMAN RIGHTS

Escaping North Korea

Escaping North Korea for a better life in China
or South Korea is extremely dangerous to attempt
and doesnt always mean a better life if you are
one of the lucky ones to escape over the border.
The majority of North Koreans are never taught
to swim. To escape to the DPRK/China border
they have to pass the Yalu River, many dont
make it over I sometimes saw dead bodies
floating, especially during the famine and if they
do make it over to China they face the possibility
of being sent back to North Korea because China
are allies with North Korea so they help catch
anyone that tries to escape the dictatorship state
and sends them back.
Many North Koreans are taught about the fake
history of the Kims in school so those who do
make it over to China and South Korea struggle
to compete and many experience prejudice and
icy stares with a lot of them being mistreated in
education and work resulting in some defectors
committing suicide.

Escaping from ones home is not a simple thing to describe

in a few words. Even though I really hate the North Korean
government and the Kim family, I miss my hometown,
because its my hometown. But I had to leave to survive.
Leaving your hometown is a big deal for all refugees.

DPRK HUMAN RIGHTS

North Korean soldiers take part in training with military dogs at an undisclosed
location, April 6, 2013.

Defectors trying to cross over into South Korea.

38/39

DPRK HUMAN RIGHTS

Hyeonseo Lee

Hyeonseo Lee was from a privileged family

in North Korea who grew up believing her
country was the best on the planet, in school
she learnt about Kim II-sung and was taught
that America, South Korea and Japan were
their enemies, never learning about the outside
world. At the age of 7 she witnessed her first
public execution, however Lee believed this to be
normal.
Lee as a young girl never knew North
Korean people suffered, however, when her
mother brought home a letter from a friend
saying When you read this our five family
members will not exist in this world, because we
havent eaten for the past three weeks...we are
waiting to die she realised different.
In the mid-1990s North Korea suffered
a famine that killed millions of North Koreans,
during which Lee aged 17 escaped over the
border to China as an illegal immigrant, not to see
her family for the next 14years. Lee constantly
lived in fear that her identity as a North Korean
refugee would be exposed and end in a horrible
fate, with many close calls. After years in China
she decided to travel to South Korea to start a
new life, having to learn her third language-English.
One day she received a phone call saying
the North Korean Authority had intercepted
money she was sending to her family and as
a result her family were being sent to live in a
desolate place in the countryside.

Lee planned their escape from North Korea,

traveling back to the North Korean border
and guiding them 2,000 miles into China and
Southeast Asia, nearly being caught several
times.
However despite all her effort her family
were caught and arrested, she paid the fine and
bribe to get them out of jail, unfortunately they
were caught a second time, this time Lee had
no money to pay the fine or bribe. However
a stranger asked Lee what was wrong, she
explained to the man in broken English, the man
then began walking to an ATM and got money
out paying for her family and two other people.
Lees family was finally reunited in South Korea.

History has proved that

dictators cant last forever.
Weve suffered for seven
decades... [Kim Jong Uns
power] is weakening right
now, and more importantly
the North Korean people
are slowly awakening.

DPRK HUMAN RIGHTS

Yeonmi Park

I am most grateful for two things: that I was born in

North Korea, and that I escaped from North Korea. Both
of these events shaped me, and I would not trade them
for an ordinary and peaceful life.
Yeonmi Park at 13 escaped from North Korea with her mother and the help of a smuggler the
day after her older sister escaped. It was very exciting, I was going to the place where there was life.
I had longed for that life. When they had crossed the Yalu River over to China the smuggler turned
on them and demanded sex from Yeomoni, Yeomonis mother sacrificed herself and was raped in
front of her daughter.
The man brought them home where they met his wife who showed the teenager how to use a
flush toilet and shower as Yeonmi had only ever washed in a river or brought back a bucket of water,
even toilet roll was a new experience only ever using newspaper or a used notebook.
Despite this Yeonmis mother was sold as a bride whilst she stayed with the smuggler who
attempted to rape her but she fought back. However the man did not want to lose her so made her
an offer she could not refuse, if Yeonmi became his mistress he would buy her mother back Even
though I agreed to be his mistress to reunite my family, I still imagined killing him...I didnt see him
as a human being. It was more than hate it was really strong anger, he also smuggled her father
over, looking after them for 2 years before realising them, however Yeonmis father died of cancer
beforehand. Yeonmi and her mother were able to reach Mongolia safely where they were sent to
South Korea. Now safe, they lived under the radar with Yeonmi finishing high school in Seoul and two
years later they were reunited with Yeonmis sister. Now 21 she has become a high-profile activist,
teaching people about her life in North Korea.

40/41

DPRK History

DPRK HISTORY

South Korean soldiers patrol inside the barbed-wire fence near the border village of Panmunjom

DPRK HISTORY

DPRK HUMAN RIGHTS

Political Prison
Camps

Guilt by association
3 generations

North Korea refuses to admit that political

Kim Young-Soon spent 9 years in Yodak
prison camps exist (Kwan-li-so), only acknowledg- political prison camp and due to the system of
ing in 2014 that reform through labour camps
guilt-by-association meant that her mother and
exist. However satellite images from Google earth father, who were over 70 years old, my nine
shows what appear to be prison camps exactly
year old daughter, and my three sons, who were
as described by those North Koreans who gave
seven, four and one. were sent to the camp as
testimony to the UN commission.
well despite her being the culprit. Her parents
North Koreas criminal code means the death
died of starvation and with Kim not being able to
penalty can be applied for vaguely defined
get a coffin she had to wrap them up with straw
offences such as crimes against the state and
and carry them on her back to bury them herself,
crimes against people. In 2007 North Korea
And the children...I lost all my family.
amended its death penalty to include non-violent
A former prison official describes how he
offences such as fraud and smuggling
has escorted a father and son to camp 16, then
if authorities determine it as extremely
the whole family were sent, then the relatives
dangerous.
would be sent to camp 11, it is the so called
Individuals accused of serious political
exterminating the three generations of a family.
offences are sent to political prison camps, not
only them but three generations of the family.
It is estimated that 80,000-120,000 are
imprisoned in the four remaining camps and
suffer from systematic abuses and deadly
conditions including little rations leading to near
starvation, minimal medical care, lack of proper
Kim Young-soon describes the work they had
clothing or housing, sexual assault, torture by
to do. With no set working hours, she woke up
guards and executions.
at 3:30am to report for work at 4:30am and they
worked until dark.
Women who are sent to the camps have to
get tested for pregnancy or sexual transmitted
disease, if they are found to be pregnant they are
forced to abort it by carrying loads up and down
the hills which cause miscarriages.
A former prison officer also witnessed two
Very similar to the testimony
ways of execution, one is to get the prisoner to
one sees on visiting a Holocaust dig their own grave, then they are made to stand
in front of it unable to see what is behind them
and they are hit on the head with a small metal
Museum by those who were
hammer.
With the second method, the prisoner is sent
the victims of Nazi oppression
to the office and asked to sit down. Two officers
are behind a screen with a one meter rubber rope
in the last century.
that when you strike a person with it, it wraps
around their neck and all the officer needs to do
Michael Kirby
is pull it tight, killing them.

Life in the camps

DPRK HUMAN RIGHTS

44/45

Documentary about Shin Dong-huyks life in a North Korean prison camp.

DPRK HUMAN RIGHTS

North Korea sentences

U.S. student to 15 years
hard labour.
U.S. student Frederick Warmbier was
arrested on January, 2, 2016 at Pyongyang
airport just as he was about to board a flight
back to China from North Korea. Warmbier first
arrived in North Korea as part of a trip organised
by China-based Young Pioneer Tours. According
to Kim Jong Uns state-run KCNA news agency,
Warmbier entered the country as a tourist in
order to destroy the countrys unity under the
direction of the U.S. government.
His alleged crime was the stealing of
a political banner from his hotel room. The
North Korean government arguing that he was
encouraged to commit the hostile act against
the state by a purported member of a church
in his home state of Ohio, a secretive state
university organisation and even the CIA.
With Warmbier in court declaring I wish
that the United States administration never
manipulated people like myself in the future
to commit crimes against foreign countries. I
entirely beg you, the people and government of
the DPRK, for you forgiveness. although it cant
be said for certain if he was coerced into making
his confession.
Ohio Governor and Republican presidential candidate John Kasich said the arrest was
inexcusable writing a letter to President Barack
Obama requesting that he make every effort to
secure Mr. Warmbiers immediate release.
and that North Korea should provide proof
of Warmbiers alleged anti-state activities or let
him go. American citizens must be allowed to
travel abroad without the risk of being arrested
arbitrarily and then held hostage for the purposes
of ransom, the forced reopening of diplomatic
negotiations or acts designed to antagonize the
United States, Kasich wrote in his letter.

Warmbier was taken into custody in January

but it was not made public until Febuary when
the push for new sanctions against North Korea
by the U.S. began following its fourth nuclear test
and the launch of a long-range missile, the Times
reported. The announcement of new sanctions
against North Korea implemented under a tough
United Nations Security Council resolution was
announced by the White House on the same day
as Warmbiers sentencing.
Warmbier has been sentenced to fifteen
years imprisonment and hard labor. An extreme
punishment for taking a poster off a wall, even
for North Korea. It is hard to ignore that his
detention and sentencing coincides with how
tensions between North Korea and the United
States have escalated in recent months with
South Korean-U.S. military drill being the largest
ever and North Korea have seen this as a threat
of invasion.

I never, never should have

allowed myself to be lured
by the United States administration to commit a crime
in this country.
Frederick Warmbier

DPRK HUMAN RIGHTS

46/47

American student Otto Warmbier speaks to reporters.

DPRK HUMAN RIGHTS

A South Korean soldier undergoes an experience of what it is like to be held in a

North Korean cell.

DPRK HUMAN RIGHTS

Extermination, murder,
enslavement, torture,
imprisonment, rape,
forced abortions and
other sexual violence,
persecution on political,
religious, racial and
gender grounds, and
the forcible transfer of
populations.
United Nations detailed crimes
against humanity.

48/49

DPRK HUMAN RIGHTS

Families separated
by war
After the Korean war families were separated by the 38th parallel, majority of
them never to see or hear from each other for over 60 years. North and South Korea
are still technically at war as it only ended in armistice, therefore arranging reunions
is a difficult task with North Korea pulling out last minute on a few occasions.
Meetings are organsied by Red cross who held one in 2014 and the last one being
in 2015 and are very popular with tens of thousands of people signing up, the ones
chosen tend to be elderly on both sides. In South Korea they use a computer to
randomly pick people based on age and family history. The picked ones then have
to under go medical examinations and interviews to determine whether they are
fit to travel. Around 250 people were allowed to travel from the south for 3 days,
for many it is the first contact they have had with family in over 60 years. Many
separated are brothers and sisters or fathers and sons and are extremely emotional
occasions as for many it will be the last time they see them.

Kim Myeong-do
Kim Myeong-do was a 21 year old school
teacher from North Koreas South Hwanghae
province who was given the chance to study
Korean literature at university in Seoul, South
Korea. He remembers his mothers last words
Take care, study hard and come back, she said
as his ferry pulled out of the harbour. However
Kims hopes of returing home were shattered
when in 1950 the Korean War began, halving the
peninsula.
Kim now 93 years old has never returned
home to North Korea, never seeing his mother or
father again with no idea what happened to them
If this isnt a tragedy, I dont know what is.
Kim took part in a rare reunion of families from
the North and South finally laying eyes on his
younger brother Kim Heung-do who he last saw
when he was 4 years old. Seeing him after such
a long time felt like I was meeting a man from
the neighbourhood, Kim said, We wouldnt
have recognised each other if we had met on the
street.
Although the reunion was one of joy it brough
some sad news I just heard news about my
family in the North, that my parents had passed
away, what my younger siblings are doing for a
living and so on. Then we parted, he said.
Before his brother left he gave Kim a gift, a
colour photograph of his long-lost family, a small
token of affection. In the picture, 31 North Korean
faces, young and old, stare into the camera, they
are Kims in-laws, cousins, nephews and nieces,
condemned by history to be eternal strangers.
I look at it all the time, he said.

DPRK HUMAN RIGHTS

50/51

Kim Myeong-do holds his only family photograph.

I feel hopeless because the

communists in the North want
to have reunification their way
and, of course, South Korea
wants to have it its way.

DPRK HUMAN RIGHTS

Family members part perhaps for good.

DPRK HUMAN RIGHTS

52/53

DPRK HUMAN RIGHTS

Top
Bottom

North Korean Kim Jin-won, 80, cries as he bids farewell to his South Korean relatives.
South Korean Lee Jeong-suk 68, wipes the tears of her North Korean father Ri Heung-jong, 88.

DPRK HUMAN RIGHTS

54/55

Top
Bottom

South Korean Lee Jung-ho reunites with his elder brother Lee Kwae Seok
South Koreans cry near the buses outside the resort.

DPRK NUCLEAR WEAPONS

Nuclear Weapons

North Korea last launched a long-range missile in 2012.

DPRK NUCLEAR WEAPONS

In September 2015 The U.S.-Korea institute

at Johns Hopkins University reported new
activity at Punggye-ri nuclear test site which
could be used as a bomb test site. This was later
confirmed in December 2015 when North Korea
claimed to possess hydrogen bomb capability
and on January 6, 2016 Pyongyang announced
that it had tested its first hydrogen bomb; its
fourth nuclear test. However many experts
speculate on whether it was actually a hydrogen
bomb claiming the seismic recorded was to small
to have come from such a weapon, however it is
still unclear.
Days before the nuclear test, the Obama
administration secretly agreed to talks to formally
end the Korean war, the U.S. asked for North
Koreas atomic weapons program to be part of
the talks, Pyongyang declined, the nuclear test
on 6 January ended any diplomatic negotiations.
It was one of several attempts American officials
made to discuss de-nuclerisation with North
Korea.
To be clear, it was the North Koreans who
proposed discussing a peace treaty. We carefully
considered their proposal, and made clear that
denuclearization had to be part of any such
discussion.
56/57

The only way for defending the sovereignty of our nation and its right
to existence under the present extreme situation is to bolster up nuclear
force both in quality and quantity and keep balance of forces.
North Korea then reported on January 7,
2016 that it had launched a long range rocket
that had put an Earth observation satellite into
orbit which had been a complete success. The
Kwangyoungsong-4 satellite was named after his
father Kim Jong-il and orbits the Earth every 94
minutes and announced that North Korea plan
further satellite launches.
However the US and its allies believe it uses
satellite launches as covert tests of technology
that could be used to develop a missile capable
of striking the US mainland.
The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon,
condemned the launch as deeply deplorable
and urged North Korea to halt its provocative
actions. Despite the latest moves, Pyongyang
has remained defiant, releasing a statement via its
Moscow embassy saying it intends to continue
launching rockets carrying satellites into space.

DPRK NUCLEAR WEAPONS

Kim Jong-un observes missile launch.

DPRK NUCLEAR WEAPONS

58/59

DPRK NUCLEAR WEAPONS

The U.S. should immediately impose tough economic sanctions

on any entity, including Chinese individuals and state-owned
enterprises, that illegally does business with North Korea...But we
should go further. Until China stops claiming international waters
and the territory of its smaller neighbors, halts its cyberattacks
on U.S. companies and government agencies, and ceases enabling
North Koreas nuclear proliferation, Congress should enact targeted
economic sanctions and travel bans on Chinese military, government,
and financial officials and organizations most responsible for the
regions destabilization and cyberattacks on the U.S.

Sanctions on
North Korea
International reaction to the nuclear test and
the rocket launch was swift, Japan imposed new
sanctions on Pyongyang, South Korea closed
an inter-Korean industrial park and American
lawmakers passed a bill to tighten economic
sanctions against the regime which was signed
into law by Obama.
Obama consulted with Chinese President
Xi Jinping after the nuclear test and separately
with the President of South Korea after the rocket
launch to reaffirm the United States commitment
to their security.
It imposes mandatory sanctions on
individuals who contribute to North Koreas
nuclear and ballistic missile program, its
malicious cyber-attacks, its censorship activities,
and the regimes continued human rights
abuses.
However Russia has imposed unilateral
sanctions against North Korea, with Russian
foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova
arguing that pressuring any countries by
imposing unilateral sanctions on them for political
reasons is illegal. We recognize only sanctions
imposed by UN security council.

China has condemned the new sanctions

against North Korea. Talks between the U.S.
and Seoul over a new U.S. made missile
defense shield for South Korea to protect them
against North Korea has worried Beijing who
want to avoid a bigger U.S. presence in Asia.
Anti-Americanism runs deep in North Korea with
it being taught to children from a young age in
schools and Kim reminds its citizens that America
is an ever threatening enemy with 30,000 troops
based in South Korea.
Despite China keeping North Koreans from
starving, Kim Jong-un is proving that he does not
answer to China and is making it clear that they
are an independent ally. However it is becoming
more difficult for China to give North Korea
leeway with China viewing Kim as an irresponsible leader. It is also unlikely that China wants
to be seen by the international community as
the protector of North Korea, given its recent
outrageous behavior in violation of international
law and U.N. Security Council resolution.
States Susan Rice, Mr Obamas national security
adviser.
But China is stuck, they dont want North
Korea to collapse and have 25 million starving
refugees at its border, so China has no choice
but to support it. It is clear that the North
Korean-Chinese partnership is a marriage of
convenience rather than genuine support.

DPRK NUCLEAR WEAPONS

60/61

Top
Parade photo that was posted on the internet in April 2012.
Bottom Visitors look at replicas of North Korean Scud-B missile and
South Korean Nike missiles at the Korean War memorial in Seoul.

DPRK NUCLEAR WEAPONS

Kim Jong-un wants

weapons ready to fly
Shift in military posture would allow North Korea
to carry out pre-emptive attacks, and deprive The
enemies to sleep in peace till the moment they
meet their final end in their land

Kim Jong-un has ordered nuclear weapons to be readies

for use get the nuclear warheads deployed for national defense
always on standby so as to be fired any moment Korean Central
News Agency reported, citing a speech by him. This move is in
response to the UN Security Councils approval of new sanctions
against North Korea as a result of them testing nuclear weapons
and launching an earth satellite into orbit, both of which have
violated existing sanctions. The new sanctions are the toughest the
UN Security Council has given in over two decades.
The sanctions mean cargo ships and aircrafts must be
inspected before and after leaving North Korea, also prohibiting
small arms and other conventional weapons sales to North
Korea. While 16 new individuals and 12 organisations have been
blacklisted. KCNA called the sanctions a blatant effort by the
U.S. imperialists and their followers to impose gangster-like
economic and political pressure and military aggression on North
Korea for its right to launch an earth observer satellite.
Just a few hours after the resolution passed, North Korea fired
several short-range projectiles into the sea, many seeing it as an
act of defiance against the sanctions.
According to report in The Wall Street Journal, North Korea
may possess 20 nuclear weapons and produce 10 new bombs a
year. Bruce Klingner, former head of CIAs Korea branch said the
best estimate is that they have 10-15 nukes (uncertain whether
they are small enough to fit on a missile), but believes North
Koreas Nodong missile is nuclear capable, therefore meaning
South Korea and Japan are in range, where 28,500 American
soldiers are stationed in the South and 45,000 in Japan.

America and South Korea

have began its yearly military
exercise on 7 March, 2016, its
largest exercise. The joint US
and South Korean exercises,
known as Key Resolve and Foal
Eagle, involves approximately
17,000 American troops, double
the number from previous
years and more than 300,000
South Koreans.Were already
seeing North Korea starting to
issue threats: If the US doesnt
stop these exercises or doesnt
cancel these exercises, North
Korea may take appropriate
action. They also highlight that
there are a number of strategic
assets that will be part of it:
nuclear-capable submarines,
B-52s, F-22s, etc., special forces
Marines all of which, in
North Korean eyes, or the North
Korean depiction, is a prelude
to an attack on North Korea,
Klingner said.
Kim Jong-un in response
to the biggest exercise ever
issued threats to turn Seoul and
Washington into flames and
ashes and began encouraging all youth from secondary
schools and university to sign
up and has proposed those
under 40 who have been
discharged to get back into
uniform.
Kim told state TV that the
countrys enemies were threatening its survival At an extreme
time when the Americans...
are urging war and disaster on
other countries and people, the
only way to defend our sovereignty and right to live is to
bolster our nuclear capability.
Those who do not respond to
the call to join the military will
be seen as having a problem
with the countrys ideologies, so who wouldnt join?
KCNA has reported that 1.5
million have joined the military
since the call by Kim, however
Ryanggang province said that
this did not represent the full
reality.

DPRK NUCLEAR WEAPONS

We should remove the danger of war, ease the

tension and create a peaceful environment on
the Korean peninsula. The large-scale war games
ceaselessly held every year in south Korea are the
root cause of the escalating tension on the peninsula
and the danger of nuclear war facing our nation. It is
needless to say that there can be neither trustworthy
dialogue nor improved inter-Korean relations in such
a gruesome atmosphere in which war drills are staged
against the dialogue partner. To cling to nuclear war
drills against the fellow countrymen in collusion with
aggressive outside forces is an extremely dangerous
act of inviting calamity. We will resolutely react
against and mete out punishment to any acts of
provocation and war moves that infringe upon the
sovereignty and dignity of our country. The south
Korean authorities should discontinue all war moves
including the reckless military exercises they conduct
with foreign forces and choose to ease the tension
on the Korean peninsula and create a peaceful
environment. The United States, the very one that
divided our nation into two and has imposed the
suffering of national division upon it for 70 years,
should desist from pursuing the anachronistic
policy hostile towards the DPRK and reckless acts of
aggression and boldly make a policy switch.
Official translation of Kim Jong Uns 2015 New Years speech, delivered on
January 1 at the Workers Party of Korea Central Committee office building.

62/63

DPRK NUCLEAR WEAPONS

Kim Jong-un attending a live-fire drill 2014.

DPRK NUCLEAR WEAPONS

64/65

A 2009 missile-firing drill at an undisclosed location in North Korea.

DPRK NUCLEAR WEAPONS

The nuclear warheads have been standardized to

be fit for ballistic missile by miniaturizing them...this
can be called true nuclear deterrent.
Kim Jong-un

North Korea has claimed to have minituarised nuclear weapons

small enough to fit on the top of warheads. If the claims are true
it means they could possibly put nuclear weapons onto one of its
missiles, giving it more military potential.
Miniature nuclear weapons are important to North Korea be
cause they would be able to fire a long-range missile from a
submarine or a ground based silco, in order for this to be possible
they would need much smaller nuclear devices, or it wont fit into
a warhead.
Many are questioning whether they have actually achieved it
with photographs suggesting they have, Melissa Hanham a senior
research associate at the James Martin Centre for Nonproliferation
Studies says that it looks pretty serious continuing that its very
hard for them to demonstrate the capability short of testing it on
the tip of a flying missile.
If North Korea have achieved it than it makes its nuclear arsenal
much more dangerous because missiles are harder to shoot down
than planes, becoming a more viable threat to neighboring
countries like Japan.
Kim Jong-un is focused on self-preservation despite the regime
being erratic and eccentric, therefore it is likely this recent nuclear
development is designed for a combination of deterrence and
coercein. Unlikely that North Korea will start a nuclear war that it
would absolutely lose.
North Korea state media on Friday 11 March 2016 has said that
state leader Kim Jong-un has ordered more nuclear weapons test
on their recently developed minituarised nuclear warheads.
Ordering more nuclear explosion tests to estimate the destructive
power of the newly produced nuclear warheads
According to KCNA Thursdays two short-range ballistic test was
part of a nuclear strike exercise, both of which landed in the East
Sea (Sea of Japan). Kim Jong-un reiterated that if the South
Korea-US drills should harm even a single tree or a blade of grass
on North Korean ground they would immediately launch a nuclear
attack. South Korea on Friday said that Kim Jong-un was being
rashand the call for more nuclear tests shows just how ignorant
he is towards international opinion. The international community
is imposing strong and comprehensive sanctions ans this only
goes to prove why they are necessary said Unification Ministry
Spokeswoman Jeong Joon-Hee.

Right
The North released a
photo of leader Kim
Jong-un standing
beside what appears
to be a mock up of a
nuclear bomb.

DPRK NUCLEAR WEAPONS

66/67

DPRK NUCLEAR WEAPONS

Top
Washington DC under a nuclear attack.
Bottom Ends with a clip of a burning American flag.

DPRK NUCLEAR WEAPONS

If North Korea continues its provocation and

confrontation with the international community
and does not walk the path of change, it will
walk the path of self-destruction.
Park Geun-Hye
South Korean President.

North Korean
Threats
North Korea is well known for its threats
and has as expected issued more threats and
warnings to both the United States and South
Korea. They come in retaliation to the joint
U.S.-South Korean military drill that is held
annually in South Korea.
However the difference with this year is the
number of troops involved has increased and
they have included a simulated training for a
decapitation strike targeting Kim Jong-un.
The warning and threat this time was
through a North Korean propoganda video
posted on its propoganda website DPRK Today
on 26 March 2016 called Last Chance. The
visually manipualted video shows a submarine
launched nuclear missile soaring through the
clouds, and back to Earth before destroying
Washington, concluding with the US flag
in flames. A message flashes up at the end
in Korean if US imperialists budge an inch
toward us, we will immediately hit them with
nuclear (weapons).
Shortly after threats to attack South Korean
Presidential palace were issued. North Korea
wants South Korean President Park Geun-hye
to aplogise for treason and punish those
who formulated the decapitation strategy
against Kim Jong-un. If matchless traitor Park
Geun-Hye and her group do not respond...
the long-range artillery force of the KPA large
combined unit on the front will move over to
merciless military action said the Koreans
peoples army (KPA) in a statment.

68/69

Choose, United States.

Whether the country called
United States continues to
exist in this planet depends
on your choice.
Message that flashed
across the screen in the
propaganda video.

The ordinary citizen can express his or her

belief that there should be action. This can
be done in free societies in many ways: by
joining civil society organisations that are
dedicated to improving the situation in North
Korea; by writing letters to the newspapers;
by attending peaceful demonstrations of
concern; by communicating to politicians to
urge action; by joining political parties and
generally making a noise. This is not possible in
North Korea because of the suppression of any
voices adverse to the regime. But it is possible
in many countries of the world and those
who enjoy freedom should cherish it and take
advantage of it to be concerned about more
than their own backyard ... they are brothers
and sisters to us.
Michael Kirby

70/71

The future of the state of North Korea

is entirely a matter for the people of

that country. It does not belong to the

United Nations or its COI.

Michael Kirby

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bibliography
Admin (2016) Seoul: N. Korea conducted
artillery drill near sea border At: http://xbox360asylum.ca/world/seoul-n-korea-conductedartillery-drill-near-sea-border/2378 (Accessed on
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