Recently, there has been a lot of controversy about many things happening within the United States of America. Yes, our country has its flaws, but we are all still very fortunate to be a part of a nation where its citizens share human rights. Although there are other nations where people have freedoms, one nation that often mistreats its citizens is the country of North Korea. Its citizens live very miserable, harsh lives that appear horrid to any citizen of the United States. Below, I have listed some facts that are not only shocking, but also hard to imagine.
1. North Korea's Government Sends Some of Its Citizens to Other Countries as State Sponsored Slaves
Since the 1980s, North Korea’s government has been sending its citizens to foreign countries as state-sponsored slaves. North Korea's government collects the slaves' profits and spends them for their own unknown purposes. It was estimated in 2015 that around one hundred thousand North Korean state-sponsored slaves are located globally. These slaves produce a lot of money for the corrupt nation, and are forced into horrible situations.
2. Concentration Camps Exist in North Korea
In North Korea, there are political prisoner camps that are basically concentration camps. In 2014, United States and South Korean officials estimated that between eighty thousand to one hundred and twenty thousand people are held in North Korea's concentration camps. The concentration camps have a three generation rule, which forces offenders, their parents, and their children to be sent to the camps. At the concentration camps, people endure horrible living conditions and abuse such as starvation, mistreatment by guards, unimaginable unsanitary living conditions, and a large lack of medical care. Rape is common at the camps, and women who become pregnant are executed or forced into having abortions. The kids that are born in the concentration camps also become enslaved for the rest of their lives.
3. North Korea's Leaders are Basically Viewed as Gods by Its Citizens
In North Korea, children are required to learn historical facts and myths about their current leader, Kim Jong-un, and their past leaders. Most buildings in North Korea have portraits of the country's past leaders, Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il. In addition, North Korea’s citizens must wear pins of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il on their left side. Citizens who do not show proper respect to their government officials are sent to concentration camps.
4. Labor Rights are Nonexistent in North Korea
North Korea's government refuses to join the International Labor Organization. Its citizens are prohibited from rights that we enjoy in the United States, such as the right to collectively bargain and freedom of association. Forced labor is common in North Korea, and people are often given jobs based off of their family's social status.
5. North Korea's Citizens Lack Basic Freedoms
In North Korea, freedoms such as freedom of speech, movement, religion, and information are prohibited. Anyone who is accused of disrespecting the government gets sent to concentration camps. North Korea's workers must obtain special permission to leave the city that they work at, and only upper-class citizens have cars to travel. Because North Korea's leaders are basically viewed as gods, its citizens are not allowed to study religions. Anyone found with religious materials gets sent to concentration camps. The citizens are even restricted on what information they can obtain, and very few people in the nation have access to the Internet. Because of these restrictions, North Korea's citizens are extremely hindered by their government.
6. The Government Restricts Its Citizens' Access to Food
Starvation in rampant throughout North Korea, and many of its citizens are malnourished. The government of North Korea controls food distribution to its citizens, which causes food shortages. The government's starvation of its citizens has reduced the nation's average height and caused health problems to be more common.
7. Government Propaganda is Literally Everywhere
Government propaganda is a large part of North Korea's education system, and it does not stop there. The North Korean media is heavily restricted as far as what material they can present, so it is filled with propaganda. False facts about other countries, the nation's leaders, and more are repeated over and over to North Korea's citizens. These forms of propaganda are spread through the education system, billboards, radios, and newspapers, and they never come to an end. In North Korea, there is no escape from the government.
