Nadia W.
Who is Kim Jong Un? Kim Jong Un is the current supreme leader of North Korea and is called by his people, the “Great Successor”. He is the youngest son of the former leader, Ko Young-hee. His late mother was an opera singer named Ko Younghui. It is believed he was born January 8, 1983, making him thirty-three years old. He attended the Kim II-Sung Military University, which was named after his father. Kim Jong Un has been in power since the death of his father. Since December of 2011, Kim Jong Un has been head of the political party, army, and state. He pledged to center his attention around education and economic reforms. During the summer of 2012, Kim Jong Un married Ri Sol-Ju. It is speculated that they have a child together.
How Powerful is North Korea? The North Korean Special Operation Forces (NKSOF) currently has 1.2 million men and women serving in its elite military, making it the third largest army in all countries, standing behind China and the United States of America. South Korea claims North Korea is under the possession of more than 13,000 artillery guns. Their long-range batteries are capable of reaching South Korea’s capital, Seoul, located only thirty miles from their border. Former U.S. State Department official, Mark Fitzpatrick, reported: “North Korea's greatest advantage is that its artillery could initially deliver a heavy bombardment of the South Korean capital.” The NKSOF’s goal is to prevent war from happening between them and the U.S. alongside South Korea. Their strategy is to intimidate other countries with nuclear bombs, missiles, and artillery. The navy occupies seventy small submarines that
are capable of loading commando raiders along South Korea’s coastline. North Korea’s air force occupies 820 warplanes. Because they lack experienced and skilled pilots, they rely on the element of surprise. South Korea estimates that North Korea’s wartime resources would not last long, two or three months at the most. They suspect the resources to be hidden underground. North Korea is one of the nine countries that is in possession of nuclear weapons. Since 2006, North Korea has regulated three underground nuclear tests. The capital, Pyongyang, is assumed to have four to eight nuclear bombs. Siegfried Hecker, a nuclear expert, revealed, "I don't believe North Korea has the capacity to attack the United States with nuclear weapons mounted on missiles and won't for many years," Pyongyang only has short-range nuclear missile efficiency.
The Children in North K0rea Beginning at a young age, North Korean children are taught to worship Kim Jong Un. At school, they sing songs about their believed supreme leader that tell how wonderful he is. Sang Jeon, a former student, was told by her teachers, “On his desk there are piles and piles of reports that he has to read and approve. He works so hard for us, the people.” Students do not attend just any regular gym classes. They are taught how to throw a wooden grenade at wooden human figures. The figure has pale skin with light hair, resembling an average American. It has the words “cunning American wolf “ on its t-shirt. Starting in kindergarten, students are brainwashed into developing hatred toward the United States of America. By the age of seven, every child must join the Children’ s Union. At this union, they confess any wrongdoings they have done against the “Ten Principles,” which is a set of rules that explain the standards and expectations of the behavior of the people. By the age of fourteen, they attend the Kim Il Sung Socialist Youth League, where they are taught to worship the Kim family. During lunch, the children are questioned, “Do you know where the milk came from? It came from the Dear Leader. Because of his love and consideration, we are drinking milk today.” The teachers teach revolutionary history, where everything, the textbooks, art, music, and novels relate back to Kim Jong Un. There are millions of portraits of Kim Jong Un, his father and his father’s father, among the country. Every classroom, office, living room, train, and bus has pictures of their former leaders and current leader. Under law, the children are required to clean these portraits everyday with a particular cloth. North Korean children wear pins of their leaders on the left side of their chest, to keep them close to their heart.
Escaping North Korea Because of the twenty-four hour surveillance and electric fences, escaping North Korea is nearly impossible. If someone is caught trying to cross the North Korean border, the person faces either execution or goes to prison for life. Among the few people who have successfully escaped, is a woman named Yeonmi Park. It has been nine years since she has fled the country. She describes how it was not unusual for the community to gather in public squares or sports stadiums to watch the executions of prisoners, usually several at a time. Park was just nine years old at the time when she witnessed her best friend’s mother being executed The women she had known her whole life was lined up alongside eight other prisoners. Her crime was watching South Korean films and sharing them with other friends. Park never forgot the explosion of blood and the moment the woman’s body fell to the ground.
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Escaping North Korea (Cont.) She says, “It was a shock. It was the first time I felt terrified.” Her entire world was destroyed in 2002 when her father was arrested and given a seventeen-year sentence for illegal trading. He was taken to a prison near Pyongyang where he was brutally tortured. Park explained, “The environment was crazy. So many bugs and lice. They treated them like animals. He was a really brilliant man. He was my hero, and the country just beat him. I couldn’t believe it.” Her father was only one of the 120,000 prisoners, including men women and children, who were tortured that year. Fortunately, he was able to bribe his way out of jail after just three years. Upon his return, the Park family began their plan to escape North Korea. On March 30, 2007, Yeonmi and her mother left their home, leaving behind their father to minimize the risks of being caught. They crossed three mountains and walked over a frozen river until finding dry land. Yeonmi says,”I ran so fast. The only thing I could think was that I could get shot. I ran and ran and ran.” Once they reached the province of Jilin in China, a man threatened to turn the two women into Chinese authorities unless Yeonmi had sex with him. Yeonmi’s mother offered herself instead. “She had no choice,” Yeonmi says. “Literally, in front of me, he raped her.” Eventually, they met up with their great aunt who lived in China. She provided them shelter, however, it was filthy and had no electricity or water. A few days had passed until Yeonmi’s father met up with them. Yeonmi is now twenty-three years old and spends her time as an activist for raising awareness about the harsh and inhumane world of North Korea. She travels the world giving speeches and uses Facebook, Twitter, Skype and Instagram to talk about her experiences.Yeonmi announces, “Kim Jong-un and the regime don’t just oppress, they play with human lives. Kim Jong-un should be punished. He must be brought to justice. Kim Jong-un thinks he can keep going on being a king there. But nothing is for ever.”
“Leaving North Korea is not like leaving any other country. It is more like leaving another universe. I will never truly be free of its gravity, no matter how far I journey.”
-Hyeonseo Lee
“He would wait hours for her, maybe two or three. It didn’t matter. The cadence of life is slower in North KoreaNobody owned a watch.”
-Barbara Demick Bibliography 1) Biography.com Editors. "Kim Jong-un Biography." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 4 Mar. 2016. 2) N.p. "Profile: Kim Jong-un, North Korea's Supreme Commander - BBC News."BBC News. BBC, 6 Jan. 2016. Web. 04 Mar. 2016. 3) Craggs, Ryan. "How Strong Is North Korea's Military? A Look At The Country's Capabilities." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 25 Apr. 2013. Web. 14 Mar. 2016. 4) Anna Fifield. "In North Korea, It's Never Too Soon to Start the Brainwashing." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 4