I S S U E
the supreme leader
the supreme leader 2
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TOTA L I TA R I A N
T
he Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is ironically quite the opposite. The Kim dynasty has ruled North Korea since 1948, leading a totalitarian dictatorship with one of the worst human rights records in the world. Despite being a relatively small country, North Korea has the fourth largest army in the world as well as an active nuclear weapons and space program. Over the few past months alone the situation has escalated with vast media attention being brought upon their war-mongering rhetoric. This zine focuses on a fuller picture of Korea, not just the worsening military situation, but also the real truth on how the people of the country suffer through indoctrination, forced labour and humanitarian disaster. This superficial but insightful look into North Korea is presented in an aesthetically pleasing graphical form through various media.
its llows nly a o a ed t e r esen h Ko repr Nort e b es. ictur e to w p e imag f g a nnin gh begi s i throu is st of ly th he re T . t Slow r apa o see eak ing t t r a t to br is s orld e. acad the w the f h g throu
N
o r t h
have fuelled the people into believing they
Korea’s
are a normal country or even a supreme
infamous of that
cult
one. This indoctrination was key when The
personality
Great Leader ran the country into a huge
has
been
humanitarian disaster in the form of a great
indoctrinated into
famine when up to a million people died. It
their people has led
was the result of the country’s obsession to
to such titles as ‘The
put their military first to the detriment of the
Leader’
people. Even now, it is widely believed that
Eternal Leader’ being
Supreme
small, frequent pockets of famine exist in
put onto the ruling members of the Kim family.
areas of North Korea, so much so that there
It is this all-encompassing love toward their
are reports of cannibalism.
and ‘The
leader that has resulted in the country being sectioned off from reality in which its people
It is sometimes unbelievable to think that
believe that they are far better off than the
such a country exists in a 21st Century world
rest of the world. Due to this; as well as the
where its people are being led like puppets
Second World War and the Korean Civil War,
into poverty and human atrocities such as
North Korea has developed a huge hatred
cannibalism while its ‘Supreme Leader’ tests
towards western civilization, particularly
nuclear weapons ready to drop on America.
the United States of America. Through the
Consequently, the true horrors of the country
means of radical propaganda, its leaders
need to be open for the world to see.
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today’s i m a g e is:
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e h t
e d l a u d a r g
i l c
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e n
u h of
n a m
y t i
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K o r e a Cannibal
and exaggeration but there is
you don’t know where
no smoke without fire. Such
it has come from” said
horrific stories are such as
one Chongjin woman to a
that one man was reported
friend. It has been reported
to have dug up the body of
that although not widespread,
his grandchild then eaten the
North Koreans have resorted
remains. Others consist of
to eating the flesh of their
tales involving a man boiling
fellow
beings
resolve
his children then eating their
their
incredible
hunger.
flesh, while there are many
Many are going insane with
reports of many men selling
starvation, being driven to
human meat as pork and
eat members of their own
others
family. Many of the stories
eating their children.
to
being
executed
for
may well be sensationalism
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when food becomes more important than family
“
Don’t buy any meat if
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If the rumours and quotes from Korean defectors are true, then it boldly outlines the dire situation in which the DPRK has fallen into. Will it take an external intervention from the UN or US to stop such horrific conditions or will the North’s close and few allies in China be the only people able to help? For now, Kim Jong-un will let his country fall into another humanitarian disaster at the expense of creating a global nuclear threat that he can use to crush his feared ‘aggressors’, America.
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North Korea has mastered the ability of controlling the minds of its people through close restriction of the media and the information in which the population are able to view. The internet can be accessed by only the few elite while radios and stations. Through this media, the DPRK indoctrinate its people into believing they are in a better situation than the rest of the world. Moreover, they paint a picture of the western enemy who are a supposed huge danger to North Korea. It has been found that the media have attempted to mislead the Korean public as to the outside world’s perceptions of the country. For example, when the great leader Kim Jong-il visited Russia in 2001, it was reported that the Russian people were awestruck by his ability to “stop the rain and make the sun come out”.
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televisions are pre-tuned to specialist government approved
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Reminiscent of Nazi Germany, it may be surprising to learn that it is known that North Korea possesses and enforces its people into labour camps. Those who speak out against the regime or attempt to defect may end up being sentenced to many years of forced labour or other intensive work. Here, poverty is rife where escapees tell tales of having to eat grass, corn from cow manure and caught mice. Few manage to escape, even fewer to escape and defect across the border to live to tell the tale.
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C
orrespondents have also found that the “hermit
and hanging. He admitted himself that he had once ordered
kingdom” of the DPRK has labour camps deep in the
the execution of 31 people from five families as a collective
forests of Siberia, Russia. Kim Jong-il transported North
punishment because one person in one family had attempted
Korean workers to log trees on a massive scale for minimal
to escape. There are tales of even worse treatment, where
wages, but for financial gain for the good of the Korean people.
human-experimentation took place through gas chambers or
With no choice in the matter, inhabitants are cast far out into the
inexperienced North Korean surgeons practiced on prisoners,
middle of nowhere to fulfil ten year contracts to support their
often resulting in terrible medical negligence and death. One
homeland’s vast army.
may argue that all these reports could potentially be antiKorean exaggeration, sensationalism or Chinese whispers, but
North Korea still refuses to accept that such camps exist despite
Ahn’s story corroborates with other witness statements from ex-
the fact that in April 2013, a US citizen was sentenced to 15
guards and escapees. Even if a fraction of these tales are true,
years hard labour. It is thought that over 200,000 people are
North Korea has one of the worst human rights records in the
forced to live in labour camps in horrific conditions. If one
world that needs to be opened up for the world to see and
person is found guilty and is held as a political prisoner, then
eventually stopped.
their entire family and close friends are held accountable thus detained for years along with the supposed culprit. Former
Week by week, someone on Google Maps uncovers another
guard Ahn Myong-chol who worked at Camp 22 in North Korea
labour camp, or news spreads of another horror story. Eventually
described the horrendous experiences he had while working
the truth will be wide spread about North Korea’s darker side,
there for four years. Very little appeared to be different from that
it is just a question of how long the people will have to wait for
of a World War 2 era concentration camp, with Ahn stating that
an uprising or UN intervention against the Kim dynasty and to
he was a witness to various tortures including box-room, water
what human cost.
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not real A
s the military situation
which a Korean nuclear bomb
in the North worsens,
flies across the world, causing
the
government’s
America to spectacularly light
rhetoric also gets more serious.
up in a fireball. Ironically,
The
Central
this video contained footage
recently
from the popular American
been quoted to have said
video game – Call of Duty
that they will crush the U.S.
Modern Warfare. The CNA
mainland which is “similar to a
stole video from their very
boiled pumpkin” by “setting fire
own worst enemy to portray
to the dens of crimes and bases
the destruction of their “feared
of aggression with its powerful
aggressors”. Quite hypocritical
and sophisticated nuclear strike
when no media external to
means and completely wipe
North Korea is allowed in at all
them out on the earth.” Such
to taint their precious culture.
News
state-controlled Agency
has
language was then backed up by a remarkable propaganda video of a North Korean man dreaming of a better world in
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t won’t be too long before Korea becomes the subject of a new video game, making their CGI
propaganda video reminiscent of the 1990s even more ironic. The current situation slowly gets closer to breaking point, becoming ever more unrealistic as they threaten to strike America with non-existent nuclear warheads. For now the western world watches on as the DPRK tries to scare the rest of the world with hollow rhetoric.
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The western world watches on as North Korea behaves in the words of China; like a “spoiled child� attempting to attract the attention of America.
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this zine is sponsored by Channel 4