Facade

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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6

e h t

e d l a u d a r g

i l c

7

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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ishethefinishedarticle?.jpg

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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I

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