Friday 19 April 2013

Part 2: The Threat of North Korea: Living Below the Hermit Kingdom

As I previously mentioned, the name of my blog was inspired by North Korea which -for obvious reasons- has earned the nickname "The Hermit Kingdom". It seems when the Korean Peninsula makes headlines it is mostly due to the Northern half. However, there is a lot going on below the Hermit Kingdom which this picture demonstrates perfectly:






North Korea is one of the darkest places on earth. When I first arrived in the South, it often struck me that --although I was living in a country abounding in technology, food, entertainment, and general merriment-- it was the winning half of a divided whole. Before moving here the idea that the country of Korea was left this way after a bitter civil war had little meaning to me. I can recall my Mum telling me she had read that North Koreans were much shorter than South Koreans due to malnutrition. I remember thinking that was bizarre. None of this meant much to me until I moved here and really started thinking about it and devoting time to researching about my new Northern neighbours. 

I spent a lot of time in conversation, in reading, and in front of this computer watching videos about North Korea. The information is disturbing.  Prison Camps. Torture. Censorship. Starvation. Mind-control. Poverty.

I think being informed about the plight of the North Korean people is really important. An organization I respect is Liberty in North Korea. Their mission is to rescue North Korean defectors while seeking to change the perception people have of the northern part of this peninsula. They want to create awareness about how the people living in the shadow of this dictatorship suffer rather than constantly drawing attention the leaders of North Korea. Check out their website below:



In Hyeonseo Lee's Ted Talk, she details her escape and the challenges that face other escape attempts from the regime. Check out the video below:


Google Talks has an interview with Shin Dong-Hyuk. He is the only known person to have escaped one of North Korea's infamous prison camps. He discusses life inside, the power of hunger,  death of his family, and the torture inflicted upon him at the hands of the camp's guards.



I find most of the pieces VICE puts out to be very informative, albeit somewhat cynical, and always with an air of flippancy. This is a 3 part series and I have posted part I (open the video in www.youtube.com to find the links to part II and III)


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