North Korea: Human Rights

Human rights are lacking to those who call North Korea home. North Koreans have little contact with the outside world, thanks to the Kim Jong-il regime. With a lack of technology and media, North Koreans don’t have much of a voice. They have rights, but on a scale so minuscule, they are incomparable to Western human rights. The photo above the article in AsiaOne News reflects this (the link is below).

Technology, as we have been learning, is very important in today’s society. North Korea gives us a clear example of what happens when a people group is cut off from the outside world. The Kim Jong-il regime holds the power in North Korea, but the article found on AsiaOne News is about how South Korea has attempted to put forth laws that would better human rights in the both North and South Korea. If the laws are indeed enacted, the North Korean government threatens violence. According to the main newspaper in the North Korea, they see this movement that South Korea has made as an action of disrespect. There is fear that even more ties will be cut and some say that it is just better to send more humanitarian aid to the country.

As we've seen in countless instances, people can easily base their beliefs on a single voice. And if that voice gets powerful and unwavering, and it sounds clear, complete, understanding and confidant, people can cling to it for means of support. For example, during the Rwandan genocide, the Hutu and Tutsi conflict came about through the voice of Hutu (and some Tutsi) extremists who spread propaganda. In the confusion of talk, each people group heard the extremist's voices and clung to them and followed their orders, mainly the Hutus and Tutsis who were members of the RPF.

In North Korea, the situation is pretty different from the Rwandan genocide, but it is alike in the sense that there is a strong and powerful voice, and it happens to be the only voice North Koreans are hearing. So, it's difficult to tell them they lack human rights, when they only know of their human rights.

http://www.asiaone.com/News/Latest%2BNews/Asia/Story/A1Story20110617-284662/2.html