Category: North Korea

Introduction

The phrase ‘nothing to envy’ in the title of the book Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea gives an immediate gist of the material that is about to be presented by its author Barbara Demick. The phrase suggests that nothing has been attractive about the life of Koreans for the last two decades. The setting of the book takes place in Seoul from 2001. The author who is an American journalist admits that he could not cover any story about North Korea while stepping on the North Korean soils since American journalists were simply not permitted there. Members of the public were not free. They often feared to discuss nothing about the administrative regime. Consequently, the tales presented in the book are based on the life experiences of people who defected to either China or South Korea. The purpose of this paper is to review Demick’s book Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea.

Social Setting of the Book

The book is set in a society that is completely engulfed with cloud of darkness to the extent that learning anything about it is impossible. The best extent to which one can directly collect information about the true life of the societies in North Korea is through satellite images perhaps because there is no means of blocking the satellites from taking the picture. Surprisingly, the Korean society is not underdeveloped. Demick is a witness to this assertion, as he claims Korea is actually a nation that has crawled out of the developed nations (Demick 7). Since the goal of the author is to reveal the darker side of North Korea, Demick specifically drew her interviewees from Chongjin, which is one of the largest towns in North Korea whose residents have encountered a myriad of challenges including the 1990s famine and the total closures from the rest of the world.

With the nature of the social setting of the book, it is apparent that the North Korean do not do anything at will. They are technically brainwashed by the authoritarian administration and hence the difference between North and South Korea and perhaps the divisions of North and South Korea. The divisions of Korea initiated after the Second World War when the US and Russia made a decision on what to do with Korea. The North assumed the Russian system of governance (communist) while the south assumed the US system of governance (democracy). Consequently, Korea remains divided even today with the south having the freedom of speech and movement. This case perhaps explains well why the defectors only give their true accounts of life in North Korea while on the soils of South Korea.

Summary of living conditions of North Korea between 1990 and 2000

The symbol of darkness by virtue of lack of electricity to light up even the main cities give vivid images of nature of North Korean life. Bearing in mind the presentation of the North Korean society this way, the title of the book is not coincidental. It is coined from the famous slogan adopted by Korean leaders “we have nothing to envy in the world” (Demick 83). This slogan was principally aimed at inspiring Korean people to remain independent. However, the description of the life of North Korea in the 1990s and 2000 by Demick reveals otherwise.

The North Korean life faded in 1990s when “the Soviet Union, which has propped up its cold communist with cheap fuel oil, collapsed” (Demick 7). From then, life in North Korea became unbearable for the citizens hence prompting them to start moving away from their homes heading towards South Korea and to their neighbors such as China. Unfortunately, closing the 2-mile long border between North Korea and South Korea is a sure indication that one would not return home. Closing it is the main challenge because of the movement controls existing in North Korea.

Any attempt to escape attracts hefty punishment such as imprisonment. Just as one cannot even today hop into a plane and travel to any place of his or her choice in North Korea, even in 1990 to 2000, as described by Demick, closing the 2-mile long no-man’s-land is an enormous challenge without a good reason. This case creates an impression that life in North Korea is like living in a place fenced with barbed wires, with ditches dug all around or surrounded by armed military. Any other stuff would ensure that one remains bound to the brainwashing system of administration never to know that life could be better elsewhere in other parts of the world.

Life in South Korea is completely a contrast of life in North Korea. There is an abundance of peace, electricity, food, and more importantly, the freedom of speech and travelling. In contrast, Demick claims that the collapse of North Korea led to the rusting of power stations and sending lights off thus making people scale “utility poles pilfer bits of copper wire to swap for food” (Demick 7). The old skeletal wire of the once operational power line grid acts as a vivid reminder of when North Korean people had more electricity and hence more to eat relative to their counterparts (South Korean) who now celebrate more food abundance. North Korea is simply a nation of hungry and immobile people!

Mini-biography of the six defectors profiled in Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea

Mrs. Song

Mrs. Song is a pro-regime homemaker. She is a mother of four children who worked in a factory before it collapsed. She truly believed in Kim II-Sung as evidenced by Demick when she says that Mrs. Song “spouted the slogans of Kim II-Sung without any flicker of doubt” (Demick 30). Mrs. Song was born during the day when the Second World War ended, 15 August 1945 (Demick 31) in a family of six. She was brought up in Chongjin near a coerce station. Her father worked in this station as a professional mechanic. She lost her father when he still worked at the station when the Korean War broke.

The death of Mrs. Song’s father makes her develop a feeling of being the daughter of a “martyr of the fatherland liberation war” (Demick 31). This case perhaps well explains her true dedication to serve and proclaim the psyche of anti Americanism. She was sufficiently, poor to “qualify as one of the members of the downtrodden under the class that Kim II- Sung claimed to represent” (Demick 32). Consequently, she was keen never to marry anybody who did not subscribe to the same school of thought. Luckily, Chang-bo was introduced to her.

Chang-bo was specifically fit to be Mrs. Song’s future husband since, apart from being a graduate of the Kim II-Sung University, he was to become a career journalist since journalists were regarded as heroes, as they acted as mouthpieces of the prevailing regime. Mrs. Song’s life was simple: life of total devotion to the ruling regime. Irrespective of the odds, the regime was the true force of change and protection of the dignity of the North Koreans that was threatened by the Americans in her eyes.

Oak-Hee

Oak-Hee is the Mrs. Song’s rebellious daughter. She turns out to be the enterprising daughter in Mrs. Song’s family. Unlike her mother, she does not subscribe to the martyr school of thought. Indeed, “she could not tolerate the small stupidities that made life so grueling” (Demick 36). She believed that it was pointless to do anything beneficial in any way. In the eyes of Mrs. Song, Oak-Hee was individualistic in the sense that she refused to participate in collective family matches to sing and proclaim good things about the administrative regime into which her mother was so deeply ingrained.

From an occupation perspective, upon finishing her high school, Oak-Hee was lucky to secure a job at a “propaganda construction company” (Demick 37) via her father’s connections. Her job was prestigious since it never entangled the lifting of heavy objects. All she did was to write reports concerning the work teams at the company. In the effort to ensure that Oak-Hee’s life was secure, her parents sought to look for a good suitor who also subscribed to the same school of thought as they did.

In one of his business trips, her father met an engaging young man by the name Choi Yong-su who, according to Demick, came from a well up family situated in the north of Chongjin. He worked as a civilian worker for the army of Korean people (38). With this caliber, he thought that the man was indeed promising as he requested him to pay them a visit. Yong-Su and Oak-Hee were united in marriage in1988 following the norms of North Korean traditional styles. However, her marriage faced difficulties as she constantly ran back to her home. While pregnant, she lost her job.

Mi-ran

Mi-ran is a thirty-one-year old woman who had defected from North Korea six years ago. She was born in 1973 in a family of four (all girls). Before defecting to South Korea, Mi-ran lived in North Korea in 2004 in the city of Suwon, which is located about 20 miles in the south of Seoul. Mi-ran is married to a South Korean who worked as a “civilian military employee” (Demick 10). She was three months pregnant at the time the author met her for an interview. Prior to the defection, Mi-ran’s occupation was in the teaching field where she worked as a kindergarten tutor in Suwon (a mining town and the home of the Korean electronics companies). At the time of the interview, she was pursuing an education graduate degree (Demick 11).

Mi-ran admits having had a fellow North Korean boyfriend whom she had met in her teen years. She is quick to pin point that, at 26, she did not even know how babies were conceived. Any intimacy relationship between two people of the opposite sex was simply prohibited. Although Mi-ran admits having trusted his North Korean boyfriend, she says that several secrets prevailed that she could not let loose. One of them was how disgusting she felt about the propaganda that she passed to her pupils. The most secretive one was her intentions to defect to South Korea.

In case she told someone about the intentions, who could tell another person, the repercussion was immeasurable. The rest of her family could be sent into “labor camp in the mountains” (Demick 11). Economically, the Mi-ran’s family life was not easy. Her father was a poor mineworker. This issue did not surprise Mi-ran since she admits that everyone else was also poor. She believed that life was not better anywhere else in the world. In case of some places such as South Korea where rumors claimed had an abundance of food, people were simply puppets of Americans, which stood out as an issue that Kim Il-Sung incredibly objected..

Jun-sang

Jun-sang is Mi-ran’s Korean boyfriend. Similar to Mi-ran’s father and almost every other family man in the village where Jun-sang was born, his father worked in the mines. His parents were born in Japan in a “part of a population of ethnic Koreans that numbered about 2 million at the end of World War II” (Demick 26). While at Pyongyang, Jun-Sang lived a less challenging life since the movement prioritized feeding the people he believed could become future scientists. The dream of the government was that North Korea could be lifted from poverty through the efforts of such scientists. He was then lucky to have three meals in a day. He also enjoyed living in a heated dorm with the lights being switched off late in the night in comparison with other places to give them an opportunity to study.

Although Jun-sang had signed a bloody consensus that, together with other university students, he would volunteer for war, at 21, he was already skeptical about the various forms of government including Korea. Despite the fact that he questioned whether everyone felt true love for Kim II-Sung, he still believed that communalism was the best mechanism for allocation of resources in comparison to capitalism, a phenomenon that characterized South Korea.

Kim Hyuck

Kim Hyuck is a street-boy who was committed to an orphanage by his farther. He also gives an account of having stolen pears in an orchard. Kim II-Sung died when Kim Hyuck was only 12 years old and a first year pupil at “Chongjin’s Malum Middle School, the equivalent of the seventh grade” (Demick 68). School was not one of the places he liked, the reason being that there was hardly adequate food for him to bring with to school for lunch. While at school, he spent most of his time glaring outside from the window with thoughts running in his mind that, should he have been outside, he could have looked for something to eat. The best moments in his life were perhaps when a time came to visit the statue for Kim II-Sung because free rice cakes were given out, and that he would go back home full stomach.

Dr. Kim

As suggested by his name, Dr. Kim is a general practitioner at a small district hospital. The hospital where he worked was strategically located since it received an incredible share of patients who got injured in the commotions of people who gathered to pay respect to Kim II- Sung’s statue as the hospital was located only a “fifteen-minute walk away” (Demick 73) from Pohnag square. One of the fascinating experiences of Dr. Kim in her occupation was that lights were hardly on during the day, as a diversion of all power was vital to ensure that Kim II-Sung’s statue remained illuminated daylong. However, amid these challenges, as a young medical professional, at the age of 28, she strongly subscribed to his medical oath and hardly skipped duty apart from the few minutes when she went to pay respect to the statue.

Her life had been thrilling. She became a member of young pioneers at the age of seven. She graduated to become a member of young socialists’ league at the age of thirteen. She entered Chongjin University medical school while at a tender age of 16. She later completed the 7-year program and “started her apprenticeship at provision people’s hospital no.2” (Demick 74). Her love life was troubled culminating into a divorce a short time after marriage.

Conclusion

With the continual of authoritarian administration, the future of North Korea seems incredibly grim. Kim Jong-il is fully aware that North Korea continues to encounter a myriad of challenges including food shortages. Currently, suctions have been imposed on North Korea for its continued efforts to pursue the nuclear weaponry program. This argument attracts segregation from trade engagements with the rest of the world as an issue that disadvantages Korean residents. Conclusively, the authoritarian administrative regime that continues to preach the significance of isolation of North Korea from the impacts of Americanization of the world does more harm than the administration perceives. This revelation makes the future of North Korea have no hope unless democracy is installed in the collapsing state.

Works Cited

Demick, Barbara. Nothing to Envy; Ordinary Lives in North Korea. New York, NY: Spiegel and Grau, 2009. Print.

It is apparent that North Korea was officially declared the Democratic Peoples Republic after Japan ceased to take control of the country in 1945 (Lee 103). Pyongyang became the Capital of North Korea and the largest city in the country since then. This took place after Japan was defeated in World War II, a factor that left Korea dividend into two parts, namely the North and South (Kang 1). Besides, after the Second World War, North Korea was left in the hands of the Soviet Civil Authority, who established a domestic regime in the country to rule on behalf of the Unite Nations Organization.

Consequently, the Democratic People Republic of North Korea was established in 1948 (Lee 103). This was after the Soviet Union withdrew its authority to rule North Korea to reunite it with South Korea. However, the failure of the Soviet to reunite Korea led to the firm establishment of the republic.

It is evident that North Korea’s government is highly politicized and much regimented. In this case, it is an autocratic mode of governance. This can be supported by the idea that very little is known about the capital city, Pyongyang, especially by people living outside it (Kang 1). Although Pyongyang is regarded as a capital of revolution, people have no idea of the daily existence within the city.

For instance, the economy of the country has increasingly diminished hence making it hard to maintain the normal life of people in the country. Needless to say, since the establishment of North Korea, there emerged constant disputes with the neighboring country on the south. This eventually sparked war in 1950 between North and South Korea (Lee 103). Regardless of several interventions by The United States, it developed into full-scale civil war.

More powers, including China, intervened to create a balance between the warring nations. It was not until 1953 when the war was brought to an end and claimed millions of civilian’s lives. It is notable that though the war was eventually ended, the tension between the two countries remained high until they signed a North-south Joint declaration in the year 2000. This declaration was meant to seek a peaceful reunion. In line with this, leaders of the two countries held a summit in 2007 to reaffirm the principle of reunion and non-aggression (Lee 103).

Nevertheless, since the establishment of North Korea and the war skirmishes, it has not been a smooth sail for the country. For instance, frequent disputes have relatively affected the peaceful operations within the country. In this case, the government of North Korea has been susceptible to assassination attempts against their counterpart in the South. For instance, they attempted to attack South Korea in 1968 and 1974.

Moreover, the Rangoon bombing in 1983 is one of the attacks that have slowly affected the progress of North Korea. This can be deduced from the fact that in 2002, US President George W. Bush referred to North Korea as the “axis of evil” (Lee 103). Although both the South and North Korea have furnished their diplomatic relations, the latter has remained an “out-post of tyranny” (Kang 1). In 2010, the country fired rounds of artillery on islands in South Korea and the damage caused could not be estimated. However, the leaders claimed that the action was just a physical strike against provocations from the south.

In summing up, there have been views by scholars that North Korean government is one of the most aversive and reclusive modes of governance whose economy has been adversely affected because the country emphasizes more on military might than development. Nevertheless, the country is highly industrialized with a state-owned economy. It has also begun embracing private capitalism as opposed to communal ownership of resources.

Works Cited

Kang, Woong Jin. “North Korea’s Militant Nationalism and People’s Everyday Lives: Past and Present.” Journal of Historical Sociology 25.1 (2012):1-30. Print.

Lee, Sun Dong. “Causes of North Korean belligerence.” Australian Journal of International Affairs 66.2 (2012): 103-107. Print.

Introduction

The media shapes the general thinking of people around the world besides influencing their ideologies. A certain pattern that has emerged is whereby the media doctors the information given to the public such that it ends up communicating its own opinion to the public. Ironically, this happens on a large scale in societies that would claim to enjoy democratic rights. Here, governors, senators, presidents, and other politicians are greatly at the mercy of the media to attain and maintain political offices. Tools that are at the disposal of media houses are enormous. (The National 2009)

This may include choosing which news to report, altering information on actual events, fronting headlines in a biased manner among other things. History however is not biased. It is only in the future that we may understand how events happening today shaped the world. We may try to look at the world with keen and discerning eyes independent of media reporting. We may then be surprised to learn how we have been blinded by the media and our cocoons of ignorance that does not give us a true picture of world events. To help us understand this better, I will review a recent event that occurred in Asia where North Korea and South Korea were involved in naval combat. (SANG-HUN 2009)

Body

North Korea and South Korea are in existence as a result of the “cold war” that existed between the U.S and Russia. In fact, forces from both countries were involved in warfare that split Korea into two countries. While North Korea is basically a communist society and country, South Korea is more democratic and an Important ally of the United States. These two countries are always suspicious of each other and have put measures that suggest full combat can occur between the two at any time. While the Northern country is poorer than its counterpart, it has built a formidable military force that could include nuclear weapons. The possibility of the Northern state acquiring nuclear weapons has caused the U. S and its allies to review their foreign policies and accommodate the northern state to guard their security. North Korea claims that it has missiles that can strike any part of the world. (SANG-HUN 2009)

From the New York Times reporting, the headline on this event was, “North Korea Issues New Threat after Naval Clash”. The reporter goes ahead to give details on how the two countries were involved in naval combat and are pointing fingers at each other for firing the first shot. He says that the northern state has threatened to retaliate “mercilessly” and that the southern state will pay dearly for this aggression. He tells us that the two countries have had a ceasefire for seven years. He then concludes by telling us that the north has this time undermined negotiations with the United States. (SANG-HUN 2009)

As much as the reporter has tried to give us accurate information on this event, there are elements of bias in this reporting. The media reporting has labeled North Korea as an aggressive state and a warmonger. The news headline: “North Korea Issues New Threat after Naval Clash” suggests that North Korea is a country that issues continuous threats. It is therefore obvious that the media has an obvious preset mindset about the country. Although my analysis will point more towards South Korea as being the aggressor in this particular case, this has not been pointed out in the reporting. Moreover, I do not think it was necessary to use words like “pay dearly” or “merciless military measures”. It could be better to frame the statements and words used in the reporting in a way that reflects a clearer picture of the situation. Words like the North are greatly displeased by the south actions and are even considering retaliation if the south does not apologize would have been more applicable. One fair question to ask ourselves is the events that should have followed including the U.S media reporting if the roles of the two countries had been reversed. (The National 2009)

The BBC media reported the event under the headline; “US warns over Koreas naval clash.” The report goes ahead to state that the U.S has warned the Northern state against retaliation ahead of the U.S president’s tour in Asia which is expected to focus on North Korea. The reporter is careful to include sources from both countries which have conflicting reports. Each side claims to have had an upper hand during the combat. The reporter tells us about the relationship of the two countries at sea including past conflicts. During all this reporting, the reporter gives us opinions on issues from both sides as they were given to him. I find this to be good reporting that is not leaning on any side. However, this approach may hide some information. This may be actual information that the reporter considers to be biased. (KIM 2009)

A reporter from the National Newspaper in South Korea has reported this event under the headline; “North and South Korean ships exchange fire”. He tells us that North Korea and South Korean ships exchanged fire before the North Korean ship retreated after suffering heavy damage. He reports that there were no South Korean casualties and that it was not clear whether the North had suffered casualties. According to his reporting, it is the North Korean ship that crossed disputed waters attracting warning shots from the south. The North Korean ship then opened fire causing the South Korean counterparts to retaliate before the northern ship retreated to its waters. The reporter goes ahead to tell us that the North has threatened the south with aggression and that it could retaliate. This reporting is obviously biased towards the North. (KIM 2009)

A report from Singapore on the event is almost similar to the one from BBC under a different heading; “North Korea vows to defend itself after sea clash” Like the reporting from BBC, the reporter is careful to give opinions from the two countries considering how the two countries have related in the past. Analyst opinions have been also considered. These analysts have ruled out the possibility of a military escalation between the two countries due to diplomatic approaches of the United States. (The Korean Herald 2009)

It is only people who understand a number of things that can actually get a clearer picture of what really occurred. First, one must understand the historical relationship of the United States, North Korea and South Korea. Secondly, one must understand the changing world politics especially with the emerging economic powerhouse of China and other Asian countries. Thirdly, one also needs to know the leanings of the media houses towards their country’s ideologies on issues in their reporting. (The Korean Herald 2009)

I do not know if we can call it nationalism but most media houses are on a mission to guard the pride of their countries. One can also read a lot into these reports that may be a reflection of true foreign policies from different countries. For example, since South Korea is a great ally of the United States, It will be very difficult for the western media to present it in bad light. The reverse is true and applicable to North Korea which has been displayed in a bad light. What we are being told is how western governments see some countries including the relevance and behavior of these countries instead of getting true facts from the media. It may be described as an exponential cycle that is perpetuated, maintained, and enlarged by the media and the general population that is fed by incorrect information that will influence its behavior. (The Korean Herald 2009)

North Korea has indeed displayed some actions that may according to our current understanding of world issues indicate an element of aggression in the past. This includes launching and testing of missiles that could launch nuclear weapons in various positions around the world including the United States. This could be another factor that would make most people judge or understand others from their past actions. However, regarding this specific example is the controversial question of whether the country (North Korea) has a right like western countries to acquire nuclear arsenal. (KIM 2009)

Being an important ally of the United States, South Koreans have probably infiltrated various spheres of the U. S economy including media houses. This could range from shareholders in these media companies to working personnel. This obviously puts South Korea in a position to influence the western media to its advantage at the expense of North Korea. It could also be like a symbiotic kind of reporting. It is probable that the South Korean media normally strives to put the United States in good light even when the country is morally wrong on some issues that affect the world. The state-controlled North Korean media on the other hand will probably display the U.S in bad light. (The Korean Herald 2009)

The loads of media houses have proved on many occasions to be biased. When an issue occurs, one can almost predict accurately how the event will be reported by different media houses. Some media houses have shown to be historically connected to some ideologies. Media house owners have a great say in this reporting. While they may be forced to report news in ways that attract their customers, their underlying opinions on issues are almost always there. These media owners are likely those kinds of people who take great pride in their countries and are very unlikely to promote media reporting that will reveal the weaknesses of their countries and countries they consider to be their allies. (The National 2009)

If we were to report these events in the future, how differently would we do this considering how these events have shaped our history? I doubt that we would see North Korea as an aggressive country but as a country that was trying to fight for its rights in a world where it had been neglected, labeled and ignored by the western world. Maybe we will then see that the true aggressor in this particular case was the United States which contributed to the splitting of this country into two different states and even perpetuated hate between the two countries through its one-sided foreign policy. This incident where a North Korean sea vessel was attacked by South Koreans is an aftermath of the cold war that existed between Russia and the U. S. While the former U.S.S.R. collapsed, its communism elements are still alive in the current world including North Korea. (KIM 2009)

Conclusion

The media would be doing the world a great favor by feeding it with correct and accurate information that considers future implications. This is arguably the best way of shaping the popular ideologies that could draft policies that promote peace around the world. While the media has a free hand to choose which news it will report and how it will report the news, it needs to know that the consequence information it relays to the public cannot be ignored. In Rwanda, people killed each other partly after being incited by the media. In the U.S, incompetent politicians have been elected after getting media support. In some Arabic countries the media has created Islamic extremists. The power of the media is extremely enormous. It, therefore, needs to be exercised with utmost care.

Works Cited

KIM, KWANGTAE. NKorea vows to defend itself after sea clash. Associated press writer. 2009. Print.

SANG-HUN, CHOE. North Korea Issues New Theat After Naval Clash. 2009. Print.

The Korean Herald. Us warns over Koreas Naval clash. Seoul, South Korea. 2009. Print.

The National. North and South Korean ships exchange.Canada. 2009. Print.

Introduction

One of the characteristics of North Korean society is the comprehensive state control that applies to all aspects of Korean life. It would be no exaggeration to say that North Korea is the most controlled society in the world today. This essay will analyze the documentary «Inside North Korea» and highlight significant themes of the documentary and how it links to the times of the Choson Dynasty. It will describe the foreign policy, hermetically sealed national policy, and the connection between the background learned from the book and the reality of what North Korea is in the 21st century.

Main body

The documentary follows the correspondent Lisa Ling who can enter the country disguised as a medical coordinator. As a part of their 10-day stay in North Korea, Ling and the film crew gather images of the country’s infrastructure, provide an insight into the mentality of its citizens, and the state of society in various fields. The nature of North Korea’s policy towards foreigners is apparent from the very beginning. Visitors are allowed to stay in the country only in the continuous accompaniment of a guide (“Explorer Inside North Korea Documentary”). DPRK is at the state of total political and information control, with all the ensuing consequences, including the lack of objective data on how the population is controlled there. Of course, this entire system is primarily aimed at domestic political objectives. Partly it is directed against the actions of foreign intelligence services, but its primary goal is to prevent discontent with the regime and nip the very possibility of protest in the bud. It also makes the escape from prison or desertion nearly impossible.

North Korea’s first leader, Kim Il Sung, announced a policy of self-reliance. The national idea of the DPRK is that the Korean people should rely only on themselves. According to Sung, this is the kind of policy that North Korea needs to maintain its political and economic independence (p. 6). It has also led to the total isolation of the country from the rest of the world. A similar approach was adopted during the Choson Dynasty, particularly during the Kojong period, when the West and Japan were prevented from influencing the state.

The documentary demonstrated aspects of some of the characteristics of the regime and everyday life in North Korea. Archival videos, historical facts, and interviews with people related to the country were used. Through observation and communication with citizens, such features of the North Korean model were highlighted as the leader’s personality cult, an unprecedented repressive apparatus, and all kinds of suppression of individual freedom. The documentary showed the spread of many elements of military culture – mainly its command and control element – to civil society as well as a system of propaganda and strict information control. The production quality of the documentary was partially limited by North Korea’s hostility to foreign filming and the regime’s insistence on influencing the filming process. This is due to the fact that DPRK is doing everything possible to create a positive image for the outside world.

The unique, but at the same time deeply rooted in the Far East tradition, a system of political control existing in modern North Korean society is an institution of mutual responsibility. The entire population of North Korea is divided into the so-called inminban people’s groups, which are united in the place of residence from twenty to fifty, and on average – about forty families (Tudor and Pearson, p. 120). In many ways, this system is more effective than even the most extensive network of police informants.

North Korea has become an example of a new incarnation of the ancestral cult. Power is hereditary, and the ruler remains so until death, as was also the case during the Choson dynasty. Almost every word of the leader is carefully recorded, and his portraits are constantly looking over the country from everywhere. As has been shown in the documentary, these portraits are objects of an almost religious cult in North Korea. A significant number of monuments of Kim Il Sung are scattered all over the country. In today’s world, it is difficult, if not impossible, to find a country that could compete with the DPRK in terms of the intensity of propaganda of the population. The orientation towards non-economic (primarily ideological) stimulation, which has been repeatedly declared by the DPRK leadership, contributes to such development of propaganda in the country. Almost completely subordinated to it not only the activities of the mass media but also all the Korean art and literature. One of the most critical tasks pursued by the system of administrative and police control is to ensure the hermeticity of Korean society.

A number of ethical questions were covered in the documentary as it highlighted the nature of North Korea’s restrictions on freedom. There are political repressions similar to those of the Choson dynasty. There is also the destruction of the families of criminals (Tudor and Pearson, p. 118). The head of the family is perceived as responsible for the actions of his clan members, and his guilt naturally casts a shadow over the rest of the household. As for the family members of the repressed, firstly, they are formally to blame for their negligence. Secondly, they are even more to blame for failing to educate a decent citizen. Thirdly, in the context of social struggle, the elimination of the entire family is a way to protect themselves from the vengeance of the descendants of the exterminated.

On the other hand, an effective system of police control and repression is an important (though not the only) factor that has allowed this society to survive for so long. Stability is not only ensured by the regime’s willingness to punish for the slightest manifestations of discontent. One of its main features is total control over all aspects of life. Not only is it impossible to change one’s place of work or residence, but it is also impossible to move around the country (and in many cases, just a night spent away from home) without the approval of the authorities.

Conclusion

The society built in North Korea corresponds to almost all signs of classical anti-utopia: the cult of the leader’s personality, close to deification, militarization, and normalized distribution. There is a presence of a strict, repressive apparatus with exemplary punishments and a system of mutual responsibility, a complex and total propaganda system, state control over the private life of citizens, and so on. These aspects were clearly demonstrated in the documentary «Inside North Korea». The main factor that ensured the successful formation of an ideal authoritarian system in the DPRK was the combination of externally introduced elements of the command-and-control system with the traditional political culture of Korea.

References

1. “Explorer Inside North Korea Documentary” YouTube, uploaded by Royal Kingdom, 2018.
2. Sung, Kim Il. For a Free and Peaceful New World. Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1991.
3. Tudor, Daniel, and James Pearson. North Korea Confidential: Private Markets, Fashion Trends, Prison Camps, Dissenters and Defectors. Tuttle Publishing, 2015.