U.S. Sanctions on North Korea

In this article, the recent sanctions that the United States placed on North Korea over the summer are discussed. These sanctions were made to cut off North Korea's funding sources that are used for their nuclear program. North Korea claims that these sanctions may increase their chances of developing more nuclear weapons.
In the article, North Korean spokesman Ri Tong Il is quoted. "The sanctions are a direct expression of intensified hostility. The U.S. should make concrete steps toward engaging in dialogue if it is serious about ridding the Korean peninsula of nuclear weapons."
I find this quote pretty ridiculous. The U.S. is not being hostile by preventing North Korea from building more nuclear weapons as if they don't have enough of them already. I also don't know how someone from North Korea, a threatening country with nuclear weapons that holds innocent people in concentration camps, could call these sanctions "hostile."
Also, the spokesman suggests that the U.S. should take smaller steps in discussing this issue with the DPRK if they want denuclearization. The U.S. has been doing that in the six-party talks that North Korea recently backed out of. If North Korea cooperated a bit more, perhaps the U.S. wouldn't have had to place these sanctions on them. If North Korea wants us to be less hostile, they should probably think about being more negotiable.
The intentions of the U.S. were not harmful in the least bit. According to Hillary Rodham Clinton, the sanctions were placed on the North Korean government and not the citizens, who have "suffered too long due to the misguided and malign priorities of their government." Our country recognizes the horrific issues in North Korea whether it be nuclear programming or the lack of human rights and is trying to resolve these. Clinton also said that the sanctions were partly because of North Korea's fatal warship attack on South Korea, which North Korea still refuses to apologize for.
After reading the article, North Korea certainly sounds more "hostile" than the United States... and hypocritical.

North Korea A Slave State

This article titled "Worse than 1984: North Korea, A Slave State" discusses the treatment of North Korean citizens and their lack of freedom. The author of the article compares it to George Orwell's novel 1984, and even says that their conditions are worse than the fictional ones created in the book. This surprised me a little bit. I have read the book and thought Orwell's ideas were far-fectched and unrealistic. But once I read this article, I realized that it can indeed be compared to North Korea's reality.
In the DPRK, everyone has the same curfew time at which they may not be wandering the streets, but at home and in bed. The country is famined. Entire towns are abandoned and destroyed. People suffer from malnutrition. It's no wonder why the amount of people taking risks by crossing the border to China is increasing.
Many people are starting to leave North Korea with the constant threat of being sent back home. Human rights is a huge issue in the region and needs to be recognized. I agree with the author when he said "Other countries, including our own, should announce that they will take specified numbers of refugees, in case the current steady trickle should suddenly become an inundation." Refugees can't just flood into one country, so other countries should offer hospitality and be willing to assist those who have gone through so much in order to receive the rights every human deserves. It is urgent that something be done about this problem, and seeing that Kim Jong-il and other slave masters are only making matters worse with North Korea's concentration camps, other countries should step in to save the miserable state of the people there.

Human Rights Violations in N. Korea

This article summarizes how abused North Koreans truly are. We did not talk much about human rights in the simulation because of the communist countries present, but it's an enormous issue. North Korean's are put into work camps because they, or a family member, are a "threat" to Kim Jong Il. They can be sent to the work camps for something like forgetting the words to a patriotic song or not working fast enough. Also, if they upset Kim Jong Il enough to get the death penalty, it's usually a public event. Often times they hang or shoot people. The DPRK law also states that citizens need special permission to travel, not only outside but, within the country's borders.

Before this simulation, I was not aware of any of this going on in North Korea. It amazed me that humans are still treated this way, expecially in a country where economics are fairly good. It made me think of all of the Americans who do not know all of the words to our patriotic songs, a good percentage of us would be put into work camps. It's also insane how citizens need special permisson to travel within their own country, it just shows how insecure Kim Jong Il really is, even though how he has successfully brainwashed the majority of his people. They thank him for absolutely everything and do not get the chance to even see what a better life is.

North Korea News

This article pretty much summarizes what we have discussed in the simulation. It discusses how North Korea has come into nuclear power, and how threatening that idea is. It also discusses the instability of Kim Jong Il, and the uncertainty of his likely successor, Kim Jong Un. However, another question was brought up. It has to do with the sinking of the South Korean war ship which killed 46 sailers in May. American officials believe that Kim Jong Il ordered his military to do so in order to secure the succession of his son.\

The only reason this article did not shock me was because we have talked about it so often in class. The part that caught my attention the most was when it discussed Kim Jong Il's tactic of gaining popularity for his son. I had not thought about using military forces in such a way to help someone else succeed. This was a bizarre thought but, then again, it's Kim Jong Il. It makes a little more sense after further research because the world knows basically nothing about Kim Jong Un, only that he has studied in Switzerland, however we don't even know what he studied. Kim Jong Il, or Kim Jong Un, sunk the South Korean war ship to show how great North Korea is to ensure he gains popularity with the brainwashed population.