Why a One Man Show Never Works, Especially in Economics

The Economy of North Korea is ‘centrally planned’; meaning most of the money is controlled by the government, citizens can only buy from government stores and they only receive money from their state jobs. The problem with this is whilst an entrepreneur their mistakes as their company will suffer because of them a dictator isn’t the one realises who pays for his mistakes so he often doesn’t realise the full effect of his mistakes until it is too late. The dictator’s of North Korea don’t use the things that are made in factories, so they don’t realise that whilst the citizens will use the products as they have no choice they won’t sell any exports because everyone else has better alternatives. This results in no money from abroad. Meaning the government can’t afford to lose money through exports. They are always guaranteed food to eat and a comfortable bed to sleep in so the don’t have to be fully aware of the food they are taking away when they yet again develop their nuclear program.

Poem by Jang Jin-sung. A North Korean Poet

The woman was emaciated / The sign hung from her neck / "Selling my daughter for 100 won" / With the little girl standing next to her / The woman stood in the market place.

The woman was a mute / She gazes at her daughter / Her maternal feelings are being sold / Cursed at by passers-by / The woman stares only at the ground / The woman has no more tears.

Clutching her mother's skirt / "My mother's dying," cries the daughter / The woman's lips tremble / The woman knows no gratitude / The soldier gave her 100 won, saying / "I'm not buying your daughter, I'm buying your motherly love" / The woman grabs the money and runs off.

The woman is a mother / With the 100 won she received for the sale of her daughter / She hurries back, carrying bread / She shoves the bread into her daughters mouth / "Forgive me," wails the woman.

Jang Jin-sung poem translated by Kevin Kim; 100 won is roughly equivalent to 73 US cents or 47p

Join the Campaign for North Korea

China and Laos both seem to consider their own power more important than saving North Korean citizens.They sustains their relationships with North Korea so refuse to consider North Korean Defectors refugees and sends any refugees found back to North Korea where they face certain death.

One of the easier steps that can save lives today is getting the neighbouring countries to accept North Korean defectors as refugees. This not only saves lives but tells the North Korean government that it doesn’t have power over it’s neighbours and strengthens it’s opposition. It is also unlikely to cause any military threats on North Korea's behalf.

http://www.change.org/petitions/help-north-korean-refugees-escapenorthkorea?utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=url_share&utm_campaign=url_share_before_sign

Sign this petition to campaign against the countries that send back NK defectors

And now just to remind you that whilst these are serious issues they can still be laughed at:

"I think China will soon tell that pudgy little creep with the bad haircut and the binoculars to sit down and shut up."

Websites to visit:

http://www.dailynk.com/english/read.php?cataId=nk03100&num=2172 
A 2008 Chinese march against sending back defectors

http://www.timeslive.co.za/world/2013/05/30/u.n.-concerned-about-north-korean-defectors-in-china

The Un’s reaction to Laos sending back child refugees in May

Cannibalism in North Korea?

As food becomes more scarce people in poverty are forced to look else where for food. Some at their most extreme revert to cannibalism. A North Korean who escaped, "One of his strongest thoughts was … if he hadn't taken steps to leave North Korea, he would've become a North Korean who ate human flesh," an interpreter for Mr Jeong told news.com.au. North Koreans are becoming more and more desperate, as they are starving to death. These people in need are in dire need for assistance, as they sacrifice family for their own needs as matters get worse.

To Read more:

http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/392610/North-Korean-reveals-cannibalism-is-common-after-escaping-starving-state

The Death of a Dictator

A dictatorship is defined as an autocratic or authoritarrian form of government in which a government is ruled by either an individual.

 Kim Jong-Il (16 February 1941 – 17 December 2011) was the Supreme Leader The Democratic People's of North Korea from 1994 to 2011. He succeeded his father and founder of the DPRK, Kim Il-Sung, following the elder Kim's death in 1994. Kim Jong-Il was the General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), Chairman of the National Defense Commission of North Korea, and the Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army, the fourth-largest standing army in the world.

In April 2009, North Korea's constitution was amended to refer to him as the "supreme leader". In 2010, he was ranked 31st in Forbes Magazine's List of ‘The World's Most Powerful People’. The North Korean government announced his death on 19 December 2011.

It was reported that Kim Jong-Il had died of a suspected heart attack on 17 December 2011 at 08:30 while travelling by train to an area outside Pyongyang. He was succeeded by his youngest son Kim Jong-un, who was hailed by the Korean Central News Agency as the "Great Successor”. The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) report that during his death, a fierce snowstorm paused and the sky glowed red above the sacred Mount Paektu. The ice on a famous lake also cracked so loud, it seemed to shake the Heavens and the Earth.

Kim Jong-Il's funeral took place on 28 December in Pyongyang, with a mourning period lasting until the following day. South Korea's military was immediately put on alert after the announcement and its National Security Council convened for an emergency meeting, out of concern that political jockeying in North Korea could destabilize the region. Asian stock markets fell soon after the announcement, due to similar concerns.

On 12 January 2012, North Korea called Kim Jong-Il the "eternal leader" and announced that his body will be preserved and displayed at Pyongyang's Kumsusan Memorial Palace. Officials will also install statues, portraits, and "towers to his immortality" across the country. His birthday of 16 February has been declared "the greatest auspicious holiday of the nation", and has been named the Day of the Shining Star.

Civil War in North Korea

The Original divide of Korea

Korea was originally a part of the Japanese empire however after the end of the second world war the allies took it from Japan and split it between the U.S.A and the U.S.S.R. They split it across the 38th parallel (shown below).

Lead up to the War

 Many question if the Korean war was really between North Korea and South Korea or the U.S.S.R and the U.S. However in March 1949 Kim Ill Sung asked for Stalin’s permission to invade South Korea and he said no several times, as he saw it as not ‘advisable’. He finally approved it in January 1950. Showing that although Stalin wanted to spread communism he was able to see that South Korea may have a lot of military support and wasn’t willing to risk North Korea for a united Korea. However Kim ill sung was more single minded, Never once taking back his proposal over the course of almost a year; the first example of his overconfidence and lack of experience.

In addition to this it is highly unlikely that Kim Ill Sung would’ve let himself become Stalin’s puppet for two main reasons. Firstly in order for the public to feel threatened by him in the future he has to of appeared forceful at all times. Secondly, it simply isn’t in a dictator’s nature to let himself be controlled.

Despite this once the war started the U.S.S.R and the U.S saw it not only as an opportunity to help South Korea and North Korea but to cause the other to lose money and soldiers. The U.S.S.R and the U.S.As interests 

The War

The war began in June 1950 when North Korea invaded the south. The U.S then called on the U.N to brand the North Koreans as aggressors. The U.N did this, and for the first time, sent in military assistance. This however is probably more an indication of the U.N feeling threatened by Stalin rather than Kim Il Sung, because even though Kim Il sung wasn’t a puppet he was seen as one.

China intervened in mid-september. China had many reasons to want to intervene:

• They worried that the U.N forces would cross the border to china whilst still fighting the North Koreans.
• They worried that if they took North Korea it made it easier for them to invade China at any point in the future.

The thing that triggered Chinas attack was General McArthur marching his troops further than he had agreed with China.

The war then went on for a year until they reached a stalemate in 1951.They then went on to discuss the future state of the civil war however they only agreed on an armistice, a temporary truce.This leaves South Korea and North Korea technically still at war however whilst South Korea will avoid war at all costs North Korea would do anything they could to gain more power.

The point at which they decided to split the country on was the 38th parallel, coincidently the place it was originally split on after WW2.

Escaping the Prison Camps

• Escaping Korea through the North/South divide is pretty much impossible. It is armed with North Korean soldiers and the wide area of No-mans land makes picking escapees off easy. They have a shoot to kill policy.
• Instead most people go through China and round, before coming back to Korea, this time entering through the South. South Korea is nearly always the destination of escapees.
• Because of the use of China as an escape route, a network, known as the Chinese Network, was formed. They arm the people attempting to escape with some money for a ticket, a switch blade (to kill themselves, not for defence) and some ground up chilies, to throw at attackers faces.
• Often people do not make it, and are either sent back, or become victims of human trafficking. They become sex slaves or are sold as wives to rural living Chinese men. They cannot find a legal job or even be seen due to a lack of documents.
• The woman are not always overly upset as they consider forced marriage a lesser of the two evils.
• Kids born to these women often end up in limbo when the North Korean Guards come back and take away the mothers. They have no paper work and therefore, officially, do not exist. Neither China or North Korea will accept responsibility for them, even their fathers sometimes abandon them.

Timeline of Recent North Korean activity (2013):

12 Feb:          North conducts underground nuclear missile test.

11 Mar:          US-South Korea annual military drills begin.

30 Mar:          North says it is entering a "state of war" with South.

2 Apr:             North says it is restarting Yongbyon reactor.

3-26 Apr:        North precipitates the shutting down of Kaesong industrial zone.

2 May:            North jails US man for 15 years.

22 May:          North sends envoy to China.

10 June:         North and South agree to government-level meeting in Seoul.

North Korea's Nuclear Weapons Development Timeline

1985

North Korea joins the Treaty of the non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons as a non-nuclear weapon state.

1986

They start their operation of a five-megawatt nuclear reactor at Yongbyon after seven years of plan with Soviet help.

1993

They say they will quit the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, but later delays their withdrawal.

1994

They sign an agreement with the US under which the North shuts down the plutonium-based Yongbyon nuclear reactor in exchange for help in building two nuclear reactors for producing electricity.

2002

January 29

The US president, George Bush, labeled North Korea, Iran and Iraq an "axis of evil".

October 4

Washington says North Korea admitted to a visiting US delegation that it has a uranium enrichment program.

November 21

US-led consortium says it is suspending construction of the two new reactors.

2003

January 11

They withdraw from the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.

August 27-29

They join first round of six-nation nuclear talks in Beijing, which include China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the US.

2005

February 10

They announce they have nuclear weapons.

2006

October 9

They hold an underground nuclear test blast.

2007

February 13

They agree to a six-nation talk to take first steps to disarmament, after the US moves to help free some $25m frozen in North Korean accounts.

July 14

North Korea shuts down its Yongbyon reactor.

September 6

Israeli warplanes bomb a Syrian nuclear reactor site allegedly built with North Korean design help.

October 3

The six countries at nuclear talks agree that North Korea will provide a complete declaration of its nuclear programs and disable facilities at its main reactor complex by December 31.

November 5

They start disabling the Yongbyon reactor under the watch of US experts.

December 31

They miss its deadline for declaring all its nuclear programmes.

2008

February 26

The New York Philharmonic performs in Pyongyang, in the highest-level cultural exchange between the US and North Korea since the 1950-53 Korean War.

April 24

The White House says North Korea assisted Syria's secret nuclear program and that the nuclear reactor destroyed by Israel was not intended for peaceful purposes.

May 8

North Korea gives the US more than 18,000 pages of records on the Yongbyon reactor after discussions between the two countries to resolve disagreements over what its nuclear declaration will include.

May 16

The US announces it will provide North Korea with 50,000 tonnes of food aid as a humanitarian gesture unrelated to the nuclear talks.

June 26

US begins steps to remove North Korea from list of states sponsoring terrorism after Pyongyang submitted inventory of its nuclear activities.

August 26

Pyongyang suspends disablement of nuclear facilities, accusing US of reneging on disarmament agreement.

September 3

South Korea says reconstruction has started at North Korea's Yongbyon complex.

September 24

UN nuclear inspectors expelled from North Korea, which pledges to resume plutonium processing.

October 12

Pyongyang says will resume dismantling nuclear weapons programme after US removes North Korea from list of terrorism-sponsoring states.

November 12

The relationship between North and South Korea get worse with Pyongyang announcing that it will close border crossings in December.

2009

February 24

Speculation mounts that North Korea plans long-range missile tests in defiance of American warnings not to destabilise region.

March 30

US and Japan deploy anti-missile batteries on land and sea to shoot down possible debris from the expected missile test although US insists has no intention of shooting down missile itself.

April 3

Barack Obama warns North Korea cannot go ahead with missile tests with permission.

April 4

Pyongyang launches a long-range rocket over Japan, drawing international disapproval.

Prison Camps in North Korea

• North Korea has, or had a population of 24 million people, somewhere between 150,000 and 200,000 have ‘disappeared’. On satellite images, one can see a growing network of concentration camps in the country. And witnesses, mostly escapees, can confirm that they are exactly what everyone feared.
• 20-25% of the prison population is believed to die annually.
• People are often executed for a variety of reasons. ALL prisoners MUST watch.
• Prisoners are starved, leading to big heads and bloated stomachs. The supplied food is cornmeal and cabbage gruel. Often prisoners will eat rats and insects which they have caught to keep them alive.
• Categorisation of prisoners exists. If someone was 170cm, they should be 53.5kg-72.2kg. However in the camp the healthiest people (level 1) are 42kg. Once they have dropped to 40kg (level 2), they are moved to a less physically draining task, however it is still too big a strain for most. When they drop to 38kg or less (level 3), they are on the brink of death, and no change to their labour is deemed necessary.
• The average life expectancy, not including deaths under 5yrs old and executions, is 40yrs old. By 45, most woman's backs are bent 90
• Guards often terrorise and torture their captives. More often then not, this is for fun. The methods of torture are appalling. Fire is a common tool, and being eaten alive by the guard's dogs is not unusual. Small accidents and mistakes can lead to loss of fingers, ears and toes. Clock torture is used as a form of entertainment by the guards. Torturees must create a clock time, given to them by the torturer, with their hands. When they have, they are given another one to perform. This continues until they collapse from dehydration.
• Pregnancy is strictly banned unless, as a "reward" you are granted permission and the guards arrange a "marriage". If a woman, without permission, is found to be pregnant, the wards will cut her open, throw away the foetus and THEN execute her.
• They believe in the practice of '3 generation' punishment.This means that if a crime is committed the criminal will be put in a prison camp, as well as their families. If their families have children, those children will grow up in the camps. After 3 generations, their children are free to go.