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

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.

Absolute Multi-Party Totalitarian Hereditary Military

North Korea call itself the 'Democratic People's Republic of Korea'. That would suggest that the people of North Korea have the ability to vote. However this is not the case. A dictatorship is a government that has the power to govern without consent of those being governed. This government is usually one person or a small group of people.

No one knows how North Korea works, the internal political structure is unknown. However, as far as we can tell it is technically an Absolute Multi-Party Totalitarian Hereditary Military Dictatorship. Multi-Party Totalitarian basically means, one can vote but there is only one name on the ballet and anyone who attempts a different vote is named an enemy of the state and is arrested.

Hereditary Military Dictatorship means, that it is an inheritable dictatorship and a dictator controls the army. The people of North Korea honestly believe they live in a powerful country due to their dictators threatening countries like America. Though their threats are ludicrous, they have been given what they want, in the past as an appeasement.

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.