--North Korean's are slaves. 

  Mentally and physically owned by the state; citizens of North Korea couldn’t fathom the concept of freedom. Innocence is seen as weak, and individualism is seen as treasonous.

  Their entire society is predicated on dependency to the state. It’s like something straight out of George Orwell’s 1984. Basic daily activities like choosing what to watch on TV are punishable by death. Express reports, “Citizens are forbidden from watching anything but state propaganda. In the last two years, North Korea have publicly executed around 130 people for watching South Korean TV.” Also North Korea has complete control of the music in the country. Express also reports, “All music in North Korea is controlled by the state and must glorify the regime. All western music is seen as a crime against the state and will get you

killed.”

  Public execution is inhumane and is used to set an example for other North Korean's. Children are even forced to watch as people are shot or hanged publicly for violating the state’s law. The violence and terror that North Korea punishes its own citizens with is a violation of basic human rights. The control the state maintains over the public is frightening. Human rights violations are a daily occurrence in North Korea. While in the United States we value our ‘natural rights’ life, liberty and property, North Korea views these God given rights as a threat to the power of the state.

  The truth about North Korea is their criminal regime is waging an all out war on human rights and is maintaining power through violence upon its own citizens.

  The culture of North Korea is a manufactured component of the country. All cultural influences like music, television, internet and religion are under state control. Unlike the massive cultural effect the internet has had on the west, the internet in North Korea is completely censored by government elites. Unbelievable Facts reports North Korea “runs a state-approved search engine. Chats, emails, and forum boards are regularly monitored and Internet access in general is only permitted with special authorization and primarily used for government purposes.” Also, News. Com reported, “ordinary citizens only have access to an internal list of 28 websites controlled by the government.” The government of North Korea’s intrusion into the personal lives of its citizens is their main tactic in sustaining a culture of fear.

  A lie propagated by the North Korean government is that the internet simply does not exist. As only top level officials have access to it, News. com states, “the state tells its citizens it’s a notion invented by the west.” Any belief that differs from state sponsored views is seen as a threat. So allowing citizens access to the biggest source of information in history would be too much of a threat to the regime’s power. Thus the internet is forbidden in North Korea.

  Religion is also seen as a threat to the state and it’s manufactured history. North Korea is officially an atheist nation, yet their schools and history books teach mythical fables about its former leaders. For instance, the fable that Kim Jong Un and his predecessors never defecated. Or the fable that Kim Jong Un was born atop a sacred mountain, saw a new star created and winter turn to spring. While religious people are persecuted, the leaders of North Korea seek to turn themselves into Gods by creating a cult of personality behind them. Express states, “in 2013, 80 Christians were executed in a stadium for owning bibles.” Belief in Jesus Christ is a peaceful practice that threatens nobody, but in a totalitarian regime belief in anything other than the state is a threat to the state’s power. The culture in North Korea is predicated on fear. Fear to expand your perspective, fear to criticize the state and a fear to be yourself.

  Stripped of basic rights like justice and due process, North Koreans are completely vulnerable to the state’s will. Heritage's study on North Korea found, “A functioning, modern, and independent judiciary does not exist.” The lack of justice and due process is to be expected from a totalitarian regime such as North Korea. As government officials and ultimately the ‘dear leader’ serve as judge jury and executioner. Publicly executing political dissidents with military grade weapons in the most inhumane way possible. Setting the precedent that whatever the state says, goes. The people of North Korea live in a constant state of fear with no hope of change.

  The government has a stranglehold on all industry. Entrepreneurship is absent in North Korea. Heritage found that, “The financial sector is completely controlled by the state.” Command and control economies lead to inequality and poverty. NCNK reported, “The people of North Korea are very poor. The country’s GDP per capita – estimated at anywhere between $700 and $2,000 – places North Korea near the bottom of world rankings, and even these figures give an exaggerated notion of living standards.” When the government becomes a monopoly it becomes unaccountable and self serving. Leading to mass poverty and famine.

  Simultaneously government officials reap what’s left of the economy for themselves. Although the nation’s economy is depleting, Kim Jong Un and his cronies stay well fed. Kim Jong Un’s own fear and paranoia set the tone for the rest of the nation. Kim Jong Un has a recurring fear of western intervention into his criminal regime. That’s why the country spends more than 20 percent of its annual GDP on the military despite millions of citizens suffering blackouts and a lack of adequate food. This is a mismanagement of funds based on the possibility of his stranglehold of the country being taken away. This fear funnels down to the everyday citizen of North Korea.

Descension from the government’s agenda or a belief that doesn’t coincide with North Korean group think are feared by state officials and Un himself. Thus the micromanagement of culture becomes prevalent in North Korean society.

Kim Jong Un has a fear he will lose his power, which has lead him to overspend on the military, control every aspect of society and starve his own population. All in order to perpetuate North Korea is nation held captive. Citizens are deprived of their God given rights, living in a constant state of control. From what foods they eat, what clothes they wear, what music they listen to every conceivable aspect of their lives the government is in control.

North Korea is a regime that prides itself in carnage. Displaying public executions and having what have been described as “the worst prisons on the planet," North Korea is a country in chains.

As children of God it’s our responsibility to help our fellow man. To allow North Korea to continue the way it is makes us complicit in the suffering of millions of people. The United States cannot allow North Korea to continue violating human rights. The continued suffering of North Koreans who have no hope for a free life justifies military intervention. Without help from the outside, generations of people will be forced to live impoverished captive lives. The international community needs to put a stop to the catastrophe that is North Korea and free its citizens once and for all.

PUBLISHED BY THE FREE MEN REPORT 12/14/2018