North Korea Human Rights

The Korean peninsula has been divided since Japan was defeated in 1945 after World War Two. This division is still present today in the peninsula. There is the open, democratic, and prosperous South Korea in the southern half. In the North there is the oppressive, communist and impoverished North Korea, know as the Hermit Kingdom. While the South has prospered in the free world, the North has fallen behind and is crushing its citizens under an iron fist. The people in the North have no access to the outside world. The Kim dynasty threatens its neighbors with invasion and nuclear weapons. North Korea should be a focus of American foreign policy because of their human rights abuses, use of nuclear weapons to manipulate negotiations, North Korea’s
According to David Hawk, a former UN human rights official in Cambodia, “By 2010 and 2011, the number of North Koreans escaping to South Korea had exceeded 23,000, including hundreds who had been imprisoned, tortured and enslaved in violation of international norms and standards.” The North Korean people are being oppressed by a government that has no regard for its citizens. “Civil society organizations and social media are prohibited,” states Hawk, “and interrogations and attacks take place in remote, extrajudicial political penal labor camps, prisons and police stations.” The world has no access to what is happening the Hermit Kingdom. The people do not have access to the outside world either. People’s ideas are firmly controlled as “prisoners are persecuted for wrong-actions, wrong-thinking, wrong-knowledge or wrong- associations.” There is no freedom of speech in North Korea because opposition is stomped out wherever it is found. Punishment is not just limited to that one person: “These include family members of wrongdoers and wrong-thinkers - wives, children and even grandchildren.” As North Korea threatens their own citizens, they also threaten the global
That is partially true, their defensive stance is softening. Multiple illegal nuclear tests have given China plenty of reason to back away from involvement with the nation. According to Jih-Un Kim an associate professor at Chungnam National University, “Xi Jinping also made China's stance on the peninsula clear, [...] emphasizing denuclearization, peace, and stability in that order.” This makes it appear that China is willing to prioritize denuclearizing North Korea than keeping the peace. “China had unexpectedly pressed North Korea” states Kim, “after its first nuclear test in 2006.” China is not happy with these tests and will push North Korea to stop them. “No crude oil was exported to the North in February, the month of the nuclear detonation” states Kim. North Korea is a common trade partner of China and just a month of lost sales would mean a lot to both partners. The relationship between China and North Korea is critical for North Korea’s survival. Convincing China to change their stance on North Korea could isolate them. Having peaceful discussions with China on North Korea can help bring about a peaceful solution in the region; rather than resorting to violence to topple North