Introduction

North Korea is home to over 24 million people. It is located in Eastern part of

Asia between China and South Korea occupying the northern half of the

Korean Peninsula. The country’s official name is Democratic People’s

Republic of Korea or DPRK. Despite the country’s official name there is

nothing democratic about North Korea. North Korea is a single party state

under the Eternal President Kim II-sung who died in 1994, now controlled by

Kim Jong-Il, son of Kim II-sung. The country is currently best known for its

determination to pursue nuclear weapons.

Korean War

Japan’s empire fell after they were defeated in World War II. The United

States and Soviet Union took control of the lands that the Japanese had

ruled. Korea was split in two. The U.S officials picked out a line called the 38th

parallel on the map for boundary, and the line roughly divides the country in

half. As soon as the World War II was over, the United States and Soviet

Union engaged in a conflict called the Cold War. It is called the Cold War
because the conflict never broke out as a real war; instead the war was

fought with words and ideas. Both countries tried to expend their influence

around the globe. While the U.S. government worked to promote democracy

around the globe. The Soviet tried to spread the communism. Harry S.

Truman was the president of the United States during the Cold War and he

declared that he would provide economic and military aid to any countries

that were threatened to taken over by communism. It became known as

theTruman Doctrine. (Edwards, pg. 20)

The division between North and South Korea was supposed to be temporary.

The Korean political leaders wanted to unify North and South and set up their

own government. Different parts of the Korea turned to different countries

for support, and that lead their country on different paths. The Soviets set up

a communist government called Democratic People’s Republic of Korea

(DPRK) in the north and made Kim IL Sung the leader. Kim IL Sung was a well

known guerrilla leader who rebelled against Japanese occupation in World

War II. To support the communist government in North Korea the Soviets

equipped the North Korean army with Russian tanks and artilleries. South

Korea held a national election and Syngman Phee became the first president

of South Korea. The U.S. withdrew from the South as soon as the election

was over only leave a few hundred ground troops in the South Korea.
(Edwards, 25)
In 1949, Kim II Sung secretly received permission to invade South Korea from

communist leaders in China and the Soviet Union. The invasion began in the

following year with more than 90,000 North Korean troops. South Korea’s

unprepared 63,000 troops failed to defend North Korean’s invasion. As soon

as the president Truman heard the news about North Korea’s invasion he

met with his advisors to respond to the invasion. As he promised to defend

the democratic countries he vowed to help South Korea to fight back the

invasion. He turned to United Nation for help and the UN Security Council

voted 0-9 to help South Korea. To minimize U.S. casualties the U.S. Air Force

and Navy helped fight on the South Korean side without ground troops. The

first day of the war, the North Koreans seemed unstoppable. The invasion

continued and South Korea’s capital Seoul was captured. Truman decided to

send ground troops and fight the war without congress’s declaration of war.

Although U.S. troops fought and died in Korea the U.S congress never made

an official declaration of war. (Edwards, 36) (Alison, 19)

The United Nation called on its member to help turn back the North Koreans.

Twenty nations responded by sending ground troops, medical teams, and

other help to South Korea. Soldiers from all countries fought as part of a joint

command led by the United States. General Douglas MacArthur who had the

highest rank given by the U.S Army as a five star general commanded all the

U.N. forces in South Korea. Although many countries help aided the war, the
fight to help South Korea was mostly the United State’s effort. But it was

important to get support from the United Nations and its member nation was

important. It showed that much of the world was unified in resisting the

North Korea’s invasion. (Alison, 26)

In the beginning of the war the United States and U.N. forces suffered many

defeats and had to retreat again and again. The North Koreans had pushed

the U.S. and U.N. forces to the southeastern tip of the Korean peninsula.

Retreating further south meant giving up all of Korea in North Korea’s hand.

They decided not to retreat anymore and set up 150 miles of defensive line

called the Pusan Perimeter and desperately try to defend it until more help

arrived. Finally troops from Great Britain joined the fight on the U.N side and

for the first time the U.N forces were able to organize an army as large as

North Korea’s. U.S air force took control of the skies over Korea. The Pusan

Perimeter was a successful plan for the allies. (Edwards, 40)

General MacArthur came up with a plan to launch a counterattack deep

behind North Korean lines. U.N troops would travel by sea to the port city of

Inchon. From there they would land and move inland to recapture South

Korea’s capital Seoul. It was a dangerous plan and even MacArthur’s

generals thought the plan would not work. The port had physical challenges,

such as narrow entry point and violent waves, which made landing difficult. If
anything went wrong the U.N. troops could easily be wiped out. But

MacArthur insisted the plan would work. (Edwards, 48) (Alison, 60)

General MacArthur went ahead with his plan, more than 70,000 U.S. Marines

and other U.N troops landed in Inchon. The fight was so intense that North

Korean defenders were ready to surrender. MacArthur’s plan worked

perfectly and within hours the U.N. forces had taken Inchon, captured

hundreds of prisoners, and suffered light causalities. Within two weeks, they

had pushed the North Koreans out of Seoul and sent them into full retreat

and the North Koreans had been driven back across the 38th parallel and

finally the North Koreans were on the defensive. After this success the UN

had to make a difficult decision: continue fight the North Koreans past the

38th parallel and into North Korea or declare their mission is completed that

the North Koreans were driven back to North Korea. South Korean president

Syngman Rhee wanted the U.N. forces to keep fighting and create “one

Korea”. Truman agreed, and the U.N. Security Council supported this

decision. U.N forces invaded North Korea and captured more territory. On

October 19, they took North Korea’s capital, Pyongyang. (Edwards, 50)

The new developments and South Korea’s success worried China’s leader,

Mao Tse-tung. As the head of a communist power, he did not like seeing U.N.

troops invading through North Korea: a communist country. He feared they

might even attack China itself. Mao deployed Chinese troops along the Yalu
River, which forms the border between China and North Korea. Late in

October, the Chinese army, known as the Chinese Communist Forces began

moving over the border into North Korea. The Chinese battled American and

U.N. troops for the first time on October 25. The Chinese used gorilla tactic,

they fought and scored victory, paused and faded back into the mountains of

North Korea as quickly as they came. MacArthur lunched the attack in North

Korea with President Truman’s approval, but CCF fought back in

overwhelming numbers. The American and other U.N. forces found

themselves retreating again. General MacArthur declared that “We are

fighting an entirely new war,” (Edwards, 53) (Alison, 62) (The Palm Beach Post, 1952)

American and U.N. troops faced a terrible challenge. The Chinese fielded a

huge army of 300,000 soldiers. Chinese troops fought fiercely and attacked

in waves that seem endless and they don’t seem to give up no matter how

may causalities they suffered. The U.N. forces also had to deal with a brutal

Korean winter. Extreme cold weather made it difficult to march, sleep, or

even eat. Ice and snow freeze their faces and mouth shut, but U.S. and U.N.

forces fought bravely as they retreated south. As the retreat continued,

thousands of Korean refugees followed behind the troops. These ordinary

Koreans were trying to avoid the destruction and danger of the war. But

Communist forces sometimes dressed like civilians to blend into the

population to both avoid and carry out attacks. Until this war, American
troops had never faced such guerrilla tactics. It was often difficult for soldiers

to tell if they were encountering the enemy or innocent civilians. (Edwards, 69)

By January 1951, the Chinese had recaptured all of North Korean and part of

South Korea, including Seoul. The U.N. forced fought back, and both side

suffered terrible causalities. In the mean time, U.S. leaders began to

disagree about the conduct of the war. General MacArthur thought it was

time to take the war to China. He wanted permission to bomb the communist

country. But President Truman believed that the war should be fought only in

Korea. The president Truman feared attacking China could mark the start of

World War III.

MacArthur openly disagreed with the president. He feared that Truman

would let the war end with the two sides’ right back where they were when

the conflict started. MacArthur wanted a clear victory. He believed if they

stopped in the middle of this war that his troops had fought and died for

nothing and he even did his best to break up Truman’s peace talks.

MacArthur publically threatened the Chinese with a full-scale war. He also

questioned the ability of the Chinese army to defend China. While MacArthur

was speaking out against China, Truman was trying to arrange peace talks

with the communist country. But MacArthur’s tough talk angered the Chinese

and hurt the opportunity for peace talks. MacArthur’s statements also

undermined the president’s authority, so Truman had to fire him from his
position. On April 11, the president announced that he had relieved

MacArthur of his command “so that there would be no doubt or confusion as

to the real purpose and aim of our policy.” Truman knew that the U.S.

military had to accept his leadership and follow only his plan. (Alison, 70)

Because of Truman’s decision to remove General MacArthur from his

position, he faces many criticisms from the American public. Truman

responded to the criticisms by stating “The cause of world peace is more

important than any individual.” General MacArthur returned to the United

States and received welcome as a hero’s from cheering crowds. General

Matthew Ridgway takes General MacArthur’s position. Ridgway was a

capable larder to command all of U.N. forces. A month earlier he had led a

group of U.N. troops in recapturing Seoul successfully.

After years of war, Korea was a landscape of barbed wire and trenches. Both

the countryside and the cities were badly damaged by bombardments.

Finally, the two sides agreed to begin peace talks on July 10. But both sides

remained distrustful. Meanwhile, the fighting and killing continued on the

front lines. The war continued for another 18 months. During that time of

peace talk 9,000 U.S soldiers lost their lives. (Edwards, 72)

A cease-fire was declared to end the fighting on July 27, 1953. The main

conflict in the peace talks was over and after both sides agreed to cease fire.
In April 1953, the two sides agreed to exchange sick and wounded prisoners.

The communist nations insisted that all Chinese and North Korean soldiers

who had been captured by the United Nations must be returned when they

fighting ended. But the United States argued that many Chinese and North

Korean soldiers did not want to return to their home countries. Many soldiers

from China and North Korea did not want to go back to countries where they

would not have political freedom. Truman stated that “We will not buy an

armistice by turning over human beings for slaughter and slavery,” Later on

both sides agreed that no prisoner of war would be forced to return to his

home country against his will. Any prisoner who did not want to return home

would be allowed to stay in another country. (Edwards, 76) (Alison, 66)

After more than three years had passed since the war started, much of the

Korean peninsula was left in ruins. Thousands of Koreans were left homeless.

More than 1 million South Korean and an unknown number of North Korean

civilians died as a result of the war. And Chinese also suffer hundreds of

thousands causalities. Also U.S military personnel losses were high, with

more than 33,665 soldiers dead. (Edwards, 76) (Alison, 66) (Wikipedia)

Eventually, U.S. military returned 75,923 prisoners to China and North Korea.

The communist forces returned 12,773 American, South Korean, and U.N.

prisoners. More than 21,000 prisoners from the communist countries choose
not to return home, while only 347 U.N. and U.S prisoners elected not to

return home.

To this day, Korea remained divided. In fact, when the war ended, each side

controlled almost the same territory it held at the start of the war. But South

Korea ended up gaining a small area of about 1,500 square miles. A heavily

fortified border runs between the two countries near the 38th parallel. A two

and a half mile wide demilitarized zone extends all along the border between

North and South. Military forces and operations are banned from this area;

which is designed to keep the armies of the two nations apart. Although the

fights were over, the war never officially ended. To this day South Korea and

North Korea are literally still at war. (Korean War, Wikipedia)

North and South Korea have followed very different paths in the years since

then. South Korea has become a stable democracy with a strong economy

and it remains an ally of the United States. In contrast, North Korea has

suffered under the dictatorships of Kim Il Sung and his son Kim Jong Il. In the

late 1990s, 2.5 millions North Koreans died from famine. The country has

continued to suffer severe food shortages, and many of its poorest people

enjoy little political freedom or hope for improvement.

Despite these problems, North Korea has one of the largest militaries in the

world, with more than 1 million soldiers. North Korea’s leaders are working to
develop nuclear weapons among the most powerful and deadly weapons in

the world. This alarms leaders in the United States and other countries. They

don’t trust North Korea’s leaders with the power that goes along with such

weapons. (Crises in North Korea, hrnk.org)

The Korean War is sometimes referred as the forgotten War. Korea War is

overshadowed in history books by World War II (the bloodiest war in history

of mankind) and the Vietnam War (a controversial conflict that the United

States lost). To honor the sacrifices of Americans who fought in the Korea

war, United States Government opened a national park Service for the

Korean War veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., in 1995. Millions of

people visit the memorial each year. (Edwards, 220)

North Korea’s Human Rights abuses

North Korea is probably the last totalitarian communist country left in the

world. A lot of government systems have largely become extinct. But North

Korea has held on to the past and their socialist ideologies. In 1990’s

estimated about 2 to 3 million North Koreans died of starvation from the

country has about 24 million people. (Wikipedia, main page) That’s about

1/10 of the population starved to death. Without getting into human rights,

without getting into political freedom, just talking about health, the country
is unbelievably stunted and handicapped state, when it comes to public

health and nutrition. Large proportions of population do not get daily food. As

of recently, NGOs reported that most likely 200,000 to 300,000 people will

starved to death in the coming month. That’s about one football stadium full

of people. At the end of the day statistics don’t really matter. In facts, what is

most relevant to us is that a lot of people are suffering and dying when they

don’t need to.

Diseases like fevers and common colds spread throughout the country side

of North Korea and because their immune systems are so weak from not

having daily food and nutrition many people die of these diseases. Some

diseases you can get over in a day or two here in the Unites States, people

die of it in North Korea. Most North Korean children, especially this

generation are physically stunted. If you have met a North Korean a

diplomat, an athlete or a refugee they are usually very small. Especially if

you meet a concentration camp survivor you will notice that because of the

forced labor their arms are disproportionally long, a slight bend toward one

direction. Children that do not get daily nutrition not only suffer from

physical stunting, they are a foot or a foot and a half shorter than their

average peers anywhere else. They also suffer from permanent brain

damage. If a child do not get proper nursing and have their daily food in the

age of 0 to 5, in their critical, crucial moments of growth you will have

permanent mental stunting. It is something that you cannot recover from.

Entire generation of North Korean generation has been lost to this. And the

world is largely unnoticed.

Education systems is very, very low level. Most of the children spend most of

their time learning about the government and leaders, such as what Kim

Jong Il used to do as a child, anecdotes and stories about how Kim Jong Il is a

brilliant man, campaigner and artist, writer and musician. Very little attention

is really spent on information that is actually is relevant to North Korean

people. It is a system built to keep these people ignorance and servant to the

government. ( Behnke, Kin Jong Il’s North Korea 2008)

Once we move on to issue of freedom and liberty, every single freedom and

rights we appreciate here in this country and pretty much anywhere else in

the western world does not exist in North Korea, from freedom of speech,

religion, assembly, movement, the scent the right to complain on the leader

of the government, even the right to visit nearby town to visit your aunt or

uncle. In North Korean you cannot leave your hometown without the

government’s permit.

All radios and televisions in North Korea are built just to accept government

frequency. If you alter your radio or television to accept other frequency,

either Voice of American, BBC, Radio Asia or broadcast from Japan, China,
Russia or South Korea you will be sent to prison. North Korea has developed

extensive network of concentration camps along the country.

From the intelligences NGOs and human rights activist who are helping North

Korean refugees have gathered from the refugees who somehow managed

escaped, we have satellite images of these camps. We know exact location

of every one of them; we know which buildings are used for military barrack,

or public execution. We know where the barb wires runs. We know what the

hours of the guards’ routs are and who runs these camps. If only some of us

have the heart to care we can do a little research and log in to desktop

computer and we see the location of these concentration camps. Not only

the evidences are real and undeniable we know everything about these

camps and nothing has been done. In these camps, estimated a quarter

million North Koreans live and die in this system of political prison camps.

The crime they have committed to enter these camps range from folding a

news paper so that the bend fall on the picture of Kim Jong Il’s face to sitting

on a picture of the dear leader, and to not wearing a red pin (every north

Koreans have to wear that red pin and on the pin there is an image of

current North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Il or his father the dear leader Kim Il

Sung). If you do not have that you are not being sufficiently being patriotic or

sufficiently dedicated to the socialist paradise or communist revolution and

essentially you will be sent to prison.

Most people in these political prisoners in the camps have no idea why they

are there. North Korea also pursues a policy that punishes for three

generations of people for every crime they have committed. So everybody in

the direct relation will be punished. Many North Korea manifest their desire

for food and freedom by leaving. Estimated that a quarter to half a million

North Koreans have left North Korea across the border into china over the

last decade. North Korea’s constitution, the country law says if you leave the

country without permission of the government you will be committing

treason and it is punishable by death. It is a capital crime. And most refugees

get caught in China and send back to North Korea are severally torture and

integrated, children are often sold to the black market. In many cases those

people are publically executed. North Korean one of few countries remaining

that conducts public executions. Where they bring the entire village to watch

and set examples.

The Chinese government have captured and returned the North Korean

refugees by thousands every month for the last ten to fifteen years. The

China government has violated the international laws by doing that. Chinese

government is sending them back exactly knowing what will happen to them.

They are torture and send them to concentration camps where they are

executed. We have possibly the worse humanitarian crisis in the 21st century

in our present. There are a lot of crises that demand our attention rightfully

so. North Korea is unique in a lot of ways. The scale of human suffering and
the amount of energy put into the system is far worse than anything else.

This is not a natural disaster; people are not dying from violence mobs, it is

not because the two side fighting from resources, or not even civil war. North

Korea has spent the money and resources to build concentration camps. It

takes a lot of energy to build these places. One of these camps is four

hundred square miles in size. The amount of energy, thoughts and

preparations the North Korea have spent on the system is not just violation

of human rights, it is crime against humanity that demands an answer from

humanity.

It is shocking that this kind of suffering in this scale can still be happening in

the world and nobody would pay attention. When we see, weather it is a

homeless person, a person lying on the street or the things that we watch in

the news, we all ask ourselves everyday this question. Possibly even more

than several time a day. The question is, “what will happen to me if I stop to

help this man, what will happen to me if I do something about this issue,

what will happen to my abilities, my resources, my health or my finances?”

But we never ask ourselves “what will happen to this man if I don’t stop to

help him”? What will happen to him if I don’t do something about this, what

will happen if I don’t do something about this issue? Let’s ask ourselves a

different question now. Why aren’t we doing anything about this? We very

well know this is happening as we speak and why are we letting this happen

in our present?