Posted on 10/16/2006 6:41:56 AM PDT by presidio9
AS many problems as North Korea's Stalinist dictatorship makes for the rest of the world, what it inflicts upon its captive population is far, far worse. Life in Kim Jong Il's iron-fisted police state is a hellish nightmare.
It's the most repressive country on earth, under absolute control of "Dear Leader" Kim. Fear, intimidation and wild-eyed propaganda dominate every aspect of society.
From outside, it can seem comical - like Pyongyang's recent boast that Kim had fired 11 holes in one - in 11 holes, of course - the first time he played golf. Somehow, that whopper was supposed to boost the tyrant's image.
But let's take a peek behind Kim's Iron Curtain.
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom reported in 2005: "There are virtually no personal freedoms in North Korea." Indeed, any and all civil liberties are considered a threat to the regime.
Radios and TVs are hard-wired to pre-set frequencies, over which North Koreans are subjected to constant propaganda, martial music, or B-grade Korean War flicks (this time, they win.) All homes display pictures of the "Dear Leader" and his father, "Great Leader" Kim Il Sung.
Crimes in "Kim-land" include defecting (or just trying), slandering Kim or the government, listening to foreign broadcasts, reading "subversive" material - even sitting on a newspaper that displays Kim's picture.
Failure to play by the rules can mean a bullet to the back of the head or time in one of Kim's seven political gulags, hard-labor camps that hold more than 200,000 men, women and children. The North Korean Freedom Coalition estimates that 400,000 to 1 million political prisoners have perished, some in gas chambers,
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
We need to listen to our liberal press and rescue them, the Iranians and of course the mainstream press has been insisting all during the Bush presidency that we get rid of Chavez ASAP!!
Sounds like a world the people at moveon would love.
Carolyn
Why can't we just take Kim out with a sniper?
We should have assassinated that guy a long time ago.
Lisa Ling(sp?) the reporter for National Geographic had a short story on the other day where she was allowed into and did some filming in NK.
The only way they let her in was to have a doctor who went there to do cataract surgeries say he wouldn't come unless his staff was allowed to come. So Lisa went and pretended to be one of his staff.
It was quite a remarkable report, to see the people. Struck me as they were totally automatic. Almost robotic.
After doing over 100 cataract surgeries, the people overflowed in front of pictures and statues of Kim and his dad, thanking and praising the great leader. Yet not a single one thanked the doctor.
She went into a home and filmed there. No furniture. Everyone there slept on the floor. Of the few decorations, they were all decorations about the great leader.
Truly a different place than any other on the whole planet. And my impression was of a people of great desperation. Fear played into it a bit, but not as much as you and I would think, because that's the way they were, loving and worshipping the great leader.
The saddest thing was there seemed to be no creativity. No invention. No art, no dance, no rebellion.
No dreams.
The show will be coming up soon on National Geographic and I urge all to catch it if they can.
Exactly. This would be the easiest way, the least costly & less lives lost. Surely, they are working on this even as we speak.
I sure that was a rhetorical question...?
It's illegal in the U.S. to assasinate foreign leaders....unfortunatley.
I think that law should be repealed.
I wasn't really thinking of an "official" assassination. Wouldn't it be a lot easier to do it "under the radar"?
I would think that the U.S. would have paid for a bounty hunter by now, I know they can make it look like an accident. The fact that they have not, makes me paranoid and suspicous... :)
Wow I did not know that Bubba Clinton taught Kim how to play golf?!!!
Anyone interested in life in NK and the prison camps should check out a book called "The Aquariums of PyongYang". One of the best written and most compelling books I've ever come across.
Owl_Eagle
If what I just wrote made you sad or angry,
it was probably just a joke.
I know exactly what you mean. I feel the same way.
MAssachusetts in about 10 years...
Not everyone gets the joke of warmed-over Stalinism, mind you.
Regards, Ivan
That is socialism. It must crush the human spirit it order to survive. Some good news is that there is a growing underground Christian movement (even though the penalty is death).
These facts about North Korea have been known for years yet organizations like the United Nations,international Red Cross etc. are too busy complaining about a few hundred "collateral damage" casulties that occured during the Israel\Hezbollah conflict then the millions of people who have been starved and deprived of basic civil rights for decades. Goes to show what a bunch of bs life really is !!!
I wasn't really thinking of an "official" assassination. Wouldn't it be a lot easier to do it "under the radar"?
If we were going to do it "officially," there are much more simple and foolproof methods...
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