Kim Jong Un: Totalitarian North Korea

A Story by kovnts

This essay explores the situation in North Korea of Kim Jong Un having been accused of war crimes and abuse of power, and analyzes the events.

The International Criminal Court was created in July of 1998 in a Roman treaty, but was not officially instituted until July of 2002. The International Criminal Court, located in the Netherlands, serves as a court for international trials for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. Currently, the United Nations is discussing the possibility of putting Kim Jong Un on trial for crimes against humanity. Kim Jong Un is the current leader of the totalitarian North Korea. Totalitarianism is a type of government that tries to control as much of society as possible. The extreme totalitarian nature of the North Korean government is portrayed by the limiting of the influence of other cultures on North Korea. For example, Kim Jong Un tortured a family for watching a foreign movie, and forced a mother to drown her child because the father was believed to be Chinese. Kim Jong Un should no longer be permitted to rule North Korea because of his political repression and crimes against humanity.

Kim Il Sung, grandfather of Kim Jong Un, was a much loved and supported leader of North Korea during his time of power from 1948 to 1994, when he died. Kim Il Sung was a communist, and therefore supported the rise of communism in the North during the Korean War. After the United States and the Soviet Union decided to temporarily split Korea along the 38th parallel, the Soviet Union took control of the North, and the United States took control of the South. The country was supposed to be reunited after the election, but the Soviet Union and the United States could not agree on conditions to reunite it. Kim Il Sung, having originally been elected as leader for the North, created a communist regime in the North in opposition to the anti communist government in the South. According to some historians, Kim Il Sung is considered the founder of North Korea because of the influential role he played during the war and immediately after the division of Korea. Along with his leadership during and after the war, Kim Il Sung also helped Juche come to power. Juche is a political ideology that mixes nationalism and Marxist economics. His support and leadership in the Juche party was harsh and had many consequences for North Korea. Any opponents of the party were silenced by Sung, which created a harsh environment in the country. Additionally, North Korea became separated from the rest of the world, as Kim Il Sung implemented mass control over the media, military, and the government.

On the other hand, Kim Jong Un’s father, Kim Jong Il, was not as beloved of a leader as Kim Jong Il's father. The death of Kim Il Sung was a shock to the people of North Korea because they believed he was the ”father of Socialist Korea and immortal son of Juche"[1], but his succession of his father was not the only event that decreased Kim Jong Il’s popularity. Before his father’s death in 1994, Kim Jong Il was believed to be a negative influence on Kim Il Sung after Kim Jong Il became leader of the Juche Party in 1974, the first communist family succession. The people believed that he caused his father to make poor decisions that led to the economic downfall of North Korea, which in turn led to many long-term problems for the country. Therefore, Kim Jong Il is blamed for the destruction of North Korea’s economy. This can be seen in the economic statistics for the years following Kim Il Sung's death. After Kim Il Sung’s death in 1994, Korea’s economy declined. In 1995, the Per Capita Gross National Income was at 1034, and was split nearly in half by 1998, when the GNI was at 573, according to the Korea Economic Institute in Washington, DC.

Kim Jong Un, the current leader of North Korea, is the grandson of Kim Il Sung and son of Kim Jong Il. Kim Jong Il chose Kim Jong Un, the youngest of his children, to be the next leader of the North Korean communist dynasty. Two weeks after Kim Jong Il died, Kim Il Sung became the Supreme Leader of North Korea. Because of the secretive nature of the North Korean government, not much is known about Kim Jong Un, but many sources agree that he most likely attended the Kim Il Sung Military University, named after his grandfather. One can see that Kim Jong Un is obviously the preferred son, especially because in older cultures, the eldest son is usually the heir to power, whereas Kim Jong Un was the youngest son, and was the son chosen to follow in his fathers footsteps as leader of North Korea. Kim Jong Il’s eldest son was caught sneaking into Japan with a fake passport, which was significant especially because of the nature of the North Korean government as not being very prone to letting visitors in or citizens out. It is suspected that part of the favor for Kim Jong Un over his siblings is because of Kim Jong Un's “striking resemblance to his grandfather, Kim Il Sung, the nation's revered Great Leader"[2]. Additionally, Kim Jong Il and Kim Jong Un suffered from the same health problems. In general, Kim Jong Il regarded his youngest son very highly. Lately, Kim Jong Un has been widely criticized for his extreme totalitarian rule. The starvation of the North Korean people under his rule has caused a shrinking of the North Korean population. Additionally, he has created a system for political prisoners in which the political prisoner’s family is punished for three generations before they are allowed to be free. Because of this, some prisoners do not even know that there is life outside of the prison camps, which takes away any desire to leave. Similarly, because of his mass control and filtering of the media and other social aspects of the country, the North Korean people are not as aware of the rest of the world as people in other countries. Therefore, they are not motivated to change the horrible regime in North Korea, because it is the only kind they have ever experienced or learned about in a good light, if learned about at all. Therefore, the people cannot attempt to leave the country to seek freedom, better lives, and more opportunities to help them reach their full potential as human beings. The North Korean people’s ideas of how to treat humanity can therefore be assumed to be warped as their only experience is of a horribly oppressive and totalitarian ruler with no regard for human rights.

The International Criminal Court defines crimes against humanity as “acts committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population with knowledge of the attack”[3]. Throughout his time as leader, Kim Jong Un has, by this definition, committed many crimes against humanity. For example, in North Korea, he deliberately cut off aid to the people; using food as a method of control. This led to the starvation and death of thousands of citizens. A more potent example of Kim Jong Un’s crimes against humanity would be the systematic attacks he directed on the people in order to create an environment of fear. Finally, Kim Jong Un has been compared to Hitler in the crimes against humanity that are present in his political prisons. For example, one surviving prisoner described how he was forced to “burn the bodies of those who had starved to death and use the remains as fertilizer”[4]. All three of these examples demonstrate the lack of respect Kim Jong Un has for basic human rights, and the horrific extent to which he is willing to go in order to maintain and strengthen his position as leader of North Korea, and should therefore be removed from power and replaced by someone with a respect for human life.

There is strong evidence of political repression being carried out by Kim Jong Un in North Korea. Political repression is defined as “the maltreatment of an individual or group for political reasons, especially for the purpose of limiting or forbidding their ability to take part in the political life of society”[5]. For example, a family was tortured for watching a foreign soap opera. Moreover, Kim Jong Un marked his uncle as a political opponent, and ordered the execution of his uncle after his uncle spoke out against the state. A Report of the Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in North Korea was written, and expressed North Korea as in a situation of “an almost complete denial of the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion”[6]. Finally, a woman was forced to drown her child because of the possibility that the child’s father was Chinese. This demonstrates a severe ‘cleansing’ of the race, which is horrifyingly similar to what happened during Hitler’s Final Solution in World War II during the Holocaust. These instances demonstrate the severe mistreatment of not only the citizens of North Korea, but also the political prisoners, and Kim Jong Un's overall lack of respect for human rights.

In conclusion, Kim Jong Un should be removed from power because of his extensive crimes against the people and his utter disregard for basic human rights. For a leader to commit such crimes against the people of the country that leader is responsible for is so foul and disrespectful to human life and dignity that only an utterly selfish person would be able to commit those crimes. As a leader is supposed to protect and improve the lives of the people in the country, a selfish leader is the opposite type of leader that is necessary. However, although necessary, it is unlikely that Kim Jong Un will actually be removed from power by the International Criminal Court, based on the record of the court. For example, in Sudan, Omar al-Bashir was put on trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity, but now, four years later, Bashir has not been punished. It was said that unless the International Criminal Court changes the ways in which they go about prosecuting criminal leaders to a new and more effective method, "the International Criminal Court stands little hope of achieving its mission to end impunity for the worst international crimes"[7]. It is extremely unfortunate for the entire population of this world that the International Criminal Court is incapable of preventing such terrible crimes against humanity, such as those committed by Kim Jong Un.

[1] "Association for the Study of Songun Politics UK." President Kim Il Sung's Immortal Feats of Liberating Korea. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2014.

[2] Nichols, Terri. "Kim Jong Un." World Geography: Understanding a Changing World. ABC-CLIO, 2014. Web. 20 Mar. 2014.

[3] "What are crimes against humanity?" International Criminal Court. 7 March 2014.

[4] Walker, Peter. "North Korea human rights abuses resemble those of Nazis, says UN inquiry." The Guardian. 17 February 2014. 5 March 2014.

[5] "Political Repression Law & Legal Definition." US Legal. 6 March 2014.

[6] "Report of the commission of inquiry on human rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea." United Nations: Human Rights. 28 January 2014. 6 March 2014.

[7] Jamshidi, Maryam. "The Enforcement Gap: How the International Criminal Court Failed in Darfur." How the International Criminal Court Failed in Darfur. N.p., 25 Mar. 2013. Web. 18 Mar. 2014.