WASHINGTON, December 21, 2011 ― The international community is hoping that the death of North Korean tyrant Kim Jong Il will improve the lives of North Koreans, but as the new leader, Kim Jong Un, intends to continue his father’s totalitarian leadership, the future of North Koreans only seems bleak.
One of the world’s worst dictators, Kim Jong Il died earlier this week, transferring his power to his youngest son, Kim Jong Un. Little is known by outsiders about Kim Jong Un, but experts say he will continue his father’s policies. This translates to ongoing suffering due to poverty and political oppression for North Koreans.
Under Kim Jong Il’s “Songun,” or “Military First,” policy, North Korea leadership favors military spending above the well-being of its population. The policy means that the regime continues massive military spending, while leaving many North Koreans in famine. When faced with economic hardship, the regime cut spending on food imports by 40% but maintained extremely expensive ballistic missile programs and luxury goods imports for the elites.
When North Korea’s harvest was up by 3% in 2010, North Korean farmers said that they received less of it than in previous years:
"Even though farming was better than last year, the year’s distribution for farmers was a mere 30 kg (66 lbs) of rice and 50 kg (110 lbs) of corn, 20 kg (44 lbs) of rice and 30 kg (66 lbs) of corn short of last year’s distribution.”
When the farmers complained of meager distribution of food even after the bountiful harvest, the North Korean authorities simply said that more food should go to the military. Another farmer added that soldiers would only get corn since rice was exclusively reserved for high officials and the elites.
Even humanitarian aid is subjected to the Songun rule. Humanitarian aid primarily benefits the military and the elite rather than peasants and farmers in North Korea. Between 1995 and 2005, North Korea received approximately $2.3 billion in foreign aid, of which two-thirds was food aid. Several researchers estimate that the regime diverted 30% of food aid to the elite groups and military. Moreover, the regime strictly monitored the foreign aid staff, limiting their movements and insisting that Korean translators to oversee their activities.
Kim Jong Un is likely to use force and strict control to gain the loyalty of North Koreans, leading to more human rights abuses at concentration camps.
Kim Jong Un at his father's bier
One expert from Seoul says that Kim Jong Un is willing to eliminate “three generations of a family” to expunge opponents of his regime. That statement suggests that Kim Jong Un’s political oppression will be just as harsh as that of his father, Kim Jong Il, if not worse.
Punishing an entire family for the sins of one member will be a continuation of policies established by Kim Jong Il. A North Korean defector, Ms. Kim, recounts her 28 years of ordeal at a concentration camp in North Korea. Authorities arrested her family when she was 13, after her grandfather unsuccessfully attempted to flee the country. In the camp, Ms. Kim endured harsh labor and starvation.
Ms. Kim also says that the North Korean authorities regularly performed public executions as a terror tactic against inmates. She recalls a fellow inmate’s death after having two miscarriages:
“A fellow inmate who had two miscarriages and was predicted, by a fortune teller, to lose her third child, was hanged. Using a large tree as a pillar, one end of a rope was tied around an iron ball. The other end passed through a hole and was tied around her neck. Shortly after, her neck was slit. A metal bar was used to tighten the rope so that the body would be decapitated.”
Kenji Fujimoto, a man who spent 11 years with Kim’s family as a sushi chef, warns that Kim Jong Un is predisposed to carry on the repressive actions of his father. Fujimoto remembers Kim Jong Un as ambitious, competitive, and even ruthless as a child. Fujimoto says, Kim Jong Un was very much like his father in many attributes. In response to international criticism of human rights abuse, Kim Jong Il only showed hostility towards the rest of the world.
Only time will tell whether Kim Jong Un will repeat the same crimes against humanity that his father did. Meanwhile, the North Koreans continue to face austerity of life on daily basis.
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Youngbee Dale is a freelance writer, researcher, and human rights advocate. You can reach her at ybdale@gmail.com or follow her on Twitter
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