Living in a Nation With No Information Accessibility

When describing the nation of North Korea and its people one word comes to mind: Trapped. Trapped in a communist regime, trapped in a downwards spiraling economy and trapped with no information accessibility. The history of Korea is essential to understanding North Korea’s communist legislation, it is truly a nation unlike any other of the 21st century. Korea has been a nation trapped in constant struggle and repercussions of WW2 left the nation divided, “the U.S.-backed Republic of Korea was officially proclaimed on August 15, 1948” (Oberdorfer 7), while “the Soviet-backed Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), in the North, was proclaimed on September 9, 1948” (Oberdorfer 8). With the support of the Soviet Union, North Korea fell under the communist regime. The citizens of North Korea have no access to free information since, politically, communism relies on a system of control and social organization, in which all economic and social activity is controlled by a self-perpetuating political party (Webster 79). Rather than discuss the types of accessible information in North Korea this entry will evaluate the living conditions of a nation with no available public information, no accessible internet and no economic growth. A nation known to the world as the Hermit Kingdom.

The Hermit Kingdom
A Hermit Kingdom is a term applied to any nation that willfully dissociates itself from other countries and is “reluctant to engage in dialogue with the outside world” (Burdick 91). All countries rely on liaisons with the outside world to survive and grow economically, a country that refuses this connection may potentially be an economic threat and are at risk of war. Coined in the Cold War, the term “Second-World” refers to a country under the communist states with the Soviet Union (Guttmann 28), although the term has fallen out of use since the revolution of 1989 it is still applicable to the nation of North Korea. Communist Countries are often labeled as Hermit Kingdoms. The nation of North Korea restricts all accessible information and invests an immense amount of money into their military, a military which is prepared to battle South Korea at any given moment, regardless of their truce in 1953 (Park 18).

Living in a Second-World Country
The citizens of North Korea have no access to free information and all forms of technology are monitored by the leaders. Currently the acting supreme leader is Kim Jong-un, assumed in office December 29, 2011. Previous to him was his father Kim Jong-Il, in office between October 1997 and December 2011 (Jeffries 1). As one of the last communist countries in the world, North Korea relies greatly on the supreme leaders to control the mass media in the nation. Every piece of technology is constantly monitored and limited. The nation is split between those in office, and the public citizens. For those in office the radio, television and internet are constantly overseen and restricted to only the essential information required for the military. For the public citizens the radio and television are extremely limited to North Korean  channels and are constantly being surveyed, and there is also no public access to the internet (McEachern 40). Living in a second-world country is unlike anything a citizen of a first-world country would recognize. Information is constantly withheld from the public, rights have been stripped from the citizens and even the option to leave the nation is forbidden (McEachern 41).
North Koreans live in a constant state of panic, always prepared for war while weapons are endlessly focused on Seoul, the capital of South Korea. This places an enormous stress on the already nervous citizens (Pollack 34). Many experts agree that the main concern in North Korea is the lack of individual freedom, this is caused by the control of the supreme leaders (Pollack 60). A person’s individual freedom is characterized by their ability to access information and educate themselves willingly, once that ability has been stripped from a person, so has their free will. The future of North Korea is unknown but many hope it will include a unified and free nation.
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Works Cited

• Burdick, Eddie., Three days in the Hermit Kingdom: An American visits North Korea, North Carolina, McFarland & Co, 2010, Print.

• Guttmann, Allen., Korea and the Theory of Limited War, Boston, D.C Health and Company, 1967, Print.

• Jeffries, Ian., North Korea: A guide to Economic and Political Developments. Routledge: Taylor & Francis Group (2006). London Press. Web. 29 Jan. 2012.

• Kim, Samuel S. The Two Koreas and the Great Powers. Cambridge University Press (2002).  Cambridge Journals. Web. 29 Jan. 2012.

• Lee, Chae-Jin, Dae-Sook Suh, North Korea After Kim Il Sung, London, Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1998, Print.

• McEachern, Patrick., Inside the red box: North Korea’s post-totalitarian politics, New York, Columbia University Press, 2010, Print.

• Oberdorfer, Don, The Two Koreas: A Contemporary History, Massachussetts, Addison-Welsley, 1997, Print.

• Olsen, Edward A., Korea, The Divided Nation, London, Praeger Security International, 2005, Print.

• Park, Kyung-Ae, New Challenges of North Korean Foreign Policy, New York, Palgrave Macmillan, 2010, Print.

• Pollack, Jonathan D., No Exit: North Korea, Nuclear weapons and international security, Abingdon, Routledge, 2011, Print.

• “Communism.” Def. 1a. Webster’s Dictionary For Students. 2003. Print.