Nationalism in North Korea

(It's time)

A research paper by Joshua Wise

Term two assignment

Mr. Gavin's Honors Modern World History, period 7

As shown in research papers past, the North Korean government is a perfect model of an abusive post-Soviet government, committing severe human rights violations against its people to support an aging system of rule. For 50 years, the people of North Korea have tolerated poor economic conditions, in addition to the aforementioned human rights violations - 50 years too long. As such, I believe that it is time for the people to rise up against the crumbling leadership in a massive demonstration of nationalism.

When I came to this conclusion, the first place I started was by analyzing the background leading up to it. North Korea has been under an oppressive communist leadership for years - Kim Il-sung took power over the country in 1948. His dynasty has ruled up to now, even though it has done such a poor job of maintaining the country. For example, currently there is an incredible famine in North Korea, to the extent that an estimated five million people are malnourished. The people are also affected in other ways. As reported in the book Aquariums of Pyongyang, civilians are severely punished for speech contrary to the official government viewpoints. The act of listening to radio stations from South Korea can bring about years in labor camps, or even a life sentence. Certainly from this, I could tell that the current leadership in North Korea oppresses the people.

In my opinion, people need to rise up against poor leaderships. When a leadership takes control of a society and damages it with no hope of repair, the people almost always band together to fix it. The group of people is often called the nation of people, paying homage to the fact that the leadership no longer reflects the will of the people. Taking from that, the movement that the people participate in is called "nationalism" - regaining the state to serve the purposes of the nation. Nationalism is usually displayed in the form of a revolt - or minimally, an uprising among the people. Through that, I came to my conclusion that nationalism needs to occur in North Korea.

Ironically enough, nationalism may have been a lead-up to the current situation in North Korea. As early as 1919, groups of people began forming to protest Japanese imperialism in Korea. Conditions continued to worsen, and in 1945, an estimated 20% of Koreans had been displaced from the province in which they were born. Obviously, the conditions were right for nationalism then, too. Unfortunately, in the nationalist fervor, this abusive communist government was set up. This time around, people will have learned from their mistakes, and will hopefully install a more functional government.

As a case study, let's look at the nationalism in the United States' past. If we look back to the 1600s, the British rulers of the time were treating the colonists unfairly. From far away, they increased taxes, not having the slightest clue as to what they were inflicting on the people. The colonists became very unhappy at this poor leadership, and did what they some said their civil duty was - they rose up against the British occupation. They then proceeded to form a government to serve the needs of the people. Their government has been prosperous for 200 years now, and already has colonies of its own. A revolution similar to that of the United States is what needs to happen in North Korea if they are to satisfy the people there.

Let's also look at the other possible options for North Korea, as opposed to an uprising. One obvious choice would be for other nations to use political pressure in an attempt to force the DPRK's leadership to step down. The general means of doing so is by of doing so would be by sanctions. This has been tried in the past, and has failed. Another possible choice, would be military action against the current leadership from 'stronger' nations. This is unlikely to happen. This leaves one choice remaining: an armed revolt. This is obviously a difficult choice that could possibly create regional unrest. It's a last resort, but it's possibly needed.

In conclusion, the people of the DPRK need to rise up against the oppressive regime under which they live.

Works Cited

Chol-Hwan, Kang. Aquariums of Pyongyang: Ten years in the North Korean gulag. Trans. Yair Reiner. New York: Basic Books, 2001.

Natsios, Andrew S. The Great North Korean Famine: Famine, Politics, and Foreign Policy. Washington, D. C.: United States Institute of Peace Press, 2001.

Eberstadt, Nicholas. The End of North Korea. Washington, D. C.: Publisher for the American Enterprise Institute, 1999.

Frederick, Jim. "In from the Cold." Time, December 2004: 38-42.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/forum/august97/korea1.html

http://countrystudies.us/north-korea/13.htm