[BB_Eye]

http://www.slate.com/id/2117846

This article is a bit of an oldie (okay, I know, it's ancient). I read it back when I actually used to like Christopher Hitchens (don't ask). All the same, it is a well written article and made me more and more fascinated by the situation in North Korea. For those who don't know, the Korean peninsula has been divided since World War II and seen as the Japanese were forced end their occupation of Korea, the Southern half fell to the Americans and the Northern half to their WW2 allies in the Soviet Union.

The North has been a communist dictatorship for many decades now while the South is a prosperous, capitalist democracy. War broke out on the peninsula in the 1950's, which never officially ended. The Americans prevented the North from annexing the South, but a 'demilitarised zone' was created on the border between these two areas creating what you might call a six decade stalemate. North and South Korean troops have their guns pointed at eachother everyday and are constantly prepared for war.

North Korea has been in complete isolation ever since and much of what goes on in the country, despite the horrific accounts of North Korean refugees, remains a mystery. General Kim Il-Sung was North Korea's political leader for about four decades and was succeeded by his son Kim Jong-Il. Th country suffered a catastrophic famine in the 1990's where it is estimated that up to 2 million people died of starvation.

Visiting the country is difficult and tourists must be accompanied by a tour guide at all times. The North Korean capital Pyongyang has been described as a ghost town. The city is clean, modern looking and full of skyscrapers with scarcely any people to occupy them. The most famous landmark is the monstrous, unfinished Ryugyong Hotel (upon which work was abandoned over ten years ago). Things apparently get more grim outside of the city. Hitchens himself describes catching glimpses of starving people eating out of the sewers and picking loose seeds off the ground for food. The country is highly dependent upon foreign aid and its malnutrition levels are among the highest in the world.

Accounts by refugees describe the horrendous conditions of prisons in the country. Ordinary prisoners are forced to use their own excrement as fertiliser, where more unfortunate criminals in the "total control zone" are frequently tortured and are treated to a life of backbreaking labour. When a political prisoner is convicted, not just him, but his entire extended family and neighbouring families share the punishment because of "collective responsibility". Many refugees lucky enough to escape the country through the Chinese border (crossing the South Korean border is almost impossible) are forcibly repatriated by China.

Here are some interviews with people who escaped from North Korea and lived to tell the tale.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1oUd89QvGo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ms4NIB6xroc

And here are a couple of interesting documentaries about it, taken by people with tour guides breathing down their necks sadly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJ6E3cShcVU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C76HqPaA6kw