North Korean work camps

buyer95

This is probably the wrong forum, and please move it if so, but last week in the guardian there was a fascinating extract from an upcoming book based on life in a work camp in North Korea, which the N.K government insist are a creation of the western world and do not exist. I'm only posting this, as it shocked me, and made me wonder why so many people are ambivalent, or worse ignorant to the plight of thousand of N.K people, myself included, until recently.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/mar/16/escape-north-korea-prison-camp

pickarooney

I wasn't sure where to put this (moved from Creative Writing).

Giselle

buyer95 wrote: »

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/mar/16/escape-north-korea-prison-camp

I was aware of the existence of work camps but ignorant of how bad the conditions are. That personal story brings the horror home in a way a loosely reported fact can never do.

Truly horrific and very upsetting.

buyer95

Yes it is very upsetting, and quite depressing... Should make for a fascinating read, have it pre ordered on amazon

CajunPenguin

I think if anything justifies an invasion it's this...
Who else was reminded of Nazi Germany?

buyer95

CajunPenguin wrote: »

I think if anything justifies an invasion it's this...
Who else was reminded of Nazi Germany?

Hitler persecuted a race of people(the Jews) who he believed to be inferior beings to the German race. This reminded me more of Stalin's Russia and the Gulags which was where political prisoners were worked to death. Sound familiar?Both of these countries also believe in the communist ideal... The only thing we learn from history is that we learn nothing from history, seems applicable here.

CajunPenguin

yeah that's actually a better example since they all seem to be political prisoners

The Corinthian

Concentration camps are neither new, nor that uncommon even today, although conditions in them vary wildly. For example ethnic Japanese were 'interred' in both Canada and the US, but suffered far better conditions than those unfortunate enough to be 'interred' by the Germans or Japanese. My own grandmother spent time in a British concentration camp in Africa, but then again had a much easier time of it (she was able to retain her servants, for example).

Today, both Australia and Italy have interment camps in operation for illegal migrants. Naturally in conditions that cannot be compared to North Korea, but at the end of the day are still effectively interment or concentration camps nonetheless.

The North Korean model appears to borrow from the Japanese, in terms of exploitation and severity. The Japanese didn't set up extermination camps per se, but did ruthlessly exploit detainees for both labour and experimentation, which led to massive loss of life, and this appears to be exactly what is going on in North Korea.

Additionally, the camps appear to be used as a means of controlling and deterring dissent. Collective guilt is practised by the regime, meaning that if one member of a family is found guilty of subversion, the entire family is condemned. Other than being a rather effective form of deterring opposition, it makes camps a practical necessity as for every case of an individual dissenter, you need to process five, ten or twenty people.

It's not a priority for the West. It's not as if we need to publicise them to be convinced that the regime is 'evil' and in practical terms there's essentially nothing we can do to even improve the lot of the prisoners, let alone stop it.

And where it comes to North Korea, there are far bigger fish to fry; their nuclear and ballistic capabilities (combined with unpredictable belligerence) and the chronic famine that affects the country. Both of these endanger millions of people, while the fate of the poor souls in the camps only affects a few hundred thousand.

Permabear

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