The Dark Reign of Kim Jong Un: A Tale of Oppression and Tyranny

 

 

 

Since 2011, Kim Jong Un has ruled North Korea only by dint of an iron fist, headed by his late father Kim Jong II. The regime relies on a huge force of secret police, informers, and surveillance to monitor everyone in its sights for crushing any dissent. The citizens live nervously every moment in fear of being turned in for the slightest criticism against the leadership, which would lead to arrest, torture, and execution.

 

 

One of the most horrifying things about Kim Jong Un's rule is the presence of gulags, or prison camps, in which it is estimated that 80,000 to 120,000 people are incarcerated. These camps became a well of unimaginable suffering, where inmates were driven to forced labor, starving, and torture. Many among them had been incarcerated for "crimes" such as an attempt to flee the country, practising Christianity, or even being related to someone who spoke against the regime.

 

Those within these camps live under very horrible conditions, working for long hours on meagre food rations. Most are beaten or tortured, and medical care is almost nonexistent. The mortality rate is very high in those camps, and the regime uses them to instil fear and maintain control over the population.

 

 

Under the Kim Jong Un regime, the North Korean people do not enjoy any freedom of speech and information. The regime has taken control of all media so that only propaganda concerning Kim Jong Un himself and his policies can reach the public. Radios as well as televisions are pre-tuned to state channels. Access to foreign media is a serious crime which might amount to imprisonment or execution.

 

The internet is heavily restricted, with only a very few spots available to mostly government officials. For the many thousands of other residents, the outside world might as well not exist since they are kept in the dark about what is happening elsewhere in the world and even in their own nation. This information blockade is designed to prevent dissent and to portray the illusion of a prosperous and powerful North Korea to its subjects.

 

 

While Kim Jong Un and his leadership class live a life of luxury, many across North Korea barely survive. Its economy is mismanaged as well as corrupted; someday it also feels the impact of international sanctions. There are frequent shortages of food and a high incidence of malnutrition, particularly in children.

 

Kim Jong Un prioritises military spending and nuclear weapons development over the welfare of his people. Billions are being spent on the military, while basic needs like food, healthcare, and infrastructure go ignored. The regime's economic policies allowed no single citizen to be immune from far-flung poverty; millions of people were forced to buy and sell goods in illegal markets just to get by.

 

 

Kim Jong Un has kept a tight rein on power with a spate of vicious purges and public executions. High-ranking officials, military leaders, and even family members have been brought to the gallows on charges of treason or disloyalty. The executions are sometimes done in public to act as a warning to others.

 

Probably the most inflammatory of these purges was the 2013 execution of Kim Jong Un's uncle, Jang Song-thaek. Once touted as the second most powerful man in North Korea, Jang was charged with plotting an overthrow of the regime. The purpose of his execution was to consolidate power for Kim Jong Un and eliminate any rival.

 

 

Forced labour is practised both within and outside North Korea by the North Korean regime. In North Korea, it is a standard practice to send children to factories and farms for work at a very tender age, which denies them education and childhood. Adults are made to work in hazardous conditions with extremely long working hours and nil or very meagre wages.

 

A number of other thousands from North Korea are also conscripted to work in foreign countries, like China and Russia, logging timber, laying railroads, and engaging in other hard work. In effect, these workers are treated as slaves by the regime—taking in nearly all their earnings. They live under constant surveillance, unable to speak out or escape, and any attempt at doing so can result in severe punishment for them and their families back home.

 

 

In North Korea, basic human rights are denied. The regime denies its citizens freedom of movement, expression, and religion. It is not allowed to travel within the country or outside the country's borders without permission. Religious practices are highly discouraged; Christians and people from other religiously oriented groups have undergone severe persecution.

 

The regime has also put in place a strict caste system known as "songbun," by which it classifies citizens based on their loyalty to the government. Then there are those with "bad" songbun, who are discriminated against in almost every sphere of life, including school admission, the distribution of work opportunities, and resources. For this reason, it absolutely infers that power and privilege, two things the ruling elite will not do without, can never be transferred from one hand to another.

 

 

Kim Jong Un's regime has followed a policy of rigid seclusion from the international community. Such propaganda is used by the regime in portraying North Korea as an independent and mighty nation under severe threat from foreign enemies, particularly the United States and South Korea. This propaganda is then utilised as justification for such oppressive policies and to amass popular support behind Kim Jong Un.

 

Such isolation also extends into diplomatic relations, where North Korea has few allies and there is widespread condemnation of its human rights abuses and nuclear weapons programs. The regime's isolationist policies have left the country economically in a stagnant position and its people suffering.

 

 

Kim Jong Un has driven North Korea deep into despair and oppression. The inhumane regime tactics, economic mismanagement, violation of the most fundamental human rights—transformed into a society fearful and full of suffering as opposed to the ruling elite, who live in luxury while ordinary North Koreans endure inconceivable hardships.