ㆍ‘숙청→혁명화 교육→재기용’ 패턴이 1인통치 특징 ㆍ당 우위 강화… 잦은 인사 통해 군부 장악력도 높여
국가정보원은 북한 장성택 국방위 부위원장의 실각 가능성이 농후하다고 하면서 “사안의 성격상 김정은(사진)의 재가 없이는 불가능하다고 본다”고 밝혔다.
김정은 노동당 제1비서가 직접 자신의 후견인이자 정권 2인자를 겨냥했다는 것이다. 당을 핵심에 두고 ‘김정은식 지배체제’를 구축하고 있다고 알려진 김 제1비서는 왜 이런 선택을 했을까. (read more)
Disabled in North Korea Confined to Homes, Expelled From Capital Original
reporting in Korean by Lee Aeran, Sung Woo Park, Naeri Kim, Changyoon Lee, Sookyung Lee, and Myeong Hwa Jang. RFA Korean service director: Jaehoon Ahn. Translated and researched by Greg Scarlatoiu. Written for the Web in English by Luisetta Mudie and edited by Sarah Jackson-Han, Radio Free Asia
June 13, 2007
SEOUL—Rejected and marginalized by a regime that has only recently begun to acknowledge their existence, disabled North Koreans live under effective house arrest and are routinely expelled from the capital, Pyongyang, defectors and aid groups say.
Defectors now living overseas have described a society that routinely uses derogatory language about the disabled, and an almost total lack of rehabilitation facilities or social services for them. “In the North, disabled persons are looked down upon and contemptuously called ‘cripples’ or ‘freaks,’” North Korean defector Lee Aeran said. “This is unacceptable and unthinkable in the South, where the use of such terms could even have serious legal repercussions.” In an opinion piece aired April 20, which is National Disabled Person’s Day in South Korea, Lee said: “In North Korea, such a day does not exist.” (read)
Defectors agonizingly close to freedom sent back to North Korean nightmare
By Paula Hancocks, CNN
updated 7:57 AM EDT, Wed October 2, 2013
Seoul (CNN) -- "Pack your bags you're going to South Korea." These are the words nine young North Korean defectors had waited years to hear having traveled thousands of miles. Unfortunately it was a lie. The tragic story of this group of youngsters aged between 15 and 23 takes us back a few years when one by one they managed to cross the heavily-guarded border from North Korea into China to search for food. Most of them were orphans, while others had a parent unable or unwilling to look after them. ( read more )
U.N. Panel to Investigate Human Rights Abuses in North Korea 21 March 2013 By Steven Erlinger
PARIS — The United Nations Human Rights Council voted on Thursday in Geneva to create a three-person commission to look into allegations of human rights violations in North Korea, including food deprivation, labor camps for political prisoners and torture. The 47-member council was unanimous in adopting a resolution sponsored by the European Union and Japan and backed by the United States. With no Chinese or Russian vote on the current council, North Korea lacked an ally willing to oppose the inquiry. ( read more)
North Korea Threatens U.S. Military Bases in Pacific 21 March 2013 By Choe Sang Hun and Steven Erlinger
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea on Thursday threatened to attack American military bases in Japan and on the Pacific island of Guam in retaliation for recent training missions by American B-52 bombers over South Korea. While the North has threatened American forces in Guam before, the latest warning comes amid heightened tension on the peninsula after a North Korean nuclear test last month and the imposition of United Nations sanctions that have infuriated Pyongyang. ( Read more)
Leaving NKorea, Rodman Calls Kims 'Great Leaders' By The Associated Press 1 March 2013
PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — Ending his unexpected round of basketball diplomacy in North Korea on Friday, ex-NBA star Dennis Rodman called leader Kim Jong Un an "awesome guy" and said his father and grandfather were "great leaders."
Rodman, the highest-profile American to meet Kim since he inherited power from father Kim Jong Il in 2011, watched a basketball game with the authoritarian leader Thursday and later drank and dined on sushi with him.
At Pyongyang's Sunan airport on his way to Beijing, Rodman said it was "amazing" that the North Koreans were "so honest." He added that Kim Jong Il and Kim Il Sung, North Korea's founder, "were great leaders." (Read more)
No Move Yet by U.N. Body After Test by Koreans By Rich Gladstone 26 February 2013
The international expressions of anger and dismay that followed North Korea’s announcement of a nuclear test a few weeks ago, punctuated by a United Nations Security Council pledge to immediately work on “appropriate measures” in a new resolution, appear to have given way to slow-motion diplomacy and some frustration that not even a draft has been circulated among the Council’s 15 members. ( Read more)
North Korean Video Shows Obama in Flames By Choe Sang Hoon 20 February 2013
North Korea has released a new propaganda video that shows President Obama and United States troops in flames and credits Washington with leading the impoverished country to become a proud nuclear power.
Songs, operas and novels that stoke hatred against the United States and belittle South Korea are daily fare for North Koreans living under a leadership that uses propaganda as a critical tool of governing. In the last several years, the country has taken its campaign to the Internet, posting thousands of videos onto YouTube that provide outsiders with rare glimpses into the world of North Korean propaganda. (Read more)
Security dynamics take on new aspect By Shin HYeon Hee, The Korean Herald. 13 February 2013
In the wake of North Korea’s third nuclear test, the security dynamics in the region appears to be entering a new phase as Seoul and Washington push for more potent sanctions and craft ways to beef up their deterrence capabilities. (Read more)
New Leader Sees Gains From Test By Choe Sang Hoon, The New York Times 12 February 2013
By announcing the detonation of a nuclear device, Kim Jong-un, the young leader of North Korea, seemed to be attempting to raise his status as a worthy leader at home and as a foe to be taken seriously among the countries his government considers its enemies. (Read more)
Countries at Risk: North Korea
North Korea has been a leader in human rights violations since the Korean War when they kidnapped and forced thousands of South Koreans to fight on the side of the North. The civil war, each side backed by a corresponding political superpower, lead to the split of the peninsula along the 38th parallel. Since, North Korea has used fear, torture and propaganda to ensure the loyalty of its citizens to the regime and the Kim family. Atrocities committed by the communist regime include Nazi-like work camps believed to house approximately 500,000 domestic and political prisoners, systematic starvation of non-party citizens and forced abortions.
The situation in North Korea is defined as politicide and is in the most severe and deadly stages of the process. In assessing the severity of the politicide in North Korea, Genocide Watch employs The 8 Stages of Genocide by Dr. Gregory Stanton (1998). Stages four and five in the “eight stages of Genocide” (Stanton, 1998) are organization and polarization. The labor camps in North Korea are an example of polarization. The existence of these camps has been affirmed by Amnesty International with the use of satellites and also by defectors who have confirmed their existence. The people are organized into two groups, those for the communist party and those not explicitly working for the party, those “against” the party are at risk of being imprisoned in the camps. Those who do not work for the party also face the reality of starvation. The 1990’s was a period known as the “arduous march” in which North Korea’s economy failed and fell into depression and famine. Since that time, the needs of the common people have taken a back seat to those who are members of the communist party and the military. These members are the first and often the last to receive the rations that are provided from foreign humanitarian aid. The final stage of this process is denial. Kim Jong-il has long denied the existence of these prison camps. More recently, following the death of Kimg Jong- il his son, Kimg Jong –Un, denied allegations of sending people to labor camps for “not mourning enough” according for CNN’s report by Jiyeon Lee and Jethro Mullen. Despite the fact that this Hermit Kingdom has come under new leadership this year, Kim Jong-un has already made his intentions known as the new “Great Leader” with his increase in military activity along the South Korean border. It is for this reason that North Korea remains at the top of the list of Countries at Risk in 2012, according to Genocide Watch.
The Kim regimes have committed
genocide and political mass killings since the creation of North Korea. Genocide Watch has ample proof that genocide
has been committed and mass killing is still underway in North Korea. Our prediction is that when North
Korean people eventually rise up against their totalitarian government, which
is almost inevitable, North Korea's powerful million-man army, now armed with
nuclear weapons, will be used to crush the revolt. We predict that North Korea could become the worst
politicide since World War Two. (read more)
Genocide Watch is the Coordinator of the International Alliance to End Genocide P.O. Box 809, Washington, D.C. 20044 USA. Phone: 1-202-643-1405 E-mail:communications@genocidewatch.org