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You have to wonder. Millions of people living under the dictatorship of one man ( with the help of a few dozens leaders). I feel terrible for the young women, a

You have to wonder. Millions of people living under the dictatorship of one man ( with the help of a few dozens leaders). I feel terrible for the young women, and kids. However the rest of the population can get up and fight. Hundreds of thousands will die, but someone has to be willing to die for the sake of the liberty of others.

candre717 15y ago
The article points out that one possible reason for the people's reluctance is distrust. In the case of the author, his family died because of a double agent. Who is to say that if you conspire with your fellow comrades to overthrow your leader, one of your peers will not out you. Civil unrest does not work without undying social trust.
zura 15y ago
The main problem is realizing that you need to fight. It is not that easy if you're continuously brainwashed since childhood.
InclinedPlane 15y ago
North Korea is very much a totalitarian regime in every sense of the word. Everything flows from the state. Food. News. Entertainment. Education. Jobs. Everything. And it has been totalitarian for around 2/3rds of a century. It's very difficult to fight against something so ingrained and omni-present. From without it's also difficult to imagine toppling the North Korean regime. To do so would almost inevitably result in quite literally hundreds of thousands of dead South Korean civilians in a matter of hours (through artillery). And perhaps just as many dead South Korean, Japanese, Taiwanese, or American civilians dead through a nuclear attack. That sort of cold calculus makes it very hard to make the decision to end the DPRK regime.
- spodek 15y ago
  Well put. North Korea's military could easily be beaten -- if you don't mind possibly hundreds of thousands of South Korean and Japanese killed by their missiles. You'd win the war but lose a battle no one would consider worth losing. You'd also have to negotiate with China first, so they know you'll stop invading well before their border. Last time the U.S. incurred too far into North Korea contributed to China entering the Korean War. North Korea effectively holds South Korea and Japan hostage with its missiles. It acts belligerently to make credible its threats to use them. Meanwhile, the people don't know things could be better. They aren't stupid or brainwashed. The state simply controls nearly all information entering the country. They believe they have nothing to envy from the rest of the world and that the U.S. is starving them. From their perspective they have no reason to revolt. They have no internet or knowledge of revolutions elsewhere in the world.
sun123 15y ago
There is a problem with even thinking about revolting in NK. If you show any signs of revolting, your entire family including your cousins will be sent to the gulaag and killed(Bad blood). If it is your life you can give it to save the country; but you will think twice if your parents, wife and children are going to be killed.
- mml 15y ago
  ... And your children, and their children, and their children. 3 generations is the rule of thumb, though surviving that long usually makes the issue moot.
dinkumthinkum 15y ago
I hate to be smug but that's kind of chicken hawk. Also, who's to say this hasn't happened already and those that have tried were put in prison, tortured, and killed? It's more complicated than that. To put on a resistance, you need food, weapons, etc. This is a country far more closed than Libya or Syria. I suppose you could argue for some Gene Sharp style revolution but I don't know if many people in North Korea have read him.
- rokhayakebe 15y ago
  So it appears at lot of people disagree with me, however nobody is proposing a solution. Are these guys basically doomed?

candre717 15y ago

The article points out that one possible reason for the people's reluctance is distrust. In the case of the author, his family died because of a double agent. Who is to say that if you conspire with your fellow comrades to overthrow your leader, one of your peers will not out you. Civil unrest does not work without undying social trust.

zura 15y ago

The main problem is realizing that you need to fight. It is not that easy if you're continuously brainwashed since childhood.

InclinedPlane 15y ago

North Korea is very much a totalitarian regime in every sense of the word. Everything flows from the state. Food. News. Entertainment. Education. Jobs. Everything. And it has been totalitarian for around 2/3rds of a century. It's very difficult to fight against something so ingrained and omni-present. From without it's also difficult to imagine toppling the North Korean regime. To do so would almost inevitably result in quite literally hundreds of thousands of dead South Korean civilians in a matter of hours (through artillery). And perhaps just as many dead South Korean, Japanese, Taiwanese, or American civilians dead through a nuclear attack. That sort of cold calculus makes it very hard to make the decision to end the DPRK regime.

spodek 15y ago
Well put. North Korea's military could easily be beaten -- if you don't mind possibly hundreds of thousands of South Korean and Japanese killed by their missiles. You'd win the war but lose a battle no one would consider worth losing. You'd also have to negotiate with China first, so they know you'll stop invading well before their border. Last time the U.S. incurred too far into North Korea contributed to China entering the Korean War. North Korea effectively holds South Korea and Japan hostage with its missiles. It acts belligerently to make credible its threats to use them. Meanwhile, the people don't know things could be better. They aren't stupid or brainwashed. The state simply controls nearly all information entering the country. They believe they have nothing to envy from the rest of the world and that the U.S. is starving them. From their perspective they have no reason to revolt. They have no internet or knowledge of revolutions elsewhere in the world.

sun123 15y ago

There is a problem with even thinking about revolting in NK. If you show any signs of revolting, your entire family including your cousins will be sent to the gulaag and killed(Bad blood). If it is your life you can give it to save the country; but you will think twice if your parents, wife and children are going to be killed.

mml 15y ago
... And your children, and their children, and their children. 3 generations is the rule of thumb, though surviving that long usually makes the issue moot.

dinkumthinkum 15y ago

I hate to be smug but that's kind of chicken hawk. Also, who's to say this hasn't happened already and those that have tried were put in prison, tortured, and killed? It's more complicated than that. To put on a resistance, you need food, weapons, etc. This is a country far more closed than Libya or Syria. I suppose you could argue for some Gene Sharp style revolution but I don't know if many people in North Korea have read him.

rokhayakebe 15y ago
So it appears at lot of people disagree with me, however nobody is proposing a solution. Are these guys basically doomed?