Page 63 - All About History 55 - 2017 UK

The House of Kim

elements of Juche that laid the groundwork
for his communist monarchy. Confucianism
advocated filial piety towards the father and the Being found with anything from outside the DPRK, like DVDs,
family — in the DPRK’s case, towards the father books, magazines and USB sticks of TV programmes, carries
of the nation and the first family of the one-party harsh punishments, including imprisonment. South Korean
state: Il-sung and the Kim clan. materials are the most closely monitored.
The Supreme Leader was in total charge of
the country, his enemies slain, those who knew
his true origins purged. The economy might be
collapsing and the people starving, but he smiled It is a crime to try to leave the country and seek refuge elsewhere.
upon them with benevolence with his eldest Punishments fluctuate but have included execution at times. Most
son at his side. refugees flee across the Yalu River to China hoping to eventually
get to South Korea.
A typical example of the sort of
propaganda that is still common
in the North celebrating the first
supreme leader, Kim Il-sung
All organised political opposition is outlawed, including all
alternative political parties, any factions within the ruling Korean
Workers’ Party or even ad hoc movements.

Pyongyang retains complete control of the media — TV, radio,
newspapers and all publications, as well as the highly limited
internet access a few high-ranking people are allowed.

As with China next door, all trade unions in the DPRK are
state sanctioned and under the control of the Workers’
Party. This, the leadership hopes, will stop any version of
Poland’s Solidarity movement in North Korea.

Except for a few occasional highly regulated farmers’ markets that
come and go, all free market activities — such as the buying and
selling of food, clothing, cars or property — are banned.
The first Supreme
Leader is still
known as the
eternal president
Though the state has created ‘Potemkin’ churches to show
visitors, in reality there is no religious freedom whatsoever in
North Korea according to Human Rights Watch.

This system affects everyone’s employment, residence and
schooling, as it is the country’s socio-political classification
scheme that groups people into loyal, wavering or hostile classes.
Climbing up the social ladder is almost unheard of.
63