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North Korea is a prime example of a dystopian and abelian society encapsulate several similar characteristics. Events like this have been predicted years ago by George Orwell, author of the book Nineteen-Eighty-Four. It is evident that oppression is similarly demonstrated by the government and their dictator like leaders.
Supreme leader Kim Jong ruling allows for zero privacy, allows his citizens to die, he allows suppression of thoughts, ideas, and beliefs as executed by Big Brother and the party. He troops his citizens of their basic human rights. In North Korea there is no freedom, no saving, there’s only Kim Jong.
It is a concrete example of 1984 in its totalitarian state, the aspect of double think and total control by the government. We see horrible and unhuman operations such as the dictatorship as well as media control, the use of propaganda and the harsh punishments. A Dictatorship is a government or a social situation where one person makes all the rules and decisions without input from anyone else (Mariam Webster), which is exactly what the party is doing, through fear and manipulations, they keep control over the people. Kim Jong asks full cooperation from his citizens, anyone who does not comply will face severe punishment. “Power is in tearing human minds to pieces and putting them together again in new shapes of your own choosing” (Orwell, 279). This quote explains perfectly what is occurring in both places Oceania and North Korea. The two-minute hate, which is a daily and short event, where the citizens of Oceania are shown images shown Emmanuel Goldstein, enemy of the party. It is said that it is unavoidable, even for rebels such as Winston, he quotes ” ‘A hideous ecstasy of fear and vindictiveness, a desire to kill, to torture, to smash faces in with a sledgehammer, seemed to flow through the whole group of people like an electric current, turning one even against one’s will into a grimacing, screaming lunatic.
‘(16) At the end of Two Minute Hate, Big Brother’s face appears, inspiring everyone with relief and is followed by the three Party slogans (Orwell 16). Like North Korea, where songs and propaganda’s cause a rise of violence and hate from the people. This begins at an early age, young Korean kindergarten students are shown and taught to hate the American. This Anti-Americanism is part of the curriculum. It is easy to manipulate a child and raise a brain washed generation. These principals are taught with a passion, posters of harmless U.
S soldiers are being flaunted by riffles. On the telescreen’s in Oceania, the party’s traitors including marching soldiers are hated on by the people. In North Korea, young kids are learning that the countries enemies are the Japanese who colonized North Korea between 1910 to 1945 and the Americans who fought them back between the years of 1950 to 1953 (Daily mail). “We love playing military games knocking down the American b*******,’ reads the slogan printed across the top with the phrase so common that it’s become an acceptable way to refer to Americans.
” Same principal with the slogans in the book “War is peace, Freedom is slavery, Ignorance is strength.” The party leader, Kim Jong has quoted “The American imperialists and Japanese militarism are the sworn enemies of the North Korean people”. He is doing whatever is in his power to keep his people under control and loyal to him. A concrete version of the two-minute hate has been put in place for little children, A TV show called the “Squirrel and the Hedgehog”. There characters are the wolves who imitate the United States and Weasels who represents Japan.
The Squirrel and the Hedgehog must fight off the other species. Recent videos have leaked, showing Korean militants blowing up the White House. These elements are a message to the people, they are often shown somehow through social media, Propaganda’s and anthems. The people have no way of avoiding such things, which brings following elements in order, the media and how it is controlled (Independent). What is media manipulation, according to Urban Dictionary it is ” Where the media controls the news via print and television, restricting what people have access to therefore controlling public opinion, what you don’t know might just hurt you! or, the less you know the more you believe. ” It favorizes one side in other manners.
“Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.” (Orwell, 1984). Since the Jong family have been leaders of the Country for a long period of time, they decide as a totalitarian government to restrict all information from the Korean population as well as the international public. CNA, Central News Agency is known to be the peerless media outlet, and is under the state control.
A similarity is The Ministry of Truth who change facts to lies, they go as far rewriting history so people no proof of the truth other then what the party has shown (Orwell, 80). Kim II-Sung accentuates on media influence so he could manipulate North Korean citizens as well as confuse other countries and the public (Florida State University). Obtaining wanted information and confessions seem to be a very painful thing for the citizens who are captures or taken from there homes, for their “crimes” which could speaking their minds against the government could consequently make them as well as their family disappear. Torturing the people seems to be another option for the government in North Korea. Torture means any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, defined by (APT). Acts like these are common in North Korea and explored as well by Orwell. Winston gets arrested after he has an affair with Julia and learns that “there is a rebellious group against Big Brother”. The party does not want to kill Winston or Julia, the ministry of thought tortured them in many ways to psychologically dominate them.
The party wants to get to a point where if they introduce the idea that two plus two is five that with no doubt or further thinking will Winston cross. In North Korea many victims have been tormented for things such as their survival or doing anything against the governments will. A woman who fled to China for survival was caught and brought in for “a lesson” at SSA State Security Agency, where she was completely placed in cold water for multiple hours. She had to stand on her tip-toes for her to be able to breathe, those moments were unbearable and horrific, she feared that she might drown. A video leaked has shown a blind folded man being hit several times at the SSA. He was told to bow down repeatedly beyond portraits of government leaders. In the book 1984, torture methods such as merciless physical torture, injections, and increasing levels of pain were explored, comparing to North Korea where methods such as “pigeon torture” are implemented. Citizens at fault are chained to the wall, and are best in the chest till they cough up blood (Daily motion).
Dictatorship leads to these horrendous acts, and we see plenty of similarities within both worlds. Although the book is a political and a social science fiction, we sadly live in a weird very similar world for it to be a fiction. Orwell predicted elements like dictatorship where we see Big Brother and Kim Jong. A world that uses propaganda, the media and anthems to deliver hateful messages to brainwash the generation and lastly a world who torments people for psychologically denying, not following, or as the book explains double thinking the government expectancies. Matters like this, violates human rights to the maximum. Freedom of speech is completely against the will of Kim Jong and his family. Fear of punishments is used to silent the citizens.
Going back in history, learning about concentration camps, the lack of food ratio, forced labor and mistreatment till this day, it still takes place. The UN United Nation of Inquiries have discovered contemporary abuses in North Korea, forced abortions, rape, forced labor and many disgusting treatments (human rights watch). These things are parallel to what occurred in Oceania, history has been manipulated, changed and people were lied to, whoever controls the past controls the present, whoever controls the present controls the future.
