Corea

Ana Karolina Berrelleza 260086
1.7 Research Project Seminar in International Issues
“Human rights violation in North Korea”
Introduction
Currently increasing importance is being given to the situation in North Korea in the international level. Mainly because of the impering situation regarding nuclear weapons and other issues of humanrights such as the right to food, violence against women, prision camps, right to health, to water and to sanitation, freedom of opinion and expression and others (United Nations Human Rights, 2012). Unfortunately, these situations are directly related to the characteristics and actions of the North Korean regime upon an extremely closed society.
Topic development
A regime based on the heritageor dynasty dating from the independence of this East Asian country in 1948 in the hands of the Kim family, is what has been responsible for transforming North Korea’s society in an austere, militaristic and highly regulated society (Havel, V., Bondevik, K.M., Wiesel,E. , 2006).
Since 1948 Kim Il Sung had been the leader of the country and was proclaimed the "eternal president" and at his deathin 1994, his son Kim Jung Il was who took the highest office in the state. In December 2011 Kim Jung Il dies unexpectedly and announced that his eldest son, Kim Jong Un take power. Through out the history of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea their citizens have been suffering different situations as described previously that puts on evidence the limitations that north koreans have in theirhuman rights and the frequent violations of those rights.
Kim Il Sung comes to power in 1948, just when the reunification between the two Koreas seems imposible because of the tensions that exist and what makes posible the Korean war that bring him to power as the Prime Minister of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Then he starts to shape the “new country” based in the “juche”ideology and comunism. North Korea was formed as a single party government, in this case the Worker’s Party who’s former head is Kim Il Sung and now Kim Jong Un. It is also autocratic and hereditary.
The economic system of North Korea is highly centralized and revolves around national policy Juche ideology and socialism, giving great importance to the country's self-sufficiency and production means. Itis one of the most closed economies in the world and spends much of his capital in military matters. Until recently, private trade was almost totally banned.
"Juche" is the official ideology of the North Korean regime because theoretically justify autocratic rule under the command of Kim Il Sung, "Juche" can be considered as an institutionalized version of the cult of personality (KBS, 2011).With these characteristics of the country we can understand the reasons why the population in North Korea suffers violations in civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights.
Although it has signed international human rights treaties and includes rights protections in its constitution, it allows no organized political opposition, free media, functioning civil society, or religiousfreedom. Arbitrary arrest, detention, lack of due process, and torture and ill-treatment of detainees remain serious and endemic problems. North Korea also practices collective punishment for various anti-state offenses, for which it enslaves hundreds of thousands of citizens in prison camps, including children. The government periodically publicly executes citizens for stealing state property, hoardingfood, and other “anti-socialist” crimes [ (Human Rights Watch, 2011) ].
With regard to the right to food, there have been reports of continued suffering of the people of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea from chronic food insecurity and high malnutrition rates. The complex economic situation has seriously constrained the Government’s ability to feed and care for its people (United...