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Noah Charlick
Mrs. Barnes
English 112
26 March 2015
Starvation, Torture, and Oppression: Daily Life in North Korea
Many are unaware of large-scale mistreatment even today. For instance, some do not
know of the situation in a certain country, whose citizens are not only forbidden from leaving,
but are impoverished and kept from any knowledge of the rest of the world. Hundreds of
thousands are starving, as their leader lives in luxury (The Worst Place). This country is North
Korea, and the evils committed between its borders must be made known to the world. As can be
seen through research and personal accounts, the citizens of North Korea are not only treated
inhumanely, but are stripped of their basic human rights. These rights violations affecting so
many innocent people cannot be overlooked. The North Korean government, mainly their leader
Kim Jong Un, oppresses their people through maltreatment and undernourishment, and the world
must be aware of this.
The government of North Korea is in violation of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights set out by the United Nations to protect the rights and freedoms of the citizens of all
countries. As is illustrated in Article 4 of the Declaration, slavery of any kind is banned: No one
shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their
forms (The Universal Declaration). North Korea clearly violates this, as its citizens are sent to
slave camps. The Philippines News Agency reported in 2013 that hundreds of thousands of North
Korean citizens are held in political prison camps (N. Korea Urged). Not only has the
existence of these camps been proven, but chilling accounts of torturous abuse taking place

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within them have been published. The Russian state-funded television network RT News wrote
an article informing the public of the hard labor, tortures and public executions witnessed by
prison camp escapees. These horrid accounts included guards chopping off the fingers of
prisoners, and mothers being forced to drown their own babies (Torture, Starvation). It is
clearly stated in Article 13, Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and
to return to his country (The Universal Declaration). The Declaration is once again ignored by
North Korea, as can be seen not only by the fact that crossing the border out of North Korea is
illegal, but by the punishments given to innocent citizens trying to escape. A young woman by
the name of Ji Hyunah, as a result of her attempts to leave North Korea, was sold, sent to a
prison camp, and forced to have an abortion without anaesthetic (Escape from North Korea).
As is highlighted in Article 25, Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the
health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical
care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment,
sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his
control (The Universal Declaration). The North Korean citizens are starving. They are not
given the natural rights and resources they are entitled to under the Declaration. They are
impoverished by their government. Not only is North Korea an economic disaster, but
hundreds of thousands are...desperate for food (The Worst Place). As can be seen from these
three clear articles, the North Korean government violates the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights. This is evidence proving the claim that the North Korean citizens are oppressed.
Although the rights of North Korean citizens are abused in countless ways, one of the
most powerful accounts of some of these horrors is the story of the young woman previously
mentioned, Ji Hyunah. It took her four attempts, over the course of nine years, to cross the border

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into South Korea. During those nine years, her life was torn apart, and her rights were so abused,
a reader of the report by The Telegraph Online would be sickened. She, her mother, and her
younger sister were seized by human traffickers, and sold, to live in fear as pigs (Escape from
North Korea). However, Hyunah was arrested and returned to North Korea, only to be placed in
the harsh Jeungsan Re-education Centre, a prison camp, where ten percent of the inmates
survived. No one was given clothing. When it became cold, they were forced to wrap themselves
in plastic bags. Hyunah explained to reporter Julian Ryall, We had no food. We had to eat frogs
and grasshoppers (Escape from North Korea). The horrors did not end here for Hyunah. She
discovered that she was pregnant, the father being her former owner. She stated, They carried
out a forced abortion, without anaesthetic, but I was bleeding heavily for a long time (Escape
from North Korea). She was finally able to flee the country after a guard took pity on her and
released her. The horrors taking place in North Korea can be seen directly, through the story of
this poor young woman.
As can be seen from countless articles and accounts, the North Korean people are
oppressed and stripped of their natural human rights. This abuse must be made known to the
world. People need to be educated about horrors of this kind so they can be stopped and
prevented in the future. This analysis serves as evidence proving that, as The Economist rightly
claimed, North Korea contains oppression harsher than anywhere else on the planet (The
Worst Place).
Works Cited
"Escape from North Korea: 'I was sold into slavery and forced to have an abortion'; Ji Hyunah, a

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young woman who fled North Korea and Kim Jong-il's regime, tells Julian Ryall how she
managed to escape - on her fourth attempt." Telegraph Online 16 Feb. 2015. Student
Resources in Context. Web. 24 Mar. 2015.
"N. Korea urged to improve 'horrible' rights situation." Philippines News Agency 21 May 2013.
Global Issues in Context. Web. 23 Mar. 2015.
"Torture, Starvation, Infant Execution in N. Korea Prison Camps Exposed to UN Panel." RT
News. RT, 20 Aug. 2013. Web. 6 Apr. 2015.
"The Universal Declaration of Human Rights." United Nations. n.p. Web. 26 Mar. 2015.
"The worst place on earth; North Korea." The Economist 11 Aug. 2012: 75(US). Global Issues in
Context. Web. 24 Mar. 2015.