re: North Koreans lose right to choose.....

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North Korea is certainly not the first nation with an oppressive totalitarian dictator, but it's the only place that can recall where such an oppressed population is so docile. In other such places, there's constant domestic turmoil or at least a sense of discontent among the populace, and the dictator is always on the lookout for signs of a revolution being fomented. There have been a lot of deposed/executed dictators who wished they would have known North Korea's secret.

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One of the most striking features of North Korea's philosophy of social control is collective responsibility. Persons who commit crimes may be punished, but so may their parents, siblings, and other relatives, regardless of their individual innocence or guilt. Likewise, persons may be blacklisted, not just for their own political opinions or actions, but for the imputed opinions or actions of relatives, even long-dead ancestors. This notion of guilt by association is inimical to modern conceptions of human rights.

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North Korean law dictates a “three generations of punishment” policy: If you commit a crime, your children and grandchildren will carry the stains of your sin and be punished accordingly. That means that if your grandfather committed a crime, you get to bear the full brunt of his punishment. As mentioned above, this usually leads to entire lives spent inside prison camps. One of the worst offenses that a North Korean can commit is attempting to leave North Korea, which can justify either immediate execution or an extended sentence in one of their labor camps.

Criticizing the government, no matter how slightly, is also considered a treasonous offense. Simply learning about other cultures warrants a death sentence. Recent smuggling between the border of North Korea and China has allowed some people to get DVDs of Western movies—which are illegal. The North Korean National Security Agency has begun raiding villages in the north of the country by shutting off the electricity to a whole village then storming into houses and checking which DVDs are stuck in the DVD player.

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You would think there would be enough empathy from fellow Asains to implore their governments to do something about North Korea. China could put an end to this nightmare tomorrow if they wanted to without any interference from West or the U.N. Although the Holocaust was perpetrated by the Gemrans, there's still a sense of collective guilt in all of Europe 70 years later because of what they allowed to happen to their fellow Europeans. I wonder if there will be a similar sense of shame in Asian countries if the North Korean regime ever collapses and the true scope of these horrors are laid bare for the whole world to see.

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