One of the verses is “and all will see how great, how great is our God.”  I started wondering do people here in the United States see how great is our God?  Do people in North Korea see how great is our God?

Then we sang our closing song, “Awesome God.”

I soon found myself unable to sing.  I know theologically what these songs mean, at least I think I do.

But do we even comprehend really what a great God is, what an awesome God is?

Did Robert Park understand what an awesome God is when he crossed the border of North Korea proclaiming that God loves Kim Jong Il, a man responsible for some of the most heinous crimes on earth?  Do North Koreans understand that as they are tortured for wanting food?  Do North Korean Christians understand it while they are dying, wondering if anyone cares, if their brothers and sisters in Christ around the world ever prayed for them?

Someone once said the hardest place to be a Christian is in the U.S.A. because it’s too easy.  He might be right.  Though we sing how great and awesome God is our God is so small, a God for job security, healthy children and comfortable living.

An awesome and mighty God sets the captives free, lifts up the down-trodden, and proclaims his greatness for all nations to see.  That is an awesome and mighty God and that is what we should sing, worship and pray for.

©2010 Love North Korea. All Rights Reserved.

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⁸He has ^(A)told you, O man, what is good;
         And ^(B)what does the LORD require of you
         But to ^(C)do justice, to ^(D)love kindness,
         And to walk ^(E)humbly with your God?

Micah 6:8 (New American Standard Bible)

1. Micah 6:8 : Deut 30:15
2. Micah 6:8 : Deut 10:12
3. Micah 6:8 : Is 56:1; Jer 22:3
4. Micah 6:8 : Hos 6:6
5. Micah 6:8 : Is 57:15; 66:2

Today North Korea stands out as the number one human rights issue in the world.

Concentration Camps

After the holocaust we said never again.  However North Korea operates:

… the world’s worst concentration camps since Nazi Germany, camps that occupy vast areas of the country.

One Free Korea »  Joe Biden Is Blocking North Korea Human Rights Legislation, and You Can Help Un-Block It (Update:  Biden’s Staff Denies, Predicts Bill Will Pass This Term)

More facts:

The Committee for Human Rights in North Korea estimates that North Korea holds approximately 200,000 people in its system of concentration and detention camps, and that 400,000 people have died in these camps from torture, starvation, disease, and execution.

One Free Korea » North Korea’s Largest Concentration Camps on Google Earth

In these camps there is no limit to the amount of cruelty that exists including habitual rape,

Especially beautiful women suffered the most. It has been known that Kim Byeong-Ha … selected pretty women and slept with them in an inspection visit to the camps. Then those women were transferred … and used as an experiment subject and killed. [….]

There is a “Cadre Guest House” at No. 14 Political Prison Camp… When senior officials come from Pyeongyang, pretty maidens aged 21 to 25 are selected among female inmates, bathed and then sent to them. After the officials make a sexual plaything of those females, they charge the women with fleeing and kill them to keep secrets. [KBA 165]

One Free Korea » Camps 14 and 18, North Korea: Satellite Imagery and Witness Accounts

infanticide and forced abortions.

North Korea has been accused of killing the babies of women who are forcibly repatriated from China.

The US-based Committee for Human Rights in North Korea (HRNK) said the women were kept in short-term detention camps where they are either given abortions or their babies are killed at birth.

…

One woman told of being forced to assist injection-induced labours and then watching as a baby was suffocated with a wet towel in front of its mother.

Many former prisoners told of babies buried alive or left face down on the ground to die. They were told by guards this was to prevent the survival of half-Chinese babies.

BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | N Korea ‘kills detainees’ babies’

Slavery

North Korea is a slave state.  An example of this is the “150-day Battle.”

North Korea has extended a campaign urging citizens to work harder for 100 more days…

The so-called 150-day Battle, which compels North Koreans to work harder and put in longer hours, began on April 20 as part of the country’s efforts to resolve food shortages and rebuild its frail infrastructure.

North Korean Economy Watch » Blog Archive » “150 Day Battle” production campaign stories

Every single person is a slave to the state.  Whether it is in factories or prison camps or even in foreign countries.

The report states that the North Korean women permitted to work in places like Nachod, Zebrak and Zelezna are exploited and that the majority of their earnings – which are minimum wage – go to the North Korean government. Furthermore they are constantly under the watchful eye of guards and are evidently only allowed to leave their dormitories in groups.

United States accuses Czechs of hiring North Korean slaves – Radio Prague 

Even the children are slaves of the state.

The Arirang performance is not only a system of propaganda commending military first politics and the dictatorship, but it incorporates harsh training and corporal punishment for children made to participate in it…  Because of this, North Korean human rights groups and international human rights groups are increasingly voicing concerns that the conditions under which North Korean children prepare for the Arirang performance constitute a serious violation of U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Daily NK – North Korea’s Arirang is the Best Performance for the Body?

Starvation

As a Communist state North Korea’s government is responsible for supplying its people with food.  And this government chooses to use its food as reward or punishment.  The result has been a famine that killed approximately two million people in the 90’s or almost 10% of its population.  Starvation and malnutrition still affect many parts of the country.

Today, most North Koreans live on less than 1700 calories a day. This puts the population at severe risk of malnutrition and infection and perilously close to starvation in some areas. A North Korean child can expect to be up to 7 inches shorter than his South Korean counterpart and 20 pounds lighter by adulthood.

Starvation Nation – The American, A Magazine of Ideas

Sadly enough because of the starvation the life of North Koreans is even worse than a slave.

The situation is actually slightly worse than indentured servitude. The slave owner historically promises, in effect, at least to keep his slaves fed. In North Korea, this compact has been broken. It is a famine state as well as a slave state.

North Korea, slave state. – By Christopher Hitchens – Slate Magazine

Refugees

Because of the horror that is North Korea refugees have been streaming by the tens, maybe even hundreds of thousands into China where:

• They have no rights.
• The majority are trafficked into slavery.   80% – 90% of North Korean refugee women are trafficked into sexual slavery, forced marriages, etc.  This is the highest percentage of any single population in the world.
• Daily they fear being captured by North Korean bounty hunters or Chinese police.
• If repatriated they face definite torture and possible execution.

Yet North Korean refugees refer to this existence as heaven.

For Red, whose family lived within sight of the border, China appeared a seductive paradise. "I could see so many lights from apartment blocks and a power plant. China looked so rich." She had been raised on a collective farm in the province of North Hamgyong, the poorest part of North Korea and the source of most border crossers. "I grew up seeing people getting sick and dying from eating grass," she said.

Escaping North Korea – National Geographic Magazine

What Can Be Done?

I believe the number one thing we can do is raise awareness and start shouting “NO MORE!”

North Korea and China’s governments still operate within the Confucian culture of honor and shame.

North Korea denies that any of the concentration camps exist.  They never let Laura Ling and Euna Lee spend a day in one of the camps because they don’t want the world to know.

China repeatedly denies that North Korean refugees are inhumanely treated.  When the world’s spotlight fell upon the North Korean refugees apprehended by Chinese soldiers at the gates to the Japanese embassy as shown in the photo above, those refugees were allowed safe passage to South Korea.  However the tens of thousands of other anonymous captured refugees are sent back to North Korea for torture without any remorse.

Every church, synagogue, temple, house of worship, etc. should talk about North Korea, “the world’s greatest ongoing atrocity.”  Every government should demand North Korea and China respect the international standards for human rights.  The United States and South Korea should demand that human rights be a part of every negotiation.

We can make a difference.  We can say “NEVER AGAIN!”  We can love North Korea.

What do you think should be done?

©2010 Love North Korea. All Rights Reserved.

Related posts:

1. My North Korea Talk at GrX
2. Human Rights in North Korea Awareness Week at Harvard
3. Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-08-02

I sent a letter to Kim Jong Il – Please Free #EunaLee and @lauraling on June 20 but he probably did not read it. http://bit.ly/wVhlw #

Want to take credit cuz of letter wrote to Kim Jong Il -Please Free #EunaLee & @lauraling but probably didn’t read it http://bit.ly/wVhlw #

©2010 Love North Korea. All Rights Reserved.

Related posts:

1. Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-08-02
2. The Privilege of Being Part of the Movement to Free Euna Lee and Laura Ling
3. Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-07-26

Increased speculation into the scenarios of a post Kim era are mired in serious problems that cannot be avoided no matter what road it may take. While nobody knows the future, it is increasingly clear something is taking place in North Korea: Kim Jong Il’s reported health problems, the shakeup in the hierarchy leading to an apparent military-centric regime, the apparent succession of Kim Jong Un, and the list goes on and on.

Despite these changes, true or false, very little is said about the people having to live under these changes and the ever-changing political winds. These changes are not only from Pyongyang, but Washington, Seoul, Beijing, Tokyo, Moscow, and others. These winds of political change inside and outside their secretive state lead to things that directly affects their lives, and it appears the populace is starting to fend for themselves. As more evidence shows they are not counting on the government to take care of them, time and again it goes right down to control from the top trying to deal with the shifting sands of bottom-up marketization (Please see Famine in North Korea: Markets, Aid, and Reform for more details).

As these important changes have been taking place since the Arduous March of the mid-late 1990’s, it is still unclear the true extent of the market activity in North Korea. However, plenty of evidence shows market activity is definitely there as the regime appears to try and solve the problems of Juche purity. Is the regime losing control of the population? If so, it is clear they are trying a lot of things to bring North Korea back on track, which may be in a time of vulnerability as rumors of succession and Kim’s health continue to swirl around. To be sure, discussion of Kim’s health is a long standing taboo, along with succession. In my opinion, it is too early to speculate the true heartbeat of the North Korean mindset on these matters, because sooner or later, these things will come to light when something does happen. The problem is, what will happen?

Nobody knows anything about that either.

As this article shows:

China’s North Korea specialists and think tanks are studying possible post-Kim futures, from a peaceful transition to a new government to factional warfare, Cui and other experts said.

Cui attended North Korea’s Kim Il Sung University nearly 50 years ago. He regularly hosts friends from his school days — retired civil servants, policy researchers and other members of the North Korean elite — at his two-story house in Beijing’s north suburbs. Recent visitors, Cui said, have described a power shift, with Kim Jong Il throwing his support behind military hard-liners and away from economic reformers to ensure the succession of his son, Kim Jong Un.

Even if that transfer goes awry, Cui said, the most likely outcome is neither meltdown nor reunification with South Korea but a successor regime, perhaps a military government, in Pyongyang that will need Beijing even more. "The hard-liners will have to rely on China because they won’t have the political power to deal with the United States," Cui said.

This I have to agree with, but again, timing is critical on how things transpire, and the ultimate fate of not only North Korea’s future, but the political map of the major players dealing with North Korea. One of the biggest issues not really discussed is the question of the normal populace. Sure, the other items, such as loose nukes, possible factions running around, dealing with a different regime, and many other things (I am sure they will be key on how the population reacts) will also be key on how to tackle the real possibility of one of the biggest humanitarian problems in modern history.

I am very doubtful on a smooth reunification of Korea, but the reunification question is something that is another thing mired in serious problems. However, the rhetoric on the need of reunification is filled with kicking the can down the road along with hoping the status quo not changing. After all, there are better things to worry about for the major players. From pop culture, economic difficulties in the world markets, partisan infighting, and more. However, sooner or later, these questions will have to be dealt with, and hopefully not in crisis mode.

What are the major players doing about the humanitarian crisis that is surely looming in the background? Again, good rhetoric is coming out of the spin room, but the player that makes all the difference in the world is China. Problem is, they are not talking, and with good reason. The same article points this out:

If China eventually decides to discuss a North Korean implosion with the U.S., the governments would probably be better served by letting their militaries, not civilian officials, do the talking, said Thompson, with the Nixon Center.

A meltdown would likely displace large numbers of people, and the People’s Liberation Army has displayed its ability to cope in handling natural disasters like last year’s Sichuan earthquake. PLA researchers told a group of U.S. scholars in 2007 that contingency plans were in place for the Chinese military to handle North Korean refugees and even go in to secure nuclear weapons and clean up nuclear contamination.

"So you can bet they have a plan for North Korea," said Thompson. "Will we ever see it? Hell no. Do they have it? Yeah."

As the book discussing the great famine also pointed out, China’s dealings with North Korea are client privileged, so any information with respects to trade and what they plan to do in a post-Kim regime are thin if non-existent. The question is, will China talk in the event something happens? This is also a toss-up because China has interest in not angering the regime (or some other regime if any) should anything come down the pike, because China has interest in the other players as well. That is, they have a lot at stake. From keeping the USFK away from the Yalu, keeping the nice trade agreements with the world markets (especially the United States) and not having to worry about the scores of hungry North Koreans fleeing a failed state.

Another book, also penned by Marcus Noland is Korea After Kim Jong Il, in which he goes into very meticulous detail on these possibilities, he makes it very clear the answers will not come easily. For instance, because a state fails does not mean it is the end of the state. This is also a very real possibility in the problem of reunification when dealing with a possible regime change in a post-Kim era to dire economic problems that have to be addressed such as trying to get the North in line with the South (which seems to be failing so far) along with unknown factors in a regime that may not be any better (or worse) than the last regime. On top of all of this, are the people.

What happens to them? Surely, they will need some stability, and individuals have different ideas on trying to survive. From the elites that may have incentive on keeping their perks or exploiting the situation, to the normal populace getting displaced, down to the political prisoners languishing in the massive labor camps. Surely, these individuals will need immediate attention to keep the others players stable, and it is my hope some plan is in place to deal with these things. Yes, there may be Utopic plans to magically get everything in line in the event something happens (such as the Sunshine Policy), but this is the real world, and nothing in the real world goes the way they plan. There has to be a plan B somewhere. Unfortunately, coddling a regime that constantly reneges on agreements is clearly not the way to go. Also, waiting for the despot leader to croak may make things worse instead of better as well.

This is a crapshoot, and all the players know it. Issue is, who makes the first move to risk their neck to do something about it? Sooner or later, there may be no choice. That is, from a Hail Mary move from a dying regime to masses looking for a new life will be hell.

Maybe the answer is not the high-level politicians. The answer may lie in individuals. They are already trying to survive in the markets, and despite the regime’s efforts in cracking down on these activities are choppy at best. Could it be one day the officials trying to keep the purity alive give up and try to survive too? Some evidence points to this as well with the massive corruption. I mean, one can bribe an official with some cigarettes, booze and goods to look the other way. Technology is also breaking down the iron-clad barrier that kept the hermit Kingdom sealed for so many decades. All of this seems to be the doings of the normal populace. At the moment, the iron grip of Kim Jong Il is still there and repressive as ever, but with the current shakeups, could this be a good time to exploit the situation and push them over the edge in the effort to see where it may lead? That is a very risky move, no doubt about it. Eventually, the regime will not be able to focus efforts on elites to keep them in line, because they are in a bribe situation in return for goodies from Kim, they keep the loyalty alive. That may very well end somewhere. Will they turn on the regime or jockey for power? I have no idea.

In the end, I think it is going to boil down to food. I cannot see any other possibility, because at the moment, food is the basic source of survival, and I am going to guess whoever controls the food controls the country. At the moment, the food is increasingly becoming the property of the people despite the ongoing efforts to keep the old Juche system in place. If one can sell grain on the market at a better price than the regime’s paltry and even non-existent payments in return for redistribution, why bother (other than fear of getting shot)? That has been the pillar of social control in North Korea, and as domestic supply falters or is unstable, outside sources are a considerable variable, too.

Could the population show discontent when aid is not going to those who need it and instead redistributed to areas more important on keeping the regime alive? What about the market diversion? How about trade in other commodities or simply liquidation? China may have a huge role in all of this, and wheeling and dealing is surely to take place, not only with North Korea (or whoever is in the driver seat) but others as well with interests in the region.

Maybe it is time to show people care about people.  After all, the person behind the barbed wire will have a lot to offer somebody else when a regime failed them. However, they are going to need a helping hand. Who is going to step up and embrace the mother who lost her child, the orphan, the displaced worker with no job, an elite looking to strike a deal on some good flats in some city, or some outsider looking to make some money in the resources? What about the prisoner who does not know anything other than fear and hunger? I do not hear anything about this on the nightly news.

One day, it will be headlines.

This post was written by Jack, author of the blog DPRK Forum.  In Jack’s words, DPRK Forum is based on his “obsession with trying to understand one of the most isolated, secretive states on the planets.”

©2010 Love North Korea. All Rights Reserved.

Related posts:

1. Kim Jong Il on eHarmony

©2010 Love North Korea. All Rights Reserved.

Related posts:

1. Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-08-09
2. Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-07-26
3. The Privilege of Being Part of the Movement to Free Euna Lee and Laura Ling

©2010 Love North Korea. All Rights Reserved.

Related posts:

1. Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-08-02
2. Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-08-09

However over the past few months what has been impressed upon me is to just take small steps and let the Holy Spirit lead.  This is one of those first steps and I hope it was the right one.

Below is a famous satellite photo showing how dark North Korea literally is.  All around North Korea is light but North Korea is plunged in darkness.  This darkness is not only physical but is also symbolic of the horrible oppression the North Korean people endure.  North Korea is a country desperate for light, desperate for love.

©2010 Love North Korea. All Rights Reserved.

Related posts:

1. Why Churches and Other Institutions That Care About Social Justice Should Care About North Korea
2. My North Korea Talk at GrX