English 100 Spring 2019 Blogs

As the story further unfolds it becomes more apparent that the people who reside in North Korea are the most harmed in the whole situation. It is true that the entire world is under threat from North Korea’s nuclear missiles, however, at least we have a fighting chance to defend our selves and speak our truth, with out fear of being killed. The people of North Korea have no idea what freedom of speech is. They have been groomed since the end of World War II to simply bury their wants, desires and needs and sacrifice everything for their country. Even though, the smoke and mirrors appear to have begun clearing and cracking, the people of North Korea still believed the famine would be “temporary. Things would get better.” Their blind faith in their country quite literally disarmed their survival instinct and buy into their governments excuses. Despite people dying of famine, the electricity extinguishing, and the water shutting off these people could do nothing except “believe in a lie,” even though hungry stomachs shouldn’t. Truly if they don’t continue to believe the lie they could either have a psychotic break because living conditions were so unbearably horrific or they would be forced to flee and risk being killed on sight. It’s hard for any human being to admit that they put their money on the wrong horse let alone if it means you could be killed over it. Although it is difficult a human can only go though so much pain and suffering before before they have to wake up to reality and either choose death or themselves.

In Chapter four of Nothing to Envy, Ms. Song starts to realize something is amiss when the electricity starts to fade in and out. At first it was every now and then, and it progressed to where days would go by with no power. She had to alter her already daunting daily routine to now include fetching water because her running water was off during the blackouts. She became smart and would fill numerous buckets at a time, to make due during the outages. What else comes from not having any power? The train that Ms. Song would take to work was intermittent as well. She ended up just walking to work, an hour away, for fear of missing any work and not earning her food ration vouchers.

North Koreans were not paid wages that could sustain a person with enough food, shelter and possessions. What they were paid was more like an allowance. Everything they needed was provided by their government.

North Koreans were not supposed to shop because everything they needed was supplied by the government in the name of Kim il-sungs benevolence.

pg. 62

When the power started to fade, so did work at the factories for Ms. Song. They were eventually dismissed and told that they would need to find other means to feed their family. Some women took to the black market, selling things that were allowed to be sold. Ms. Song didn’t agree with the black market. She felt it was “not the place for a proper communist.”

I find it intriguing that Ms. Song can remain so proud and wouldn’t stoop so low as to sell things, considering it might help her to provide food and other necessities for herself and her family. I feel that if times were in such dier straits, I would do whatever necessary to provide food to my family. But then again, she believes in communist ways and to her the government shall provide!

This article “Hardly Known, Not Yet Forgotten, South Korean POW’s Tell Their Story” tells multiple and various first-hand stories of survivors from the Korean War. Very relatable to Barbara Demick’s book Nothing to Envy,  just in a much smaller version, describing the pain and terror they and their families had to go through to survive.

This article adds more information to my understanding of what I read in Demick’s book in general. It has advanced statistics of POW’s from both North Korea and South Korea, dates of when major events had occurred, facts of peers and events and even reasonings for why things happen. For example,

“Six hundred and seventy South Korean POWs were confined to hard labor at the Aogi coal mine in
1953, and 30 more arrived later. Out of 700 POWs, there are no more than 20 left now. Over the past
five decades, many have died in working accidents, and others have died of old age,” Kim said.

Just this piece of information improves my knowledge of the whole Korean War itself; a fact/statistic which explains what is happening, why it happened and when it has happened.

I think that the author of Nothing To Envy may have been drawn to this article, because they both talk about the conflict between North Korea and South Korea as well as having stories and information from POW’s. The article and book have different people, meaning they have different stories and experience. hat I’m trying to get to, is they have something in common, which is writing about Korea which shows similar interest. Maybe Demick wanted to further her education and knowledge of Korea and Korean people.

I believe this article is high quality. I believe what makes its quality or value, is the fact that this is primary research, meaning it is first-hand information. The original reporting was in Korean, reported by Sookyung Lee, which has been translated by Greg Scarlatoiu and has been posted on the English web from Luisetta Mudie. But other than all of that publishing, people will look and read at this article as “more important” because the stories that are told are not handed down stories, but from actual people itself that has survived and physically been there during the times of pain.

The women of this country do it all…. mothers, wives, military, informant, subservient, supporter of propaganda and simultaneously brainwashed.

Sun up tp sun down completely abstinent of any copious free time they are seemingly the spine of tyranny and family alike while longing secretly for liberation…

Reading this article makes it even more clear on the ramifications of war on it’s people and future generations.

Hardly Known, Not yet forgotten, South Korean POW’s tell their story is an article by Radio Free Asia. This article talks in a statistical way of how many POW’s there were in North and South Korea and how their lives were forever changed by this. I can further understand the need for the North Koreans depicted in Nothing to Envy, to keep their heads down and to hold their tongue.

Based on the numbers in the articles, many did not survive the imprisonment and if they did they were then told where to live, where to work and their children would follow in this same way. South Koreans who were released were given citizenship to North Korea, allowed to marry North Korean women and start families. They worked for years knowing they would never be granted promotion.

I feel that the author of Nothing to Envy, Barbara Demick, was drawn to this particular article because of the sheer volume of POW’s and how it shows the life of one after the war was over. It explains how the POW’s were left in the dark for years, not even knowing the war was over. It gives her more of an idea of why people would become defectors. It’s an eye opening article on how future generations of these POW’s are not granted a life of their own because of who their father was.

South Korean pows tell there story, and what an equally emotionally provocative pice in relation to “nothing to Envy’.

The relation between the two different sides of this war and how incredibly impactful the war was for the men women and children is in some ways painfully similar.

Lots of judgement and even shame towards these people just within the confines of the own culture, and amongst friends and family members, seemingly knows no limits and will more than likely last a few generations to come.

Theres nothing more riveting than first hand personal accounts of how wars like this effect these humans on such a broad scale.

Reading through the first few chapters in nothing to envy makes me very grateful for the free life i have, and really compassionate for the refugees of north Korea. Kim seems to have absolute power over everything the people experience in life for birth to death nearly. Manipulating every situation and human being to his favor until there is no more value left it and then murdering of his subjects. Its a discussion exhibition of absolute tyranny.

Gravitas…. torcher of the soul….. oppressive tyranny and its finest one might even say, in regards to what it must have been lie to be a refugee from North Korea.

Brainwashed from young children, told that a man is god, kept from having any kind of personal experience that doesn’t serve the needs of the tyrant.

Truly a horrific experience for a human being to endure there whole life.

Based on the first two chapters of Nothing to Envy by Barbara Demick, I’ve noticed how oppressed the North Korean citizens were.

In the first chapter, it talks about how the byzantine system of social controls, or its ranking system, affected its citizens. For someone high ranking to affiliate themselves with someone who was bottom of the totem pole would be judged as unsightly. The quote below demonstrates how people of different rank would be affected if they were to simply date.

“To be seen in public together would damage the boy’s career prospects as well as her reputation as a virtuous young woman.”

(p. 5)

In the second chapter, it goes in depth how the propaganda blinded each and every one of North Korean Citizens by speaking of how great their dear leader was. Not only that but the “Official History” that the North Korean government provided and how it was taboo to speak of what really happened. Below is an example of how students may be educated.

“The children had been thoroughly inculcated in the North Korean version of history. The Americans were the incarnation of evil and the South Koreans their pathetic lackeys. They’d studied photographs of their country after it had been pulverized by U.S. bombs. They’d read about how sneering American and South Korean soldiers drove their bayonets into the bodies of innocent civilians. Their textbooks at school were full of stories of people burned, crushed, stabbed, shot, and poisoned by the enemy.”

(p. 31)

In chapter three of Nothing to Envy, despite having four children, it talks about a committed communist named Mrs. Song who continued to work a full eight hour shift and still attended classes afterward about her great leader.

As a result from a long and exhausting day, she didn’t have time for any leisure, no time for sleep, and was still expected to participate in “self-criticisms” in which you admit all of your wrong-doings.

“All those years of sleep deprivation, all those lectures and self-criticisms — the very same tools used in brainwashing or interrogations — has wiped out any possibility of resistance.”

(p. 43)