Transcription
In Far East Asia, at the top of a peninsula near China, lies a country that very few people are able to visit or ever leave. For centuries, powerful foreign invaders from every direction conquered and controlled this Korean Peninsula, but its native people always remained united and held on to a culture that was uniquely theirs. At the end of World War II, though, something terrible happened. Korea was split into two countries. America fought to protect freedom for the South, while the Soviet Union and China implemented communism in the North, and soon North Korea became one of the most oppressive countries in the world.
[Music]
They live in communist North Korea. Under communism, people aren't free to make decisions for themselves. The government has full control, and while communism has existed in countries all over the world, in no place has the evil system been more controlling and cruel than in North Korea. Like other communist countries, the North Korean government directs how businesses are run, decides if religions can be practiced, and controls the supply of all essentials like money, food, and clothing. But in North Korea, there are such severe restrictions on what people can talk about and on the information that enters the country that, in many ways, the government even controls how citizens like Tezong and Chongshim act and think. These children are growing up with no freedom at all, and they don't even know it.
Chongshim lives in a small village hours from North Korea's capital city, Pyongyang. She has no toys or bike, and pets are not allowed. Winters are cold and snowy, but in spring and summer, she spends her mornings collecting brilliant wildflowers that cover the hillsides. Sometimes, those with the prettiest petals become her art projects and make it onto her bedroom walls. But the flowers aren't just picked to brighten up Chongshim's brown and gray world; they're gathered to eat because the communist government created a system where most of its citizens are very, very poor. Chongshim lives her life on the edge of starvation, and anything that can be eaten is used in the one meal she gets each day. Like so many North Koreans, she has never not been hungry.
Since its beginning, communist North Korea has been ruled by one family, the Kims, and each Kim ruler has used the same tactics to hold on to total power. They do not allow any information to come in from outside the country. They control all the information that flows inside it, and lies are constantly told to the people so that they're filled with fear and hatred. From birth, North Koreans are taught that South Korea and the United States are constantly trying to invade and bring them harm. In reality, it was North Korea that tried to invade the South in 1950, resulting in the Korean War. With the help of American troops, South Korea managed to hold on to its freedom, and a strict boundary was drawn between North and South Korea that few have ever dared cross.
In the Communist North, the Kims use lies and propaganda to convince the people that they need to be protected. So, effort and resources that could be used to feed the starving nation are instead used to build a powerful military. The Kims then use the military to enforce their lies. They watch and listen and control the people and spread the belief that they are saving North Koreans from slavery and death. Statues and paintings of the Kims are everywhere in North Korea. People are even required to have portraits of the leaders hung in their homes. The Kims want to be worshiped like gods and don't want outside faiths in the country, so religions of any kind are illegal.
Years ago, a small group of religious people from Tezong and Chongshim's village held secret worship services. One day, after school, Tezong's friend told him about the secret church and asked if he'd like to come to a meeting. The invitation was made because Tezong was a kind and honest boy, but instead of being honored, Tezong was stunned. It scared him that his friend, someone he had thought was a good person, was actually breaking the law and disobeying the Kims by believing in God. Tezong felt confused, and because he was scared, he reported the illegal church meetings to the local authorities. He thought that being loyal to the rules was the right thing to do.
Security officials soon swarmed the village and punished the church members. Most of them, including Tezong's friend, were sent away on a train. Some were even executed. The government honored Tezong and held a celebration, rewarding his bravery and loyalty to the rules of North Korea. Chongshim was so proud of her older brother. He was considered a local hero, and it was announced that for his mandatory military service, he would join the prestigious Ministry of Social Security, an honor that nobody from their village had ever received. The Kims only reward the people who have demonstrated loyalty to them. So now, Tezong receives a ration of real food during his military training.
Tezong lived in the capital, and he learned much more than just how to be a government security official. Unlike his home village, Pyongyang has tall skyscrapers, cars, and even restaurants. At first, the differences were overwhelming, and he felt jealous of those who had grown up there with electricity and enough food to eat. However, he soon learned that the communist government controlled all of the city's comforts and that even the privileged people of Pyongyang lived in constant fear of upsetting the government, losing everything, and being taken away on a train.
Tezong not only learned about life in the capital but also began learning about life outside North Korea. Sometimes, in Pyongyang, movies, music, and magazines from South Korea are snuck in through illegal markets. Once Tezong began making friends, he soon gained access to some of these forbidden materials. The first time a friend showed him a South Korean movie, he almost fainted. All his life, he had been told that South Korea was a terrible place, filled with evil people and ruled by horrible America. But in the movie, South Korea didn't look bad at all. In fact, the South Koreans looked happier, healthier, and even much taller than Tezong and his fellow North Koreans.
During the same years that the Kims, with their communist rule, have starved North Korea and lied to its people, South Korea has grown into one of the most successful countries in the world. With the United States as an ally and example, South Korea is one of the most technologically advanced nations in the world. Its citizens are among the healthiest, wealthiest, and most educated. By contrast, most North Koreans live without electricity, and their nutrition is so poor that they can't grow and develop in healthy ways. Over the decades, there has been so little food in North Korea that its average citizen is four inches shorter than the average South Korean.
With his training over, Tezong now works as a guard for the Ministry of Security at a prison camp a few hours from his home village, and his sister Chongshim. Prisoners at his camp are forced to work in mines, and their lives are terrible. Not long ago, a new group of prisoners arrived at the camp. They had been caught secretly practicing religion. When Tezong heard this, his mind raced with memories. His heart sank, and he now feels shame and guilt. Tezong still doesn't know much about the world outside of North Korea, but more and more, he's understanding that he's been lied to his entire life and that he's now a part of a system that keeps most of his countrymen living in fear and chronic starvation.
He tried talking to some of the other guards about his uneasy feelings. They not only told him to be quiet but reminded him that he is respected, fed, and has a warm bed. If he's caught questioning the government, he will quickly change from guard to prisoner. Tezong now wonders what life would be like for himself and Chongshim if Korea had never been divided by communist aggression. He silently hopes for a day when the two Koreas can be reunited as one nation, a future where the Communist rule of the Kim regime is replaced with the freedoms that his South Korean and American peers enjoy without fear.
[Music]