Authoritarian Media

North Korea

    The exact definition of authoritarian is "favoring or enforcing strict obedience to authority, especially that of the government, at the expense of personal freedom." Basically, what this means is you have a blind submission to authority, and you are allowed hardly any to no personal freedom. North Korea is described as a dictatorship, Juche, social state, and one-party state. North Korea is said to be one of the most repressive authoritarian states in the world. North Korea also known as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, is a country in East Asia. This country is run by Kim Jong-un who is coming up on his eleventh year in power. He is the third Kim family leader and also head of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea (WPK). Kim Jong-un runs a very tight ship in North Korea. He is almost total political control, is very strict on travel in and out of the country, and has been known for punishing those who have had contact with the outside world. The North Korean government has put fear in the eyes of its citizens through threats of detention, forced labor in horrific conditions, and even execution. The North Korean government restricts its citizens from all civil and political freedom including freedom of expression, religion and conscience, and assembly and association. 

    Since North Korea is strictly controlled on its internet and social media use, they are very disconnected from the outside world. North Korea is also very strict on what you are and are not allowed to bring into the country. Three big things you are not allowed to bring are religious, pornographic or political items. Any normal citizen of this country with a mobile device is not allowed to have social media on their phones nor do they have access to the global internet. Their only access to the internet is through Kwangmyong which is controlled by North Korea. Kwangmyong is basically Safari or Google Chrome for North Korea except the government gets to censor the information and show the people only what they want them to see. Only special individuals who are considered the North Korean elites are allowed special access to the global internet. It was not until April 2016 that North Korea started to ban Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and even South Korean websites because they were concerned about the information that was starting to spread through the internet. Since the ban on the outside world, North Koreans get most of their information through Kwangmyong, word of mouth, foreign radio, and other places here and there. 

    Personally, I feel like the perception of North Korea and the reality of the country are quite equal. I don't think it should be a surprise to anyone that North Korea is the way it is, and if this comes as a surprise to you, then you might be living under a rock. It is very well known that North Korea is kept on a tight leash. Even though North Korea is strict on the citizens, there are still loopholes where they can watch foreign movies, listen to music, watch tv shows, and listen to the radio illegally. Keep in mind that citizens have been sentenced to death for listening to foreign music and watching movies that were produced in South Korea. A lot of the media stories you hear about North Korea are sometimes solely based on rumor, because who really knows what goes on over there? It is common to see exaggerated, stereotyped, or distorted news stories about North Korea, but in reality, what isn't true these days? It is clear that in situations like this, there is a lot of "he said, she said," so let's take a look from another perspective. There are several ways that we could be looking at Kim Jong-un in a negative manner when, in his eyes, this is his survival method, according to La Trobe University. Here is a look at three of the reasons our assumptions about Kim Jong-un are supposedly wrong. First, there is the assumption that Kim Jong-un is evil and crazy, which is what most people like to say. The United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) released their report on human rights in North Korea, which hasn't changed much, but the reason is that "the international community must accept its responsibility to protect the people" of Korea from crimes against humanity. From the naked eye, this might seem like torture to us, but to Kim Jong-un, this might be the best way he sees that he can protect his people. The second is Kim appearing irrational. Most of the time, Kim makes decisions without thinking about them, but in some cases, his random outbursts are him trying to force other countries into negotiation. The last assumption is about the nuclear weapons that North Korea has. North Korea, just like any other country, is just trying to survive, so they are well equipped with weapons if they ever need them, and not that they are just going to start shooting missiles at people. North Korea realizes that if they were to fire a nuclear missile at the United States, it would not end well for them.

    Overall, North Korea's government keeps its people on a very tight leash by keeping them in control of what they are allowed to see through their own internet and media. You can decide whether this is because Kim Jong-un is cruel for the sake of his people's safety. Some may call the citizens of North Korea brainwashed, and some may call them protected. The lengths that the North Korean government goes to in order to keep its country under very strict watch. Certain situations can appear differently to an outsider just by looking at the front page of the book. Sometimes you have to dig a little deeper to get the whole story. In my personal opinion, it is best to form your own opinion. Do your research and get some support for your beliefs, and then you can decide whether or not execution is always the right answer when you break the law in North Korea.