The
report is about an American envoy, Robert King, who planned to travel to North
Korea to help release an American citizen, Kenneth Bae. Mr. Bae went to North
Korea for a Christian ministry.
The North Korean
government arrested Mr. Bae for releasing illegal religious ideas. They have
already put him in the North Korean Camp since last November. This is a place
where the government puts all the political prisoners, so it is not hard to
imagine how Mr. Bae’s life is in those camps in North Korea. His health is
reportedly deteriorating, so the American envoy wanted to rescue him.
It is long known that North Korean dictators
blocked the news from outside-world in order to isolate their citizens. For
this news, I do not want to focus on how the North Korean government exploits
its citizen’s human rights, but I would love to talk about the government’s
action to restrict other citizens’ rights, like Mr. Bae.
As an American
citizen, Mr. Bae’s human right is protected by US Constitution. His action is
totally legal from the American government’s perspective. In this kind of
political issue, the North Korean government is not supposed to arrest him and
send to the Camp. However, it should negotiate with the American government,
and send him out of the country. What is more, Mr. Bae received unbelievable
torture in that place, which is also against the human right. If the North
Korean government thinks that talking about its human right issue interferes
its sovereignty, then exploiting other citizen’s human right is totally
disrespectful to the country.
Thinking one step
further about the issue, I wonder why North Korea government would do that. I
think the main reason is that the government has nuclear power and do not
actually afraid America. Sixty years ago, China also experienced similar kind
of situation like North Korea, but its government did not control such a huge
amount of military power. With the efforts home and abroad, China got rid of
the dictatorship within 10 years and changed the whole policy. Even though
human right is still a critical topic in China, citizens’ basic rights are
mostly guaranteed. On the other hand, considering North Korea’s current issue, the
weapons and military powers may guard their dictatorship for a long time.
However, I strongly believe that its citizens’ real human rights will
eventually be guaranteed.
I hope you are right. As we have read in Johnson's book, it seems that the North Koreans take prisoners under any pretense as to have leverage with world powers. Once again, they use humans as weapons.
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