It’s been a while, so my apologies for
that.
I’ve been busy, finishing a course of study, so forgive my delay in writing
anything in here.
I’m ill today too, with a bout of ‘flu (well I was when I originally started to
write this, a couple of weeks ago). Hence, I’m sitting at home today with time
on my hands.
I've wanted to blog about this particular subject for a few weeks, but due to
the studying mentioned above, I really haven’t had time. Add to that that the
subject matter for today’s entry is rather depressing and therefore I have had
some doubts about actually posting it at all.
It concerns
North Korea. I currently live and teach English in South Korea, so maybe more than many back home I take an interest in what goes
on north of the Korean border.
A Little Background
About fifteen years ago I took it upon myself to read The Diary of Anne Frank,
because I happened to see it in a book
shop, had never read it, and I’d heard that it’s one of those books that everyone
should read. So I read it. Of the book,
I was very surprised at how posh their family was. Otto Frank, Anne’s
father was a banker, and their family was very upper-middle class, and this
shines through in the text. They could afford to build their ‘secret annex’
and fund themselves to live there – many everyday Jews in Europe at that time would not
have been able to afford such things.
Here is a sweet little girl, full of the chirpiness of youth; and with every
revelation of her persona, in every page, you know that she will eventually die
a horrible death in a concentration camp. It’s a heartbreaking read for anyone
with even the slightest smattering of human compassion. Anne was a very high-spirited
girl, not shy of an argument or a bit of back-chat. She was pretty and full of
life - cheeky and cheerful. This is, of course, what makes the book so
heart-rending, the effervescence of youthful life, contrasted with the
knowledge of her death. You would have had to have been in a coma for the last
seventy years to not know Anne Frank’s fate, so all the while, with every
bubbling page of the typical trials and travails of a teenage girl, you’re
confronted with horror. It’s like watching children die. At once she is brought
vividly to life, and simultaneously starved to death. It’s what makes the book
so powerful.
I was very moved by this book. I researched endlessly about the holocaust
afterwards, found out everything there is to know about Anne Frank, watched
every documentary, read every book, listened to and read every witness statement.
To this day, there is something I do almost daily to remember it, and what it
meant, and how moved I was by its words.
You may be wondering what this has to do with North Korea. Well I think North Korea now has its own Anne Frank. This girl. I don’t know too much about
her other than like Anne, she’s dead
before the story starts. But just watch this video and tell me your heart doesn't break at her condition, her small voice, the desperation and hunger in
her eyes. Her name was Gang Rim Jin. And she’s DEAD.
I had few feelings for the North Korean government before this. But I positively
loathe them now. How can a country starve its own people? A quick scout around
the internet will reveal all manner of human rights abuses taking place up
there. It’s akin to the holocaust – millions have died through torture,
starvation and overwork in concentration camps. There are Anne Franks dying
all over the country. We know it’s happening. And we should do something to
stop it.
Anne Frank’s diary, and countless other
testimonies, have taught us and reminded us what we as a race are capable of,
that we should never forget the past, and that if we have the power to stop
these things happening in the future, then we most certainly should.
North Korea enslaves, tortures and starves thousands of its own people every
year. If we’d have known (and some say that we did know) what was happening in Auschwitz in the 1940s, we’d
have stopped it. Well we know what is going on in North Korea, and it’s very similar to what happened in Auschwitz and other camps. A
great many people are starved, tortured, murdered. People are killed because of
who they are, who they are related to, or what they believe.
I had high hopes the change of North Korea leadership a couple of years would herald a change
akin to that in Russia or China over the last few decades, but he seems as bad
as the previous leaders – far more concerned about playing political games than
feeding his own people.
Look at this girl’s face. This needs to end. North Korea could easily be as prosperous as its neighbours, with a well-fed
and happy populace. War definitely is not the answer here, that country needs a
sea-change in its outlook – a huge change in the alignment of its priorities.
Feed your people and stop making bombs. It really is that simple.
If you want to do something, send a link of this video to your local MP, or
representative in your country. Ask them to ask questions. Thousands and
thousands of Anne Franks are dying every year, and we’re letting it happen.
