North Koreans who did not properly mourn Kim Jong Il Being Sentenced to 6 months of labor camp

[Drex]

Bolded for tl;dr

The Daily NK

The North Korean authorities have completed the criticism sessions which began after the mourning period for Kim Jong Il and begun to punish those who transgressed during the highly orchestrated mourning events.

Daily NK learned from a source from North Hamkyung Province on January 10th, “The authorities are handing down at least six months in a labor-training camp to anybody who didn’t participate in the organized gatherings during the mourning period, or who did participate but didn’t cry and didn't seem genuine.”

Furthermore, the source added that people who are accused of circulating rumors criticizing the country’s 3rd generation dynastic system are also being sent to re-education camps or being banished with their families to remote rural areas.

Daily NK earlier reported news that criticism sessions were being held at all levels of industry, in enterprises and by local people’s units starting on December 29th, the last day of the mourning period. A source said at the time that the central authorities had ordered the sessions to be completed by January 8th.

The North Hamkyung source commented of the sessions that they "created a vicious atmosphere of fear, causing people to accuse ‘that young upstart’ (Kim Jong Eun) of preying on the people now that he has taken power."

Along with criticism sessions, the authorities also turned up the heat on efforts to idolize Kim Jong Eun immediately after the mourning period ended, something which has yet to let up. “Every day from 7am until 7pm they have vehicles for broadcast propaganda parked on busy roads full of people going to and from work, noisily working to proclaim Kim Jong Eun’s greatness,” the source explained.

The intense propaganda is said to be taking its toll on the people as well, with the source commenting, “People in factories and schools, regional and ward Party members, members of the Youth League and the Union of Democratic Women are all being made to study the Joint New Year’s Editorial and the greatness of Kim Jong Eun in the morning and afternoon, with the sessions packed so tightly together without a break that people are just exhausted.”

The source even revealed that public trials are being employed without regard for the frigid weather to judge people who attempted to leave North Korea during the mourning period, either to defect or to smuggle, as well as those discovered using mobile phones to make calls out.

While it has not been possible to verify the public trial claim, earlier the authorities did order the military to shoot anyone who attempted to defect during the mourning period and eliminate their family, so it would not be surprising. The source agreed with earlier testimony stating that while it is usually possible to escape punishment during such crackdowns with bribes, it is much more difficult to do so now.

More: ABC News

North Korean authorities are punishing mourners who failed to exhibit sincere sadness and despair after the death of Kim Jong Il on Dec. 17, the Daily NK reported Wednesday.
The online North Korean newspaper, which is published by opponents of the governing regime, said a source in North Hamkyung Province revealed the information. The source told the paper “authorities are handing down at least six months in a labor-training camp to anybody who didn’t participate in the organized gatherings during the mourning period, or who did participate but didn’t cry and didn’t seem genuine,” according to the Daily NK.
There are an estimated 200,000 offenders and families held in North Korean prison camps, according to a May 2011 report from Amnesty International. The report details two types of camps known as “zones.” One zone, known as a Total Control Zone, is for people who have committed “serious crimes.” People in these camps are never released.
The second type of zone, called a Revolutionary Zone, are camps for people who have committed what North Korean authorities perceive as less serious crimes. These crimes may include making critical comments toward government policy or trying to cross the border. Sentences in Revolutionary Zone camps can range from a few months to 10 years.
The report estimates that 40 percent of inmates in the camps will die from malnutrition, and every former inmate interviewed for the report had witnessed at least one public execution while being held.
The late Hwang Jang Yop, a North Korean defector and former official, described similar punishments after the death of Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Il’s father and the founder of North Korea, in 1994.
“The party conducted surveys to see who displayed the most grief, and made this an important criterion in assessing party members’ loyalty,” Yop wrote. “Patients who remained in hospitals and people who drank and made merry even after hearing news of their leader’s death were all singled out for punishment.”
The Daily NK said its source also reported that North Koreans who were accused of being critical of the country’s dynastic system were being sent to re-education camps or banished with their families to remote areas.
North Korea today said that Kim Jong Il’s body will be embalmed and enshrined in the palace that houses his father’s remains. The country also said it plans to build a new Kim Jong Il statue and construct “towers to his immortality.”

A truly special kind of crazy

[Milkster]

Good god, that's insane. No wonder people are afraid of N. Korea.

[Ashmada]

Predictable, pointless and pathetic.

[Ishido]

The most surprising part of this is that they were sent to prison/camps rather than killed.

[Correction]

The most surprising part of this is that they were sent to prison/camps rather than killed.

Don't let the word 'camp' fool you; I'd put good money on a high rate of deaths during detention at such places.

[Ashmada]

A labor camp works out better for the regime than just shooting them. Why waste bullets when you can eke out a bit of productivity from them and they'll die anyway in the end?

[BaneTheBrawler]

Predictable, pointless and pathetic.

This.

[Kaylia]

he country also said it plans to build a new Kim Jong Il statue and construct “towers to his immortality.”

Celebrating the immortality of a dead guy...Might be me, but it doesn't feel right.



I love N.Korea. It's like a real life adaptation of Nineteen Eighty-Four.

[Overburn]

The most surprising part of this is that they were sent to prison/camps rather than killed.

Labor camp is code for concentration camp basically. If you get sent to a serious one, even a 6 month sentence is likely a life sentence. They do a bunch of secretive, fucked up testing there

[ronin sparthos]

I love N.Korea. It's like a real life adaptation of Nineteen Eighty-Four.

Heh, I'm reminded of that Star Trek TNG episode every time.

[Karbuncle]

So, At what point can we just... Wipe them off the planet. >_>

I'm kinda half serious here.

Thats fucked up. Both the OP and that Wiki Article.

[Azull]

Once China realizes its already pseudo-capitalist and doesnt need a buffer between it and the democratic south.

[Kuya]

So, At what point can we just... Wipe them off the planet. >_>

I'm kinda half serious here.

Thats fucked up. Both the OP and that Wiki Article.

Maybe when you said wipe them off the planet you might have wanted to be a little more surgical than the phrase implies.

[Outlaw]

I happened to see this just now on General > Last post on the front page.

Unreal.. It's difficult for me to understand why a country tries to hold onto this type of hard line communist doctrine. I mean.. it's like someone in this day and age trying to convince people that the earth is the center of the universe.

[ronin sparthos]

Why would the ruling class give up perpetuating this personality cult? They're living pretty well under Kim's regime, the people are mind slaves, they've got nukes as a defensive tool, the South Koreans are readily available to rattle a saber at every once in a while and the world police have far more pressing matters to attend to than dealing with North Korea.

[Xno Kappa]

Should've cried in a war zone.

[Outlaw]

Why would the ruling class give up perpetuating this personality cult? They're living pretty well under Kim's regime, the people are mind slaves, they've got nukes as a defensive tool, the South Koreans are readily available to rattle a saber at every once in a while and the world police have far more pressing matters to attend to than dealing with North Korea.

Oh I know they don't want to give it up. It's just their leaders can't really believe they are fooling anyone. I will give you an example: I saw this documentary on TV last year about a group of doctors that North Korea let come into the country. They were one of those groups that does international charity work and they had gone there to treat people with impaired vision. When the bandages came off each person thanked the "Dear Leader" for restoring their eye sight. They made no mention of the doctors. They specifically said it was Kim Jong Il that did it. Like it was some kind of miracle. Now I know that North Korea only let the doctors in the country to use this as a propaganda piece but.. the people were only thanking him and saying it was his doing out of fear. They can't really believe this.

So it's difficult for me to grasp why a regime would try to control it's people in this manner. It's nuts.

[Hyan]

Human experimentation was described by several North Korean defectors, including former prisoner Lee Soon Ok

Saved by the name!

I wonder how they came to the result that person X didn't mourn enough? They probably had mourning-inspectors.

[Drex]

Oh I know they don't want to give it up. It's just their leaders can't really believe they are fooling anyone. I will give you an example: I saw this documentary on TV last year about a group of doctors that North Korea let come into the country. They were one of those groups that does international charity work and they had gone there to treat people with impaired vision. When the bandages came off each person thanked the "Dear Leader" for restoring their eye sight. They made no mention of the doctors. They specifically said it was Kim Jong Il that did it. Like it was some kind of miracle. Now I know that North Korea only let the doctors in the country to use this as a propaganda piece but.. the people were only thanking him and saying it was his doing out of fear. They can't really believe this.

So it's difficult for me to grasp why a regime would try to control it's people in this manner. It's nuts.

You'd be surprised what the brain can will itself to believe when life depends on it.
Also, it really doesn't matter to the regime if they mean it or not. As long as it looks like they mean it, it's enough to keep them under control.

[Azull]

Its like a nation wide stockholm syndrome.