Kim Jong Un Hosts a Party - Emily Rosuck. 4th

For the past week North Korea has been having its largest political event in almost 40 years. Kim Jong Un the Leader of North Korea hosted the party Congress, where the Workers party which is the “ leading “ political party of the country delegates out positions for committee oversight, and discusses the upcoming years agenda and goals. In reality this is in no way a democratic and politically liberal event. The supreme leader Kim Jong Un holds all the power and simply gives out positions based on nepotism. What makes this event so unique is that journalists from around the world were brought in the observe the spectacle. However freedom of press isn’t a thing there so the journalists were strictly limited on what they could witness, record, and how they acted. The so called future Agenda was filled with broad claims and empty promises about ending the famine and nuclear prowess on an international level. The congress also unifies the workers party, in recent years the military has gained some independent power away from the government, this congress shows that the party holds all the power and will keep it centralized.

                I don’t believe at all that this is a turning point for North Korea or in Kim’s leadership style. North Korea lacks the resources, allies, and even internal support to really make any change in its current state. However this does appear to be a retaliation to the growing divisions inside the country. Western and south Korean media has infiltrated the north slowly giving the Norths citizens an outside look at the world. Revealing that what they live through isn’t what it has to be. The Kim dynasty sits solely on the subjugated will of the masses, and when that base rattles the top fears collapse. By having the congress, and bringing in the outside world Kim hopes to appear more modern and more open to freedom. This is just further brainwashing to convince the north Korean people that What the have there is the same or better as the west. By bringing in reporters from all over the world is makes it appear as though the Norths congress and event is the world’s entertainment and height of importance.

                While North Korea is a highly unique case, the history of regimes falling due to the masses becoming aware is thick. With the invention of the printing press and the expanse of knowledge in the peasantry we saw the catholic church split to the core. All because the masses became aware of the lies they had been fed. The same story is repeated again and again, the French revolution, the revolutions of 1848, and many more throughout history. Humanities innate desire for truth and freedom will prevail in the long run, and a corrupt regimes desperate attempts to slow it down are ultimately futile.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/06/world/asia/north-korea-congress.html?_r=0