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ghostrider
Joined: 27 Jun 2011
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 Posted: Thu Apr 11, 2013 1:19 am Post subject: Indifference About Human Rights Abuses in North Korea |
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�I don�t want to be critical of this county, but I would say that out of the total population of South Korea, only .001% has any real interest in North Korea. Their ways of living do not allow them to think about things beyond their borders. There is nothing in it for them.� -Shin Dong-hyuk who escaped from North Korea
�South Koreans, who publicly cherish the virtue of brotherly love, have been inexplicably stuck in a deep quagmire of indifference.� �Korean Bar Association
South Koreans have shown that they can become outraged about certain injustices committed against Koreans such as the Japanese government falsely claiming ownership of Dokdo. So where is the outrage about human rights violations in North Korea? It�s been estimated that as many as 200,000 Koreans have been imprisoned in labor camps in the northern part of the peninsula where torture, starvation, rape, and murder are routine according to those who have escaped. These camps can be seen in high resolution satellite photographs. |
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everything-is-everything
Joined: 06 Jun 2011
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| Posted: Thu Apr 11, 2013 3:08 am Post subject: Re: Indifference About Human Rights Abuses in North Korea |
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| ghostrider wrote: |
�I don�t want to be critical of this county, but I would say that out of the total population of South Korea, only .001% has any real interest in North Korea. Their ways of living do not allow them to think about things beyond their borders. There is nothing in it for them.� -Shin Dong-hyuk who escaped from North Korea
�South Koreans, who publicly cherish the virtue of brotherly love, have been inexplicably stuck in a deep quagmire of indifference.� �Korean Bar Association
South Koreans have shown that they can become outraged about certain injustices committed against Koreans such as the Japanese government falsely claiming ownership of Dokdo. So where is the outrage about human rights violations in North Korea? It�s been estimated that as many as 200,000 Koreans have been imprisoned in labor camps in the northern part of the peninsula where torture, starvation, rape, and murder are routine according to those who have escaped. These camps can be seen in high resolution satellite photographs. |
I completely 100% agree with this.
And it is one of the things that absolutely drives me nuts about Koreans.
Another example of this: IMF Crisis....you mean Chaebol Crisis? |
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liveinkorea316
Joined: 20 Aug 2010
Location: South Korea
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| Posted: Thu Apr 11, 2013 4:58 am Post subject: |
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| And what do you suggest these South Koreans do about this situation in North Korea? These Human rights abuses? |
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Ranman
Joined: 18 Aug 2012
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| Posted: Thu Apr 11, 2013 5:12 am Post subject: |
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| liveinkorea316 wrote: |
| And what do you suggest these South Koreans do about this situation in North Korea? These Human rights abuses? |
They're referring to their relative lack of empathy to the plight of North Koreans. A lot of people down South have familial lines to the North, so it bogs the mind as to the relative uncaring that South Koreans hold towards what the average North Korean goes through.
Oh, but they have enough time to hate Japanese people though, even though the bad blood should have died a long time ago. |
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Kepler
Joined: 24 Sep 2007
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| Posted: Thu Apr 11, 2013 5:43 am Post subject: |
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| I just finished reading Escape from Camp 14. The book does talk about some of the problems North Koreans have in adjusting to life in South Korea. They have zero status in society, work very low paying jobs, and very few South Koreans show any interest in what their former lives were like. A lot of them end up becoming quite bitter. |
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figshdg
Joined: 01 May 2012
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| Posted: Thu Apr 11, 2013 5:54 am Post subject: |
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| Kepler wrote: |
| I just finished reading Escape from Camp 14. The book does talk about some of the problems North Koreans have in adjusting to life in South Korea. They have zero status in society, work very low paying jobs, and very few South Koreans show any interest in what their former lives were like. |
If you like statistics, there's a book published by the Database Center for North Korean Human Rights called 2009/2010 Trends in Economic Activities of North Korean Defectors. A little dated, but starkly shows what North Koreans are up against in terms of employment and education when arriving in South Korea. |
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liveinkorea316
Joined: 20 Aug 2010
Location: South Korea
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| Posted: Thu Apr 11, 2013 6:18 am Post subject: |
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| figshdg wrote: |
| Kepler wrote: |
| I just finished reading Escape from Camp 14. The book does talk about some of the problems North Koreans have in adjusting to life in South Korea. They have zero status in society, work very low paying jobs, and very few South Koreans show any interest in what their former lives were like. |
If you like statistics, there's a book published by the Database Center for North Korean Human Rights called 2009/2010 Trends in Economic Activities of North Korean Defectors. A little dated, but starkly shows what North Koreans are up against in terms of employment and education when arriving in South Korea. |
Um, I don't know if you noticed but those newspaper articles or whatever they were don't exactly show indifference.
Again, what are you expecting South Koreans to do or say? And for whose benefit? In order to prove they are not indifferent? |
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figshdg
Joined: 01 May 2012
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| Posted: Thu Apr 11, 2013 6:36 am Post subject: |
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| liveinkorea316 wrote: |
| figshdg wrote: |
| Kepler wrote: |
| I just finished reading Escape from Camp 14. The book does talk about some of the problems North Koreans have in adjusting to life in South Korea. They have zero status in society, work very low paying jobs, and very few South Koreans show any interest in what their former lives were like. |
If you like statistics, there's a book published by the Database Center for North Korean Human Rights called 2009/2010 Trends in Economic Activities of North Korean Defectors. A little dated, but starkly shows what North Koreans are up against in terms of employment and education when arriving in South Korea. |
Um, I don't know if you noticed but those newspaper articles or whatever they were don't exactly show indifference.
Again, what are you expecting South Koreans to do or say? And for whose benefit? In order to prove they are not indifferent? |
No idea why you're quoting me when I never said anything about showing indifference. Unless you've read the book (the results of the most extensive survey of the employment situation of North Koreans living in South Korea), you really can't comment.
Why are you addressing the second point to me? Are you unable to read or unable to use the quote function properly? |
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optik404
Joined: 24 Jun 2008
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| Posted: Thu Apr 11, 2013 6:54 am Post subject: |
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| People selectively choose what to protest. Mainly if it's in their best interest. Protesting NK could bring talks of reunification and Koreans know that reunification would cripple their current economy. It's kinda like how the world doesn't really care about Africa. Nothing in it for them to offer aid. |
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some waygug-in
Joined: 25 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Thu Apr 11, 2013 10:23 am Post subject: |
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Not to hijack the thread, but speaking of that book:
Escape from Camp 14
Does anyone know if Shin dong Hyuk gets any revenue from book sales?
I was going to buy one the other day, and then I thought "what if Mr. Harder
is the only person benefiting from the sale of this book?"
I have no clue how to find that out. |
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Who's Your Daddy?
Joined: 30 May 2010
Location: Victoria, Canada.
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| Posted: Thu Apr 11, 2013 2:43 pm Post subject: |
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| I don't see much empathy for anyone here. There goes an elderly woman picking up cardboard, nobody seems to care. |
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Ranman
Joined: 18 Aug 2012
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| Posted: Thu Apr 11, 2013 3:04 pm Post subject: |
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| Who's Your Daddy? wrote: |
| I don't see much empathy for anyone here. There goes an elderly woman picking up cardboard, nobody seems to care. |
Yeah, because an elderly woman picking up cardboard is even remotely close to forced labor camp conditions, right? |
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cabeza
Joined: 29 Sep 2012
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| Posted: Thu Apr 11, 2013 3:22 pm Post subject: |
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| Ranman wrote: |
| Who's Your Daddy? wrote: |
| I don't see much empathy for anyone here. There goes an elderly woman picking up cardboard, nobody seems to care. |
Yeah, because an elderly woman picking up cardboard is even remotely close to forced labor camp conditions, right? |
Well obviously not. But it is indicative. Just like how no one holds the door open for each other is indicative. They are saying "Well I got through the door and that's all that matters". No one is equating opening the door for yourself and old ladies picking up boxes with working in a gulag. But it shows a certain mindset that is present here.
Whenever I try to talk to Koreans about North Korea they usually say "They are crazy" and the conversation doesn't go much past that. And these are educated people with excellent levels of English not some random middle school kid. |
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Captain Corea
Joined: 28 Feb 2005
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Thu Apr 11, 2013 4:09 pm Post subject: |
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I think it depends on who ya talk to and when.
This week I've talked with a few Koreans I know (educated, but not elite), and they had lots of thoughts on North Korea. Some thought the North was playing games, others thought they were trying to get something out of us. Some hope for unification, others think it would damage SK too much. Some care about the conditions in the North, some don't.
Mixed responses to a nuanced topic - about what I've expect. |
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figshdg
Joined: 01 May 2012
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| Posted: Thu Apr 11, 2013 4:40 pm Post subject: |
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| some waygug-in wrote: |
Not to hijack the thread, but speaking of that book:
Escape from Camp 14
Does anyone know if Shin dong Hyuk gets any revenue from book sales?
I was going to buy one the other day, and then I thought "what if Mr. Harder
is the only person benefiting from the sale of this book?"
I have no clue how to find that out. |
I know Mr. Shin. Yes, he does get revenue from it. |
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