Lately, one of the main events in the news has been about North Korea. In fact, you’d have to be buried under a rock to not have heard of the conflict in North Korea under the tyrannical rule of Kim Jong Un.

However, as much as our government and the media leads us to believe that we are the victims, which may be our own propaganda in and of itself, I think that there is another, even worse victim of the dictatorship—the North Korean citizens.

The North Koreans have lived under oppressive tyranny their entire lives. They know nothing different from the lives they have been born into. They have been forced to stay in a country that has told them that the United States is the enemy. Their view of us is distorted, yet there is nothing that they could physically do to change it, aside from defecting of course.

The citizens of this dictatorship did not choose their view of us. As children, it has been pounded into them that Americans are bad, Americans are the cause of all of their problems. But it isn’t their fault that they think that. They have been told one side, and one side only. The only people at fault are the leaders of North Korea.

Then there are the sanctions. If you have heard about the situation in North Korea, then you’ve probably heard about the sanctions that have been passed. The most recent one has prohibited the export of coal, iron, iron ore, lead, lead ore, and seafood. That accounts for about one third of all the North Korean exports.

Sadly, the sanctions are missing their target. The sanctions hurt the citizens of North Korea more than the leaders. The sanctions are aimed at the North Korean economy, and it isn’t known whether or not the sanctions will stop the communist nation from continuing the nuclear program.

We know that Kim Jong Un really doesn’t care for his people (or at least not in the way we would think of caring for people). So it wouldn’t be the government that suffers due to the sanctions. The government will take care of themselves first, despite what they say. Then, with whatever is leftover, they would distribute it among the people.

North Korea is notorious for how they treat their citizens. Or, should I say, they are notorious for how badly they treat their citizens. Of course, if you would ask a North Korean citizen about what they think of their leaders, they would give you the response: “No, that isn’t true,” and go on to tell how their marvelous leader cares oh so much for them.

Of course, if they were to respond that way, there would be either one of two situations at play. Situation one is that they have been brainwashed to believe that Kim Jong Un is a compassionate leader who will always care for them. This isn’t good for obvious reasons. It doesn’t allow the people to make decisions for themselves, because they aren’t exposed to the whole picture.

The second situation is just as bad, if not worse. A citizen would respond that way not because they believe it, but because of the fear of being reported if they said differently. To borrow the cliché: the walls have ears. If reported, there is the threat of being sent to one of the infamous “labor camps,” or even worse, being put to death.

These are just some of many ways that show that North Koreans are the real victims at play. There are still so many other things that they go through.  Remember, these people didn’t ask to be born into this country. They didn’t have a choice in whether or not to stay or to leave. They suffer through the hardships ignorantly. For them, it is ordinary, and they don’t know any differently. The government treats them horribly, yet claims they don’t. For us, it could be described in one simple word. Inhumane.