North Korea: Army LIfe (Blog 1)

Ever wondered what it would be like to be in the North Korean Military? Well after searching the Internet I came across an article that describes it as less than pleasurable. For the North Koreans it is not just an option to join the military and serve your country but it is a requirement that men serve for 10 years and women for 7. Not only is this a law but the members of the military are treated with less than quality resources for successful survival. Those that are stationed outside the capitol are given raw corn kernels and corn rice. After months of this and their years of service these men and women become malnourished. Many of these people risking their lives for this country are desperately trying to escape to reach food and proper care. The military police are constantly on the lookout for soldiers who have escaped trying to look for food to steal. In fact many officers tell their fellow military members to go look for food and if they aren't successful they are punished. Things often become so bad that these young men and women can not grow successfully because of their diets and end up becoming much shorter than the average person. After they suffer from these unstable and unfair conditions some are sent home to recover with their families and then forced to return to the military to serve yet again. Many people try to escape North Korea to better conditions. In fact there are over 50,000 North Koreans that have escaped and are hiding in China to get away from their homeland. Being caught crossing the border of North Korea is punishable to 3-5 years in a labor prison camp. An article I read talked about a woman’s life living in one of the poorest towns in North Korea where she grew up and watched people get sick from eating grass. She had escaped North Korea by herself at age 15 and naively took a job in China working with computers. What she didn’t know is that she was tricked into sex trafficking and would be spending the next year of her life locked in a room with another girl trading sex for money. Luckily, Red, the woman who was captured along with the girl she was living with, were rescued and were put in the underground railroad system in China used for North Korean refugees to stay safe and under the radar so they are not caught without papers and sent back to their homeland. Those that make it out alive or without getting caught also have to face the daunting task of starting over with their new identity. The sacrifice is to leave their families in hopes of a better life where citizens are treated with dignity and respect and food is a common resource. Hopefully the European Union and the United States government will become involved in this somewhat soon to help those that are dying of starvation and a miserable way of life.