In my opinion, the most informative, inspiring, and challenging guest lecture for class would have to be Professor Amy McCombs from the journalism school. I think she was the most informative as well as being the most engaging. I felt as though her information was accurate, interesting, and kept the attention of all of the students in the room. I also think her lecture correlated into class discussion because we were talking about human rights and the rights to privacy. I found it very interesting when we talked about the United States and its citizens right to privacy. During the lecture we found out that most people think the United States has the most free speech when we rank low on a list of countries with the freest speech.
After spending the semester researching and blogging about North Korea, I have found myself much more knowledgeable about the country and its peoples wellbeing. Some of the major insights I have found out is that North Korea's government is extremely controlling of its citizens and where they go and what they are allowed to see. I have seen it compared to an overprotective parent with extreme consequences. Some of the consequences of disobeying the North Korean government are inhumane and often times include starvation, one of the countries biggest issues.
The issue of hunger in North Korea has driven its citizens to do things we as Americans would never dream of. Some die from starvation and others die trying to escape the conditions. The hunger epidemic has been going on for years and many North Koreans try and leave to go to South Korea to send their families money for food. While doing this they often are driven into sex trafficking or caught and sent back to North Korea to only enter into a prison camp where the conditions are often worse that starvation alone.
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| This is an image of a North Korea farmers trying to plant seeds in order to survive |
I have also learned that the environment in North Korea is barren and mostly dead from lack of care. Most of the animals are gone because they have been eaten, and anything edible, including trees and grass, is gone as well because it has been eaten.
It is interesting to me that most of the problems regarding North Korea have to do directly with the hunger issue. However, the American government has partnered with many different NGOs in order to help relieve the hunger in this country. It may not be a long-term fix, but at least the people can eat enough food to survive for a little while. Some NGOs like MercyCorps and World Vision are working with the United States government on a long-term solution. To do this they are working wit the North Korean farmers and giving them the tools to farm things such as apple orchards that will be there for the long haul to help feed the citizens and create economic growth.
For more information on the Farming in North Korea, check out this link:
Spring release
Over the course of the semester I have come to notice that all of the issues that North Korea has base back to hunger and the lack of government assistance when it comes to this. I think it is up to countries, like America, to step up and address the human rights issues that are being violated. If the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights was enforced, then North Korea would have almost no issues. However, from class we have learned that it is almost impossible to make sure that every country in the world is following these rights we as humans should be guaranteed.
Sources:
http://www.economist.com/news/asia/21645252-tantalising-signs-change-are-emerging-whether-they-signal-more-profound-shifts-less
http://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/
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