internship

so part of my new job here in korea is an internship with north korean human rights. my mom sent this great email so i have decided to post it along with my response. this email is the reason i am doing this. the search for answers, the sharing of perspectives. i like it.

Ok,so I've been trying to wrap my head around the Human Rights group you are working for. I think many folks would consider the North Koreans like Hitler and the germans. Most people would not think that North Koreans deserved Rights. But when I looked through the newsletter your focus was not necessarily on Human rights but on Religious persecution and Christian refugees. One would have a hard time understanding that maybe there are a few Christian N. Koreans and that they are not all communist.But at the same time, if I am the receiving country and I have fought life and death, tooth and nail to keep those commie bas---ds out of my country, do you think I'm going to be compassionate towards the ones who "claim" they are not communist but Christian??During the Vietnam war, children were given explosives because the soldiers were not afraid of the children until they learned that the children could and would kill the soldiers. Then ALL children had to be considered dangerous and were shot before they had a chance to kill the solider.I'm sure that these surrounding countries, China, S. Korea, are dealing with this same stigma.You are in an interesting situation with this agency. Good luck!Love, Mom xoxox

hmm, this is a good, thoughtful email. thanks mom! yes north korea is a communist country, or at least there is a communist regime in charge. and i think it was all going well until the 1990s when they had a famine. since then they cannot support themselves so many people are trying to leave the country for a better life. i actually never looked at the situation as you are describing it here, so i like that. i have just looked at it as there are people who are trapped in this country where there is no food, no health, education is expensive and no one has any money. if someone escapes and is caught (in china or north korea) they are sent back and are tortured or imprisoned. but you are right. at the same time these people worship Kim Jong Il or his father at least. i haven't really heard any stories about the repercussions (spelling?) of their mental state after believing and being taught stuff for so long and then having to deal with the rest of the world telling you how crazy it is. i need to find out more about this. there are lots of materials to read at the office but they have to stay there. but yeah, right now i focus on the refugee issues. what happens to them as they are trying to escape to a better life. and yes sometimes they are liars and they are spies in korea when they arrive. that happens. i dont know how the agency i works for feels about that when it happens. what great questions! more lunch discussion!
thanks for this email, you have given me a whole new way to look at this. and it also explains a lot more about the big argument right now which is like the Six Party Talks with Clinton and many people said she should not focus on the nuclear weapons instead we need to focus on helping those peopel in the country. but like the US makes a new stipulation, there must be korean speakign monitors in teh country if we are going to provide food aid and north korea wont comply. instead they talk about testing missiles. from what i have learned thus far we are only concerned with helping those suffering in north korea, especially children who have no way to help themselves. :) this is what i like.