Rep. Tae Yong-ho explains essentials of North Korea

Rep. Tae Yong-ho, former deputy ambassador of North Korea to the United Kingdom, speaks at Freedom Speakers International's forum in Seoul, Nov. 27. Courtesy of Voices from the North

On Nov. 27, Freedom Speakers International held a forum featuring former diplomats from North Korea. Below is an excerpt of remarks by Tae Yong-ho, former deputy ambassador of North Korea to the United Kingdom. ― ED.

By Tae Yong-ho

In 2016, I defected from North Korea and came to South Korea for freedom. Today, I am honored to tell you about North Korea. As you know, it is very difficult to understand North Korea because North Korea is a place where you cannot go; it may seem like a very remote place. I would like to tell you about some of the main aspects of North Korea.

Military: North Korea has nuclear weapons and is the country with the second highest number of military and paramilitary personnel with a total of 7.7 million active reserve and paramilitary personnel. That is approximately 30 percent of its population. It has 1.28 million soldiers considered to be on active duty, consisting of 5 percent of its population.

So that's why in North Korea's daily life, great investments are going into its military and that is one of the reasons why North Korea is so poor.

Human rights: According to the United Nations, which published its findings in 2014, North Korea is a country with serious human rights violations that is unparalleled in the contemporary world. That is one of the reasons why North Korea cannot open its doors to the world community and that it is difficult for people to visit North Korea.

Political structure: North Korea functions as a highly centralized one-party system. There is a constitution, yes, but in addition to the constitution, North Korea is governed by the party. The Workers' Party of Korea is quite different because of the 10 Principles of the Party. In North Korea, the exact term is "Monolithic Ideological and Guidance System" which establishes the standards for governance and guides the behavior of North Koreans. These ten principles are North Korea's version of the Ten Commandments of the Bible.

If you compare the 10 Principles of the Workers Party of Korea and the 10 Commandments of the Bible, you can easily see that North Korea indeed copied the Ten Commandments of the Bible and applied them to its political structure. The Kim family is regarded like the gods of North Korea. North Korea loves the word "eternal." In North Korea, children and adults are taught that human beings have two lives: One is physical and the other is political.

Political life is eternal, while physical life ends when you are dead and buried in the ground. So, that is one of the reasons why North Korea loves the word "eternal." For instance, Kim Jong-un's grandfather Kim Il-sung is the father of North Korea. Now, he is called the "eternal president." Kim Jong-un's father, Kim Jong-il, is now called the "eternal General Secretary of the Workers Party of Korea." North Korea claims that it is a socialist state. Ironically the whole system and political structure is based on idealism, not materialism.

Legislative and executive power: There is legislative power in North Korea, which is called the Supreme People's Assembly, and there are 687 members who are elected every five years by universal suffrage.

These are sham elections. They are not elected by the people, they are all appointed by Kim Jong-un. There is also executive power in North Korea, which is called the Cabinet of North Korea, but the members of the Cabinet and the Premier are also appointed by Kim Jong-un.

Finally, about North Korea's political structure. Is it Stalinist dictatorship or hereditary dictatorship? There are a lot of arguments about it. I would describe North Korea's political structure as a kind of hereditary system. Even though there is a constitution, and even though North Korea's official name is the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, everyone with any power in North Korea is appointed by Kim Jong-un. So, this kind of political administrative structure is a dynasty and absolute monarchy.

Casey Lartigue Jr., co-founder of Freedom Speakers International and a lecturer in public speaking at Seoul University of Foreign Studies, edited this text for publication.

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