Last class

Today we took the last test of the semester on North Korea. I studied and I think I did as good as I thought I would. I guessed on some of the questions but most of them I knew. There were things like "What is the capital of North Korea?", "Who runs North Korea right now?", and "What is the capital of South Korea?". There was also a map that I know I got right because we just talked about it. I think the test was a good end to the semester.

Absent

Today I wasn't in class because I was absent from school

North Korea 3

Today we watched more of the North Korea video. Concentration camps are a big way that Kim Jong-Il kept control. The people in the camps sometimes weren't the ones who committed crimes. They were mostly the families of people who have escaped. The workers were told not to think of the people in the camps as humans. If someone even did something as little as complain about something, their extended family could be sent to a camp for life. It's difficult to escape from North Korea but there is a South Korean who helps them escape and tell them what parts are dangerous. There is only one person who has successfully crossed directly to South Korea. The camps give the people fear and keep order. North Korea couldn't exist without them.

When they take off the bandages from the people who got their cataracts removed by the doctor, they all thanked the leader instead of the doctor. They think that their leader is the reason they were cured. They bow to him and yell things like "We praise you!" 

North Korea video

Today in class, we watched a video about North Korea. A doctor went to the country so he could help cure blind people since they were too poor. The video was made in 2006 when Kim Jong-Il was still in leadership. A camera crew pretended to be working with the doctor so they could get inside footage of North Korea. The country is very isolated from any outside sources. There are no cell phones allowed and newspaper/TV is controlled by the government. They have statues and pictures if Kim Jong-Il everywhere. There is even a bench that is preserved by glass because the founder of North Korea sat on it. They even have fake houses build by the border with nothing inside so that the people from South Korea think it's luxurious. This was all we got to watch today.

Korea - North and South

North Korea

• Oppressive government
• Secluded and isolated from the world 
• currently headed by Kim Jong-Un
• Kim John-Un didn't seem to like The Interview 

Oppressive government

• state-run government that many consider to be a Stalinist dictatorship
• official name : Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)
• notice they say "Korea," not North Korea - they claim to be the legitimate rulers of the entire peninsula

secluded and isolated

• isolated by the government 
• also somewhat isolated geographically 
• after all, they are on a peninsula 
• Pyongyang is the capital
• located at 39 degrees north (latitude)
• know who else is located at 39 degrees north?
• Bel Air, Maryland
• China and Russia are allies of North Korea
• No internet and little electricity
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