How Kim Jong Il Uses Fear Tactics in North Korea Free Essay Example

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Kim Jong Il and Fear Tactics

Throughout history, several leaders that have been in power have used fear tactics to get the group of people they’re controlling to listen to them. One of these leaders was Kim Jong Il. Kim Jong Il took leadership of North Korea after his father, Kim Il Sung, passed away. He ruled for 17 years until he passed away, then his son, Kim Jong Un, took over the position. When Kim Jong Il was the leader of North Korea, the Cold War was presently happening.

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North Korea had built a bomb that could destroy any country if they wanted it to. North Korea was fighting with most of the world. The goal of Kim Jong Il was to not necessarily target a certain group, but he did want to keep all the North Koreans from leaving Korea. He conditioned them to think he was their Great Leader, and the people of North Korea literally worshipped him.

This seems weird enough as it is, but it gets even more scary, because Kim Jong Il had set up concentration camps. If you were to break the rules in North Korea, you would get sent there. Also, they would sometimes harm your family. These fear tactics used upon the people of North Korea and conditioned them to love the country and their leader, and never want to leave or have any communication outside of North Korea. The only time citizens of North Korea had ever tried to flee North Korea in large amounts of people under Kim Jong Il’s rule was when they were going through a famine, and they needed China’s help.

Propaganda depicting Kim Jong Il in a very positive environment has been made very often, to show the people of Korea how kind of a man he is, when in reality, he’s basically holding them hostage in the country. They know if they tried to go up against their Leader, they would face very dire consequences. Other than that, Kim Jong Il never released any propaganda that would scare the public into listening to him, because he already did that with the concentration camps and the looming threat of dead family members.

Kim Jong Il’s movement was obviously very effective because the people who aren’t brainwashed by him are still to scared the face the consequences if they were to try and escape from North Korea. The reason why they would be afraid to escape is because even if someone were to get through the electric fence bordering all of North Korea, they’d have to get through the countless landmines hidden between North Korea and any of its bordering countries, as well as the soldiers who are always on look out. Kim Jong Il’s Claim is not fair or justifiable. Citizens should be allowed to leave their country if they want. They should be able to have freedom, a good paying job, enough food, and any other things they would need to survive. Under the rule of Kim Jong Il, citizens were not given enough food; they did not have sanitary hospitals to use; many of them would be very sick, famished, or both. They’re not even allowed cell phones, and the only form of communication between North and South Korea is an old telephone from the 60s. Living under these conditions is definitely not fair to the public, and they don’t even realize because most of them are brainwashed to love everything the Great Leader gives them.

Kim Jong Il does not use his fear tactics in a way that’s fair to the people. However, sometimes using fear tactics can help a country improve. Before the 9/11 attacks, in the 1960s, there was a commercial on television. In this commercial, it showed a girl picked petals off a daisy. All of a sudden, she hears the noise of fighter jets up above. She looks up, and the camera zooms in on her eye, until the screen is completely black. It then shows a mushroom explosion going off, followed by a statement basically saying that we either live a peaceful life here on earth, with no wars, or we die in violence. This commercial was used to motivate people to vote for Lyndon Johnson rather than Barry Goldwater in the 1964 election, following the death of John F. Kennedy. Although this ad was used to further push Johnson closer to presidency, it did leave behind a peaceful message that is still relevant today. In conclusion, when using fear tactics in an appropriate way, it can work out for the good of the nation.