North Korea has pronounced life in the US a “living hell” in a “News Analysis on Poor Human Rights Records in US.” This accusation follows a letter from the United Nations uncovering human rights abuses in North Korea. In February of this year the UN released a report detailing systematic extermination, torture, rape, forced abortions and starvation in North Korea. Although this is clearly an attempt to steer attention away from North Korea’s own problems the list of the US’s faults hits on many hot –button topics.
Dramatic but Fundamentally True Claims
Though the “news analysis” is a bit dramatic calling the US “the world’s worst human rights abuser,” North Korea doesn’t have to reach very far for statistics or do much embellishing. It addresses racism, crime, unemployment, lax gun laws, and soaring housing prices among other claims.
Although saying “20-odd% of the children are in the grip of famine in New York City” is a bit sensationalist, the statistics are true that one in five children in New York City does live in a food-scarce home. Poverty is also addressed, with the statistic “the number of impoverished people increased to 46.5 millions last year.”
The piece also attacks the government bringing up both indulgence and the NSA surveillance scandal. In a sensationalist claim rooted in fact they write President Obama “indulges himself in luxury almost every day, squandering hundred millions of dollars on his foreign trip in disregard of his people’s wretched life”. In another sensationalist but true at the core accusation they write “The US government has monitored every movement of its citizens and foreigners, with many cameras and tapping devices and even drones involved, under the pretext of ‘national security.’”
Factual Weakness About Gun Crime
The only fundamentally factually weak part of the letter is the accusation about gun laws “boosting murderous crimes.” Despite the increase in the number of mass shootings in the United States, overall violent crime in the US has decreased and homicide rates in most major cities have dropped.
Room for Improvement
Although these accusations pale in comparison with North Korea’s human rights issues, these are real problems in the US. However Americans have the ability to openly complain about their country which makes it possible albeit difficult for the country to improve.