CROWDVOICE

North Korea is widely called "the last Stalinist regime" for its grave human rights violations and personality cult of its leaders. Since the partition of Korea in 1953, the communist regime in North Korea suppressed any dissent by building an elaborate network of work camps to "re-educate" elements of the population that are deemed untrustworthy enough, some are simply executed. Children are encouraged to spy on their parents and are taught that the "Democratic People's Republic" of Korea is the "happiest place on earth". Despite a harsh famine in the 1990s that left 2 million of its citizens dead, North Korea remains reclusive from the world and refuses to accept outside humanitarian assistance that cannot be diverted to its military needs.