How is a strong leader brought to power? Some say it takes a people who are conditioned to receive him. Surely the Korean people were so conditioned. Centuries of harsh rulers have been permitted to hold sway over the minds of the citizens of Chosun. Take Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang. He was the founder of the Ming Dynasty that ruled Korea from 1364-1666. He required absolute obedience. He was the law and the source of all laws. When he died, generations after him were forced to sit under lectures mouthing his philosophies.
Such lectures take place in modern North Korea, but their subject is not Emperor Zhu.
Over a thousand years earlier much of the peninsula was ruled by the Silla kings. In those days a man's hereditary position determined his place in the social standing. Top aristocracy did not have to sign up for the military. They went instead to the top administrative offices in the land.
A practice carried down to today's Korea.
Later came the Koryo State, equally conscious of rank, whose "caste" system rivaled that of modern India and persists in North Korea as well. One third of the nation was actually a slave class in ancient Koryo. This practice was only outlawed in 1894, but was quickly picked up by the occupying Japanese.
And of course, by today's labor camp mentality . Most did not consider it unusual. This is how things had been "forever".
Caste continued in the final Choson dynasty. The different groups wore tags that branded them as high or low in Korean standing.
Today's system has changed only in name, and involves 50 or 60 ranks according to class background. There are "families that fought the Japanese," " veterans of the Korean War," "poor peasant farmers" etc etc. One's rank determines where one lives and how much one eats and if one lives or dies.
There are many other intriguing similarities between the present oppression and the oppression of his predecessors. North Korea is starved for liberty and truth. Starved.
Can Koreans be free? Where shall we look for hope, for faith that things can ever be different? That's easy. South Korea, and the God upon whom so many South Koreans call every day. South Korea is the constant argument against feudalism, brutal monarchies, Communism, Juche, and the government of the North. Koreans really can be free, given the proper God and the proper leadership.
For this we pray.
http://chosunhouse.com is a website I put together a few months back to get the word out to believers that they need to pray for North Korea. Just about every day I'm writing a blog featuring some news, a book, or a story of North Korea. There's a live news feed on the site, lists of resources, picture essays, and ways to respond to the overwhelming need in North Korea. Let's love Chosun together!
And who am I? A man found of God over 50 years ago, called to the ministry, serving the Lord as needed in my world. Married, member of a local church in the Chicago area, with full time work in public education. Who are you? Would love to fellowship with believers who respond on my site.
No comments:
Post a Comment