Kim Jong-Il is absolutely amazing. Things were bad under his father but at least the party actually held Congresses, plenums, and meetings. No such things have been going on after Kim Jong-Il was placed in charge.
I haven't heard of any rebels in North Korea. I don't know about anyone who challenges the system there. I just constantly hear of people trying to escape to China.
Mind you, Western media is sheer propaganda as well. They over exagerate the conditions of North Korea. Don't get me wrong, North Korea is absolutely terrible with a complete lack of human rights along with social, economic, and political freedoms. But there is something fishy when you look at the defectors, almost as if Western countries pay them. I was look at one guy who claimed to have been born in a concentration camp and lived there all his life. The guards were nice enough, aside from the daily beatings, and because he was a model prisoner, they allowed him to marry a fellow inmate.
2 years after his escape and defection to South Korea, he's living in a fancy home, wearing a fancy business suit, and is using a fancy computer. With what job? With what skill? With what education? I'm sure he can recite Juche word for word but hardly there's any occupations in South Korea that require that.
Speaking of Juche, it is the most flawed ideology in existence. This is where the Western propaganda comes in.
"If you want to see what Communism is, go and live in North Korea!"
That is the daily rubbish you hear in USA if you ever bring up Marxism as a subject in a conversation with people who know nothing of politics. Classes, countries, government, etc do not exist in Communism.
Juche is nothing more than Stalinism, a reactionary totalitarian state-capitalist regime, but also highly nationalistic. It would rob the Koreans of their pride if they were following some other country's ideology. Which is why Kim Jung-Il claimed that Juche is the correct ideology for North Korea. He claimed Marxism related only to Western European countries, Marxism-Leninism related to Imperial Russia, but Juche is the great Korean ideology which related to Korea.
The Korean people, finally free from imperialist powers, would be given a big blow to their pride if they were following a foreign ideology. Kim Jong-Il was even born in Soviet Russia but those facts have to be hidden and modified. The role of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army in the Korean war was downplayed and almost completely erased. On the Democratic People's Republic of Korea official website, they claim that South Koreans are shot and killed by American soldiers if they attempt to visit North Korea.
Amidst all the lies and propaganda, some truth can be found. There are museums that are dedicated to the people who died during the Korean War and showcase American brutality and war crimes that America denies.
As for international aid and protests, I made a post about that recently:
http://paganwarrior.blog.co.uk/2008/06/ ... ty-4255986
Even after all this, I would love to visit North Korea. NOT become a citizen, but visit as a tourist. I want to see Pyongyang. The Ryugyong Hotel is the most beautiful, and at the same time the most haunting, structure I've ever seen pictures of. From the Western sources I've gathered, North Koreans deny it's existence because it was never finished yet the hotel is gigantic and shadows over everything.
Unfortunately, the tours are guided and deviation from the set path is not allowed so if Pyongyang isn't part of the tour then you cannot go there. To make matters even worse, being a citizen of the United States I'm not even allowed there. Technically, we're still at war and I'd be arrested for espionage under the Trading With The Enemy act.