Marked For Life: Songbun - Committee For Human Rights In North Korea

died, who ate well and who starved,the North Korean food distribution systemand whose children suffered permanentwas a socially equitable means of reduc-physical (through stunting) and intellec-ing famine deaths by distributing foodtual damage (prolonged acute malnutri-equally for everyone. No one readingtion lowers IQ levels) from acute severethis report on the songbun system couldmalnutrition. We have some evidencereach any such misguided conclusionthat the songbun system determinedtoday on the nature of the North Koreanration levels in the public distributionregime, its use of songbun as a means forsystem which fed the country from theits own survival, and its ongoing system-founding of the North Korean state untilatic punishment of those who are at thethe deterioration of the system during thebottom of the stratified system. It is onlyfamine and its ultimate collapse.unfortunate the Committee on HumanRights in North Korea and Robert Collins’What is most remarkable about the song-fine research did not exist before thebun system is how long it has been in exist-Great Famine, as it might have informedence with so little outside scrutiny focusedthe food aid programs and saved the liveson it. One of the Board members of theof the people with low status.Committee for Human Rights in NorthKorea, Helen-Louise Hunter, is one of theThe strongest and most passionate advo-first western scholars to write extensivelycate among our Board colleagues of theon the subject in her book published inresearch, which lead to this report, was1998, Kim Il Song’s North Korea. Her book isthe late Steven J. Solarz, former co-chair-based on classified research she had doneman of the Committee, former Memberfor U.S. intelligence agencies, which wasof Congress from New York and the onlylater declassified so it could be published.one among the Board members to haveThe failure of the human rights community,met with Kim Il-sung. Steve insisted thatthe United Nations agencies, and outsidethe study should set a high standard ofscholars of North Korea may be attributedscholarly evidence. We also pay tributeto the closed nature of the North Koreanto our late colleague, Ahn Jaehoon, asystem, but it may also be a result of aNorth Korean by birth, journalist and found-reluctance to believe earlier anecdotaling director of Radio Free Asia’s Koreanreports of how repressive this system was.language service. The report is a greatSome non-governmental organizationstribute to these fine men.and aid workers early in the outside world’sunderstanding of the famine thought thatIVRobert Collins

The Board also commends the leadershipof its former Executive Director, ChuckDowns, in bringing this report to completion. Mr. Downs, a founding director ofHRNK, spent many hours in honing thisfinal version, as he did in other reportsduring his tenure.Andrew NatsiosCo-ChairCommittee for Human Rights in NorthKorea Board of DirectorsJune 6, 2012VMarked for Life: SONGBUN, North Korea’s Social Classification System

GLOSSARYAcronymTermCommentDemocratic People’s Repub-Official name of North Korea; found-lic of Korea (Chosun Minjujuuied September 9, 1948Inmin Gonghwakuk)Department of Public SecurityThe national police; formerly known(Inmin Boanbu)as the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Pub-of KoreanWordDPRKDPSlic Security Department, State SafetyAgency, and most recently, until September 2010, Ministry of Public SecuInternational Covenant on Civilrity (see below)Promulgated by the United Nations inand Political Rights1966, NK acceded to this on Septem-International Covenant onber 14, 1981Promulgated by the United Nations inEconomic, Social and Cultural1966, NK acceded to this on Septem-KPARightsKorean People’s Armyber 14, 1981North Korean military, which includesKwan-li-so(Inmingun)Management Sitenaval and air force componentsPolitical Prison Camp; the most notori-ICCPRICESCRKWP or Party Korean Workers’ Party (ChosunNodongdang)ous of four levels of NK prisonsRuling party of North Korea that rulesover the state apparatus; other parties are front parties without politicalMPSMinistry of Public Security (InminpowerMost commonly used name for theMSCBoanseong)Military Security CommandDPS (Department of Public Security)Conducts internal security and coun-(Bowi Saryeongbu)terintelligence missions inside the military, similar to that done by the SSD.It is also responsible for counter-coupd’état operationsVIRobert Collins

AcronymTermCommentNational Defense CommissionA military organization that is the high-(Gukbang Wiwonhoe)est executive organ governing theNKNorth Korea (Bukhan in SouthNorth Korean GovernmentCommon acronym that refers to theNKPCCKorea and Bukchosun in NK)North Korean Provisional Peo-DPRKOperating under the Soviet Civil Au-ple’s Committeethority, forerunner to the DPRK state,of KoreanWordNDCformed in February 1946, led by KimOGDOrganization and GuidanceIl-sung.Most influential organization in theDepartmentKWP; a department within the KWPSecretariat; issued all policy guidancein the name of Kim Jong-il, now underPDSPublic Distribution SystemKim Jong-unState-directed distribution of food,clothing and other life necessities;normally tied to the workplace. Failedin the mid to late 1990’s leading tomass starvation; restarted but col-Republic of Korealapsed again in the mid-2000sOfficial name of South Korea, found-SPASupreme People’s Assemblyed 15 August 1948Highest legislative body in North Ko-SSD(Choego Inmin Hoeui)State Security DepartmentreaSSD is the North Korean secret police;(Gukga Anjeon Bo-wi-bu)also referred to as the State SecurityROKAgency or the National Security Protection Agency and increasingly inSuryeongLeaderSouth Korea as the NSATitle given to Kim Il-sung and KimJong-il; connotes the ultimate singleleader of the entire nation stateVIIMarked for Life: SONGBUN, North Korea’s Social Classification System

TABLE OF CONTENTSI. Introduction: Songbun: Inequality Assigned at Birth.1II. The Word Songbun Connotes an Individual’s Value.6III. Songbun Was Developed as a Means of Class Warfare.8Songbun and Its Roots.8Songbun Served as an Effective Tool for Kim Il-sung to Win TotalPolitical Control.15The Connection Between Songbun Investigations and Political Purges.20IV. North Korea’s Manual Tells How to Conduct Songbun Investigations.28V. Songbun’s Impact on People’s Lives.43Songbun and Party Membership.43Songbun and the Criminal Justice System.45Songbun and the North Korean Gulags.50Songbun and Employment.53Songbun and the Military.59Songbun and Food.65Songbun and Education.71Songbun and Housing.75Songbun and Religion.78Songbun and Healthcare.82Songbun and Family.84VI. Songbun and Human Rights.86North Korea Believes It Can Define Human Rights As It Chooses.88Songbun Is the Basic Concept Underlying All of North Korea’s HumanRights Violations.94VII. Recommendations.98The World Needs to Know About Songbun .98VIIIRobert Collins

How North Korea Could Change Its Songbun Policies.100What the World Needs to Do About Songbun.102VIII. Appendix A: Songbun Background Investigation Projects.106Appendix B: Tables Showing Songbun Categories.108Appendix C: Class-Strata of Songbun Categories.115Appendix D: Categories of Personal Backgrounds.118Appendix E: Categories of the Complex Masses.119IXMarked for Life: SONGBUN, North Korea’s Social Classification System

I. INTRODUCTION:“Marked For Life” is not an exaggeratedterm for the socio-political classification conditions under which every NorthKorean citizen lives out his life; it is a crueland persistent reality for the millions whomust experience it on a daily basis. NorthKorea’s socio-political classification system,or “songbun,” has an impact on humanrights in North Korea that is incalculableand interminable in its highly destructive and repressive effects on the vastmultitude of the North Korean population. Focused on origin of birth, this partydirected “caste system” is the root causeof discrimination and humanitarian abuses.The grim reality of North Korea is that thissystem creates a form of slave labor fora third of North Korea’s population of 23million citizens and loyalty-bound servantsregime, this system is a deliberate statepolicy of discrimination.As former Congressman Stephen J. Solarzobserved in his foreword to Helen-LouiseHunter’s book, Kim-Il-song’s North Korea,North Korean society exists “somewherebetween subservience and slavery.”2 Ms.Hunter’s book was one of the first Englishlanguage books to identify the rigidstratifications in North Korean society andprovide an English language catalogue ofhuman rights abuses based on the songbun socio-political classification system.This report is designed to build upon thatground-breaking work.The institution of songbun means that eachand every North Korean citizen is assigneda heredity-based class and socio-politicalrank over which the individual exercises noout of the remainder.control but which determines all aspectsMillions of North Koreans must suffersystem, all citizens become part of onethrough the associated myriad of humanrights abuses that songbun brings to theirof his or her life. Under this classificationof three designated classes—the ‘core’or loyal class, the ‘wavering’ class, or thedaily lives. Article two of the United Nations ‘hostile’ class. The designations enablethe Kim regime3 to establish and reinforceUniversal Declaration of Human Rightsspecifically states that every individual isentitled to rights outlined in the declaraorigin or birth.1 But for the North Korean2Stephen J. Solarz, Foreword, in Helen-LouiseHunter, Kim Il-song’s North Korea (Connecticut: Praeger, 1999), p. ix.1United Nations Universal Declaration ofHuman Rights, URL: http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/.3The term “Kim regime” or “Kim family regime” refers to the totalitarian system establishedthrough force, socio-politico-economic policies,and cult of personality by Kim Il-sung and expand-tion “without distinction of race social1Robert Collins

its political control over all North KoreanSocial rankings and class divisions charac-society. The classifications are based onterize many human societies, but modernsocio-political judgments which empowerhuman rights standards have sought tothe party-state at the expense of the indi-diminish their impact. North Korea’s song-vidual’s civil, political, economic, social andbun, a state-directed system of discrimi-cultural rights.nation, violates three key internationalrights accords:Akin to the class distinctions of ancientfeudal systems, but with important differ- The Universal Declaration of Humanences, songbun provides extensive privi-Rights, which states “All are equal beforeleges to those deemed loyal, based large-the law and are entitled without anyly on their birth and family background,discrimination to equal protection of theand metes out pervasive disadvantageslaw. All are entitled to equal protectionto those deemed disloyal. This creation ofagainst any discrimination in violation offavored and disfavored classes of peoplethis Declaration and against any incite-based on their perceived support of thement to such discrimination;”4regime is reminiscent of Stalin’s efforts tobrand landowners, capitalists, and independent farmers as enemies of the state in The International Covenant on Civiland Political Rights (ICCPR), which saysorder to destroy their influence and consol- “All persons are equal before the law andidate Soviet power.are entitled without any discriminationto the equal protection of the law. In thisThe songbun system is calculated to haverespect, the law shall prohibit any discrimi-an impact on every individual in Northnation and guarantee to all persons equalKorea. Indeed, the adults in each familyand effective protection against discrimi-are aware of the opportunities that willnation on any ground such as race, color,be offered to its members or denied themsex, language, religion, political or otherbased on their political classification. Thisopinion, national or social origin, property,party-directed “caste system” guaran-birth or other status;” andtees there is no level playing field in NorthKorea—politically, economically, or socially. The International Covenant onEconomic, Social, and Cultural Rightsed by Kim Jong-il. The Kim regime also includes thepolitical elite and their political, military, securityand economic institutions designed to maintaintheir power.4Adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 10, 1948 and now consideredpart of customary international law.2Marked for Life: SONGBUN, North Korea’s Social Classification System

(ICESCR), which says “The States Parties toThough North Korean diplomats consistent-the present Covenant undertake to guar-ly deny class discrimination at internationalantee that the rights enunciated in thevenues, the North Korean Regime does notpresent Covenant will be exercised withoutcompletely hide its class discrimination. Indiscrimination of any kind as to race, color,an editorial in North Korea’s main news-sex, language, religion, political or otherpaper, it states, “We do not hide our class-opinion, national or social origin, property,consciousness just like we do not hide ourbirth or other status.” [emphasis added]party-consciousness. Socialist human rightsare not supra-class human rights that grantThough the North Korean regime deniesfreedom and rights to hostile elementsthat such a discriminatory societal stratifi-who oppose socialism and to impurecation system exists, the evidence proveselements who violate the interests of theotherwise. The Committee for HumanPeople.”5 As we shall see later in this report,Rights in North Korea has obtained ahostile elements are those North Koreanscopy of the 1993 Manual issued by Northwho are classified at the lowest levels ofKorea’s Ministry of Public Security (MPS)songbun based on their perceived hostilitythat instructs its investigators and officialsto the Kim regime.on how to investigate their fellow citizens’songbun. Entitled, “Resident RegistrationThe regime itself produced a movie enti-Project Reference Manual,” it consists oftled “Guarantee” that explains the song-instructions on whom to enfranchise andbun system. Produced in 1987, the moviewhom to disenfranchise. Each sectionportrays the suffering a poor worker facesbegins with the personal instructions ofbecause of his poor songbun classifica-Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il on the impor-tion due to having family members living intance of differentiating people on theSouth Korea.6basis of loyalty. This Manual, never beforetranslated into and described in English, isdiscussed at length in Part IV, and demonstrates clearly how deeply entrenchedthe institution of songbun is. The MPS, thenational police force, maintains a file onevery person from the age of 17. Theserecords are permanent and are updatedevery two years.5Chamdaun Inkweoneul Onghohayeo (Forthe Protection of True Human Rights),” Rodong Sinmun (Workers’ Daily), 24 June 1995; as quoted in KimSoo-Am, Conceptions of Democracy and HumanRights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,Ministry of National Unification, 2008. URL: http://www.kinu.or.kr/eng/pub/pub 02 01.jsp?page 5&num 53&mode view&field &text &order &dir &bid DATA05&ses 61996 White Paper on Human Rights in NorthKorea (Seoul: Korea Institute of National Unification,1996).3Robert Collins

For their part, North Korean citizens arereferred to as “grapes” and are consid-generally aware that they are classifiedered politically unredeemable.8into different social classes. When 100refugees were asked by the Republic ofNumerous interviews of defectors revealKorea’s Korean Bar Association whetherthat those who are young when theythey were aware of the regime’s classifica-leave North Korea perceive songbun astion system, 89 of them responded yes. Notbeing of decreasing importance—thoughonly that, but they were aware of whichnot eliminated—whereas those who arebackgrounds make up the hostile classolder—late 30’s and above—emphati-and were also aware that those are seencally insist that songbun does still matter. Aas enemies of the state.7 As one wouldyouthful lack of life’s experiences could beexpect, such a system breeds consider-expected to decrease a person’s aware-able discontent and resentment amongness of the role songbun plays. Those whothose who are disadvantaged through noexperience accumulated discriminationfault of their own.over a period of time, particularly if thatdiscrimination affects one’s one’s educa-Dark humor and slang even have devel-tion, employment and one’s dependents,oped around the songbun classificationwill be more aware of the harm songbunsystem. It is common, for example, forhas caused in their lives.individuals in the lower songbun classto tease one another that he or she isSome analysts suggest that songbun hasa “todae nappun saekki” or “songbunweakened since the famine of the 1990snappun saekki,” translated as “you rottenand the collapse of the Public Distributionsongbun S.O.B.” Those with higher song-System (PDS), and that money and brib-bun—the “core class”—are often referredery have replaced songbun’s dynamics.to as “tomatoes,” which are red on bothThere is no doubt that the general failurethe outside and inside and are thus goodof the North Korean economy has createdcommunists; those in the middle songbunconditions for individual economic initia-class, or “wavering class,” are referred totive and pervasive corruption. Toleratedas “apples”, which are red on the outsidemarket activity has provided alternativesand white on the inside and considered into the regime’s PDS that once suppliedneed of political education; and those ofmost of the country with food and dailylower songbun, the “hostile class,” arenecessities. These burgeoning markets,born of necessity with the state’s inability72008 White Paper (KBA), 496-497.8Hunter, Kim Il-song’s North Korea, 4.4Marked for Life: SONGBUN, North Korea’s Social Classification System

to feed its people, have i

North Korea's highly discriminatory politi-cal stratification system called songbun. We were very fortunate to be able to engage as the author of this report Mr. Robert Collins, whose decades of service to the United States Government in Korea brought him into contact with North Kore-ans who had found their way to Seoul as early as the 1970s.