North Korean Policy: Kill Deformed Babies
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in The WorldThis is truly horrific stuff, but sadly commonplace among dictatorships:
The North Korean regime’s obsession with racial purity has led to the killing of disabled infants and forced abortions for women suspected of conceiving their babies by Chinese fathers, according to a growing body of testimony from defectors.The latest description of Kim Jong-il’s policy of state eugenics came from a North Korean doctor, Ri Kwang-chol, who escaped last year and told a forum in Seoul that babies with deformities were killed soon after birth.
“There are no people with physical defects in North Korea,” Ri said. Such babies were put to death by medical staff and buried quickly, he claimed. He denied ever committing the act himself.
However, is it our responsibility to save these countries from themselves? And would those fights destroy our resolve or make us stronger as a nation?
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October 16th, 2006 at 1:46 pm
It’s hard to turn a blind eye to evil. Last time a ruthless, “racially superior” power like this was allowed to ferment without interference, it invaded Poland.
Maybe we shouldn’t get involved in every world affair, but we certainly should not ignore the potential first steps toward a global crisis.
October 17th, 2006 at 3:28 am
Back in the bad old days in Korea (pretty much anytime before the sixties), many–if not most–ordinary people lived on the edge of starvation. Having even one member of the family unable to contribute raised the risk of the whole family being pushed over that edge. Infanticide of was common in those days. Babies with birth defects and illegitimate babies were routinely exposed because they were unlikely to ever be able to “carry their weight”, and when times were harder than usual baby girls were exposed, too. (They couldn’t pass on the family name, and providing for their dowries would be yet another burden for a family that couldn’t afford it.) When twins or triplets were born, sometimes there was only enough milk to keep one baby healthy. The extra babies were disposed of. (An old missionary of my acquaintence who was here back in the sixties told me how, on one occasion, a father of twin girls was given baby formula, and how overjoyed he was because it meant both his daughters would live.) When times got desparately hard, the males babies were killed, too. As the economy in South Korea improved, the fewer babies were killed, and now it is practically unheard of.
Dear Leader Kim has just put a new excuse on an ugly, old practice because he’d rather look like a callous monster than admit that his people are starving. The cure for this problem is economic, not military.
October 17th, 2006 at 6:23 pm
It all depends upon how it is done I guess.
For example, neighbours of ours (this was 20 years back) had a son, their third, who was born close to vegetative state with near zero motor response. Two hours after he was born, the lead doctor took the father aside and suggested – sympathetically but with serious intent, that it might be a good idea not to feed their son.
They refused.
Three years later, Brian required major surgery to insert shunts to relieve spinal fluid and brain fluid problems. The doctors suggested that the surgery was not warranted as it would not improve his quality of life.
They insisted.
And so it went on. Brian died age 14, the size of a five year old. He was blind and deaf from birth, required tube feeding, and had never developed any muscular control. He required constant care.
Now tell me that could never happen in the US. Tell me that a doctor would never quietly suggest not feeding a grossly malformed infant. Tell me that a doctor would not seriously suggest that further treatment of a person with no prospect of quality of life should be allowed to die.
And then remember that only 50 years ago, we did not have the knowledge or the technology to keep babies such as Brian alive for more than a few weeks, maximum a few years.
October 18th, 2006 at 5:15 pm
There are horrific practices of all types occurring in dozens, if not hundreds, of countries all over the world, from this example to female genital mutilation to barbaric punishment for crimes, etc.
We can’t blaze into every country and “save” them. This might be another good reason for the UN to be revamped so that they have some type of military capabilities. There needs to be a international organization that polices this stuff. Maybe they could also handle mad dictators like Saddam and Kim, as well as nuclear weapons proliferation?
October 19th, 2006 at 4:27 am
““There are no people with physical defects in North Korea,â€Â? Ri said.”
This, at least, is untrue.
Here’s an article about other north Korean defectors describing conditions for disabled people in north Korea; that they aren’t allowed to live in Pyongyang, etc.
http://dailynk.com/english/read.php?cataId=nk00100&num=119
“There are schools for deaf and dumb (nine year course) as well as blind schools but there are no schools for other disabled people. According to the person’s condition, it is possible they receive the elementary and middle school education but they are not permitted to enroll at universities. Since this is the national policy, the level of education of most of the disabled people is pretty low.”
This would not be an issue if ““There are no people with physical defects in North Korea,â€Â? because they were all killed at birth.
Of course, this does not prove that it never, ever happens, or that Ri’s other statements are false.
But then, there’s no proof Ri’s allegations are true, either.
Defectors do have a motive to tell their hosts what they want to hear, which can lead to exaggerations sometimes.