VOA标准英语2009年-'Kimjongilia' Documents Suffering North Ko

By Kurt Achin
Pusan, South Korea
22 October 2009

Human rights organizations say tens of thousands of North Koreans live in forced labor¹ camps for political reeducation, where torture, starvation, and illness are commonplace. North Korean defectors say entire families are sent to the camps for tiny crimes such as humming a South Korean pop song. Now, a new film is bringing the stories of North Koreans who have escaped such camps to the screen.

North Korea Propaganda, Kim Jong Il And Kim Il Sung:
"Nobody in the world has ever dedicated² all his life to the people's cause for so many years and undergone so many hardships as our leader has done." 

 
Kimjongilia director Nancy Heikin says this image is what the regime wishes to show - what a wonderful place North Korea is
North Korea's own propaganda features prominently in a new film highlighting the country's human rights atrocities³.

Kimjongilia aims to introduce a global audience to the stories of real North Koreans who were brutally⁴ punished in labor camps before escaping their country.

In the film, a man says, "I was hung upside down for 14 hours and beaten." "We never knew when we'd get beaten. There was constant fear."

Kimjongilia is the English name of a flower hybrid⁵ that North Korea named after its leader. Pyongyang says the flower embodies⁶ the "peace, love, justice, and wisdom" of Kim Jong Il himself, as well as his father, Kim Il Sung.

Kimjongilia director Nancy Heikin says her choice of title is just as ironic⁷ as her use of North Korean imagery. "It's just the opposite of what they say. Here is the propaganda, here is their footage, here is the image they wish to show what a wonderful place this is," she explains, "and here is the testimony⁸ of people who have been there."

"I'm filled with hatred," says one defector, "of North Korea that murdered my family."

Actual footage from North Korea is in short supply, so Heikin has added some artistic⁹ touches to the film, like interpretive dance.

 
Nancy Heikin
Heikin says she has wanted to make the film for years, to express her outrage¹⁰ at what she calls North Korea's "concentration camps.""And I also think there's no one to blame but Kim Jong Il and the regime, I don't think no matter how you twist the politics and what you think happened at the division of Korea 1945 and the mess of the war - that the fact of concentration is anyone's fault but the North Korean regime," she said.

All of the North Korean defectors featured in Kimjongilia now live in South Korea. Most made a dangerous and illegal journey into China first. Their personal stories of sex trafficking, torture, and the death of loved ones weave a dark backdrop for North Korea's utopian self-imagery.

"You can understand being swept up in that. It is not just the slamming on the head -- there is that, there is the terror," Heikin states, "But there is also this inspiration that they keep feeding - in quite an amazing way."

Heikin says telling the story of average North Koreans has become a passion, and may work on a follow-up to Kimjongilia in the future.

1 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

2 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

3 atrocities   

n.邪恶，暴行( atrocity的名词复数 )；滔天大罪

参考例句：

• They were guilty of the most barbarous and inhuman atrocities. 他们犯有最野蛮、最灭绝人性的残暴罪行。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The enemy's atrocities made one boil with anger. 敌人的暴行令人发指。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 brutally   

adv.残忍地，野蛮地，冷酷无情地

参考例句：

• The uprising was brutally put down.起义被残酷地镇压下去了。
• A pro-democracy uprising was brutally suppressed.一场争取民主的起义被残酷镇压了。

5 hybrid   

n.(动，植）杂种，混合物

参考例句：

• That is a hybrid perpetual rose.那是一株杂交的四季开花的蔷薇。
• The hybrid was tall,handsome,and intelligent.那混血儿高大、英俊、又聪明。

6 embodies   

v.表现( embody的第三人称单数 )；象征；包括；包含

参考例句：

• The new treaty embodies the aspirations of most nonaligned countries. 新条约体现了大多数不结盟国家的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This document embodies the concern of the government for the deformity. 这个文件体现了政府对残疾人的关怀。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 ironic   

adj.讽刺的，有讽刺意味的，出乎意料的

参考例句：

• That is a summary and ironic end.那是一个具有概括性和讽刺意味的结局。
• People used to call me Mr Popularity at high school,but they were being ironic.人们中学时常把我称作“万人迷先生”，但他们是在挖苦我。

8 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

9 artistic   

adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的

参考例句：

• The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
• These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。

10 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。