After Kim Il-Sung assumed leadership of North Korea, his government began devising myths around his origin. Rumours spread across the country and elevated Kim to a god-like status. Even today, Kim is celebrated as the Eternal President of North Korea. Speaking ill of Kim Il-Sung or his family is a state crime.

People living in North Korean cannot freely move around the country. It is illegal to travel between cities without permission from authorities. Moving across the border is also illegal, and those who defect are considered traitors to the regime.

Songbun is a state-mandated caste system. There are three classes which are further divided into 51 sub-categories. One’s Songbun is connected to family line. A bad Songbun predetermines one’s opportunities and quality of life in North Korea.

Three categories:

1. Core: peasants, war-heroes and revolutionaries.

2. Wavering: defectors, family of defectors, superstitious people, families of merchants and intellectuals.

3. Hostile: descendants of landlords, capitalists, religious people, political prisoners, those who had assisted South Korean forces during the Korean War, or were otherwise judged anti-Party or associated with external powers.

China is an ally of North Korea. Some North Koreans work in China legally and are given work permits through an agreement negotiated between North Korea and China. However, a North Korean who defects into China without the proper work papers can be subject to forced repatriation. If a defector is found by the Chinese authorities, they will be sent back to North Korea. When repatriated, defectors can be tortured, imprisoned in political prisons and face capital punishment. Defecting from North Korea is considered a political crime.

North Korean government denies the existence of political prisons. However, through the testimony of North Korean defectors and through satellite imagery six prisons have been proven to exist. Conditions in the prisons are abysmal. According to NK Watch it is common for women to experience rape in the prisons by the guards. Hard labour and limited access to running water are also common.

North Korean defector Jessie Kim says, “If you have money, you can get anything in North Korea.” Kim worked on the black market in North Korea. Although technically illegal, the jjangdamang market emerged after the 1994 famine. People could no longer rely on the regime, so they began selling items on black markets. Kim Jong-il tried to crack down on the free enterprising markets which peddled goods from China and South Korea. Now, the markets are so prolific that the Kim Jong-un regime has stopped trying to stamp them out.