She confesses to them, not to God

Many foreigners often ask, “Could North Koreans ever rise up like the Arab Spring and overthrow their regime?” My answer is, “Not likely.” While I believe that no dictatorship can withstand the truth forever, the question is really about timing. North Korea's level of control over its people is beyond imagination. When high-level defectors from the North finally settle in South Korea and talk about their happiest moments, escaping the infamous “Life Review Session” tops the list. What on earth does that mean?😵 It sounds like a cozy group therapy session, but it actually involves North Koreans applying a mutual surveillance system to everyday life by keeping an eye on each other and reporting whenever necessary.

Typically, North Korean children start organizational life at around the age of 7, when they enter elementary school and join the Young Pioneer Corps. This continues into middle school with the Kimilsungist-Kimjongilist Youth League, and into adulthood with various social organizations at workplaces. Unique to North Korea, however, is the system that requires mandatory criticism and reporting of each other. This exemplifies the “surveillance of surveillance” that maintains social control in North Korea, with “Life Review” being one of its most notorious practices.

The "Life Review" sessions usually start on Saturday afternoons and involve both "self-criticism" and "mutual criticism." Imagine confessing your weekly misdeeds not to a priest but to your classmates or coworkers. Can you handle this level of 'truth-telling'? And if you've been angelic all week, don’t think you’re off the hook! You better invent something because skipping self-criticism isn’t an option. Enduring this every week sounds like a chore, doesn’t it? According to a defector, when he once dared to ask a teacher, “What if I haven’t done anything wrong?” the teacher coolly responded, “Humans aren’t perfect, so that’s impossible.” Mutual criticism, on the other hand, is about picking someone with whom you have the least chance of retaliation and pointing out their mistakes. It’s a game of strategic survival with a twist of pettiness.

The “ideological struggle” meeting is particularly severe and can escalate from a Life Review Session. Here, the person in hot water ends up in front of a whole crowd, receiving harsh criticism. It's less of an ideological correction and more of a public shaming spectacle. This is especially intense for Joseon Labor party officials, whose sessions are critically severe and can be a life-or-death matter, possibly leading to purges. Therefore, “Life Review” is no fairy-tale writing exercise for them, but it is a nerve-wracking mental ordeal.

If someone dares to skip this mandatory, all-inclusive Life Review, they might enjoy an extended stay in a political prison camp for 6 months to a year. But guess who’s the exception? Kim Jong-un himself, of course!😠

So, how long can the North Korean regime continue to bind its people like slaves, even taking away their freedom of thought? If you have any predictions, feel free to drop a comment below!✔️