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Date : June 3, 2017
North Koreas Youth Grow Increasingly Critical of Socialist System
   http://www.rfa.org/english/news/korea/youth-04282017142243.html [1106]
 According to the RFA(Radio Free Asia), the youth of North Korea are more likely to be critical of the country's political system than older generations, despite the threat of arrest.

 A source told RFA, "The younger generation today is different from the older generation, which dares not make critical remarks about the North Korean system.... When they meet up, these young people tend not to hesitate to criticize their supreme leader Kim Jong Un and the [ruling] Worker's Party."

Although North Koreans who make disparaging statements about the government are subject to severe punishment at the hands of the authorities, not only are younger North Koreans unafraid of mocking the government, but they also go out of their way to retaliate against anyone who informs the authorities, according to the source.

In addition, the source told that the youth had become very critical of North Korea's political system because there is a prevailing sentiment among them that life under the regime is hypocrisy.

A former resident of Pyongyang who has since defected to South Korea surnamed Lee added that "these young people, who can be called part of the 'jandmadang' (private markets) generation, seem to be very critical of the ever-widening gap between rich and poor, and have to vent their dissatisfaction because they have a better access to information about the outside world."

North Korean authorities have long tried to block various forms of information from entering North Korea due to its ability to undermine the Kim Jung-un regime's propaganda efforts and threaten his support base- made largely of the country's elite.

Source: RFA

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