North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has been nominated for the second consecutive year in the British human rights group’s “Tyrant of the Year” vote. The main reason is that “North Korea has displayed its nuclear arsenal on the world stage while much of the country lives in extreme poverty and close surveillance.”
‘Index On Censorship’, an advocacy group for freedom of expression based in the UK, started a survey on the 1st (local time), asking ‘Who is the tyrant of the year in 2022’. Along with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Hossein Khamenei, and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Kim was nominated as one of the 12 candidates.
The group pointed out that “when it comes to freedom, there is no place with a bleak landscape like North Korea,” and that North Korea lives in poverty “on propaganda instead of food.”
The group also emphasized the attitude that criticism of the regime is not tolerated in North Korea, citing the testimony of the flawed North Korean human rights activist Park Ji-hyun that “North Koreans are modern-day deprived slaves of freedom of expression and movement.” The group also reported that North Korea ranked last among 180 countries in the press freedom index compiled by Reporters Without Borders.
In a poll conducted last year by the group, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Türkiye came first as ‘Tyrant of the Year’. Voting ends on January 6th.
Correspondent Choi Ji-sun aurinco@donga.com
