Prisoner in the Real World

           When the professor asked us to give examples about Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, many students give various examples. Among those examples, what I most interest in is Media censorship. Personally, I don’t believe that the government censor press to hide the truth. However, I know there is one country that the government controls media completely to hide what is going on in the world; North Korea.

           Before talk about North Korea, I want to briefly summarize what is Plato’s Allegory of the Cave. Let's assume that there are prisoners who are chained and their body for their whole life and their head toward the wall. Behind them there is a huge fire. Therefore, they only can see the shadow of the real object. Since the prisoner have tied in the cave for their whole life, they consider the shadow as a real object. Let’s suppose that one prisoner escape from the cave. At first, he feels difficulties to see because of too much light, but soon he can see the real object. Finally, he can see the sun and realize that the reason of shadow and what is the shadow is. He returns to the cave, he feels difficulties to see again because the cave is too dark. After he adjust the cave, he tried to explain what he saw but it is impossible to explain to other prisoner because they have never seen such things. Eventually, he will feel he doesn’t need to go outside again and decide to see the shadow again. The point is he is watching distorted image and even if he can see real image, he won’t believe it.

           To talk about the situation in North Korea, the government completely censor the media and there is no freedom of the press. According to the constitution of North Korea, they guarantee freedom of the press. However, in the constitution they also have another clause. “"...serve the aims of strengthening the dictatorship of the proletariat, bolstering the political unity and ideological conformity of the people and rallying them behind the Party and the Great Leader in the cause of revolution."(Doopedia) Thanks to this clause, they can control the whole press. Press completely block news from outside of North Korea. People in North Korea still know they are one of the strongest country in the world and the USA threat their freedom. The Press also censors what happens in their country. When Kim Jung-il who is former the supreme leader of the North Korea died, the government didn’t notice it immediately because they need the time to prepare riot and threat from other country. People who live in border area usually get the information about outside of North Korea and they tried to escape from the country. Most of them fail and are killed by border guard.

 BBC announce the death of Kim Jung-il

           I like Pluto’s book and his viewpoint. However, I wish he was wrong in this case. I with people in North Korea know the truth and change their country by their hands.  I don’t want people in North Korea deny the truth just like the prisoner in the cave.