Mr. Kim, tear down this wall
Religion & Liberty Online

Mr. Kim, tear down this wall

Among the oppressed peoples of the world, none has suffered more than the North Koreans. The utter lack of freedom—religious, political, economic—in the dictatorship has long been known. Erasing any doubt, unprecedented information concerning the nation’s prison system was revealed a couple years ago by the U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea.

Those searching for a ray of hope—anything—were heartened by news that North and South Koreas had agreed to construct a rail link, the first such transportation connection between the two nations since the hostilities of the 1950s. And it looked as though it would really happen. But maybe not. It is evidently impossible to overestimate the mendacity (insanity, some suggest) of Kim Jong-Il and his comrades.

Kevin Schmiesing

Kevin Schmiesing, Ph.D., is a research fellow for the research department at the Acton Institute. He is a frequent writer on Catholic social thought and economics, is the author of American Catholic Intellectuals, 1895-1955 (Edwin Mellen Press, 2002) and is most recently the author of Within the Market Strife: American Catholic Economic Thought from Rerum Novarum to Vatican II (Lexington Books, 2004). Dr. Schmiesing holds a Ph.D. in American history from the University of Pennsylvania, and a B.A. in history from Franciscan University ofSteubenville. Author of Within the Market Strife and American Catholic Intellectuals, 1895—1955 (2002), he serves as Book Review Editor for the Journal of Markets & Morality. He is also executive director of CatholicHistory.net.