A house divided against itself cannot stand: The human rights crisis in South Korea today

Key Chapter Title List

1. The Prophecy of a House Divided: The Indivisibility of South Korean Human Rights
2. A Comparative Examination: Similarities and Differences Between North Korea's Juche Rule and American Slavery
3. South Korea's Silence: Indifference and Avoidance Towards the Northern Human Rights Crisis
4. The Pathology of the Left: South Korea's Cognitive Distortion Regarding North Korean Human Rights Issues
5. Pyongyang's Fear: The Regime's Defense Against and Policy Shift Regarding the Concept of "Human Rights"
6. The Internal Threat: Challenges to South Korean Freedom from the Domestic Left
7. Policy Performance Under Leftist Governance: From Forced Haircuts to Suppressing Criticism
8. Abuse of Legal Weapons: Defamation Lawsuits and the Constriction of Free Speech
9. Risk of Constitutional Crisis: Special Prosecutor Investigations and the Possibility of a One-Party System
10. Controversy Over Presidential Term Limits: Constitutional Amendment Proposals and Attempts to Extend Power
11. The Essence of Human Rights: As Inalienable Natural Rights
12. South Korea's Future Choice: Complete Freedom or Universal Servitude

Document Introduction

This report is based on the video speech text delivered by Nicholas Eberstadt, Henry Wendt Chair in Political Economy at the American Enterprise Institute, to the World Congress on North Korean Human Rights in Seoul on October 23, 2025. The report's core argument is: the Korean Peninsula's three-generation-long division—with the South enjoying freedom and the North under total servitude—constitutes a profound and urgent human rights and strategic crisis. The author warns that the widespread indifference within South Korean society to the human rights suffering of their northern compatriots is not only a moral failure but, from a purely pragmatic and self-interested perspective, is endangering South Korea's own human rights and freedom.

The report begins by invoking Abraham Lincoln's famous dictum, "A house divided against itself cannot stand," drawing an analogy to the pre-Civil War divisions over slavery in the United States, and points out that South Korea's current "half-free, half-slave" state is an unstable equilibrium. The author emphasizes that South Korea's freedom is an indivisible whole; if perceived as a privilege enjoyed only by some, it becomes inherently fragile. Neglecting to defend the basic principles of human rights for their northern compatriots will ultimately endanger the freedom of the South itself.

The second part of the report conducts a detailed comparative analysis, arguing that the human rights situation in today's North Korea under Juche rule is, in many respects, worse than historical American slavery. Despite some superficial differences (e.g., North Korea allows literacy), in terms of freedom of belief, the rigidification of social hierarchy (e.g., the "songbun" system), the state's systemic disregard for life (e.g., the 1990s famine), the industrialized scale of mass imprisonment and execution, and the extremely low proportion of defectors due to the "guilt-by-association" system, the oppressive mechanisms of the North Korean regime exhibit more extreme and sophisticated characteristics.

The third and fourth parts shift the focus to South Korea domestically. The report points out that the greatest weakness of the international North Korean human rights movement is the lack of support from South Koreans themselves. South Korean society, particularly its radical left, influenced by Marxist-Leninist thought, has developed a "pathological" perception of North Korean human rights issues: they theoretically deny the possibility of human rights violations in socialist North Korea, regard discussing the topic as an illegal provocation, and their "solution" often amounts merely to providing food and financial aid to the North Korean government. This perception directly influences South Korean government policy, manifesting in repeated abstentions in relevant UN votes and domestic suppression of criticism towards North Korea.

The fifth and sixth parts delve into the North Korean regime's fear of the concept of "human rights" and how this fear drives its recent policy shifts, including abandoning the unification ideal, defining South Koreans as a "different race," and enacting harsh laws to combat the influence of South Korean culture. The report argues this indicates the regime is acutely aware its people yearn for the Southern way of life.

The seventh to tenth parts detail how, when South Korea's leftist forces hold domestic power, their narrow understanding of human rights translates into concrete policy actions, thereby posing an "internal threat" to South Korea's own freedom. Examples include using lenient defamation laws to wage "lawfare" to silence critics, suppressing protests like flag-burning under the guise of "hate speech," leveraging "martial law farces" to push for special prosecutor investigations aimed at outlawing opposition parties, and promoting constitutional amendments to abolish presidential term limits. The report warns that if left unchecked, these actions could steer South Korea towards a de facto "one-party state," shaking the foundations of its constitutional democracy.

The report concludes by reaffirming the essence of human rights as inalienable natural rights endowed by the Creator and calls upon the free people of South Korea to recognize that advocating for the human rights of their northern compatriots is a crucial opportunity to defend their own rights. South Korea's future narrative—whether it moves towards complete freedom or universal servitude—depends on the choices and actions of South Koreans today. This report aims to provide policymakers, scholars, and professionals concerned with human rights and geopolitical stability on the Korean Peninsula with a sharp assessment based on historical comparison and political-economic analysis.