脱北者加大对朝鲜宣传攻势

On a mountaintop near the heavily fortified North Korean border, a group of human rights activists stuffs three large plastic bags with anti-Pyongyang leaflets, dollar bills and USB memory sticks loaded with popular South Korean soap operas and K-pop music.

在布防严密的韩朝边境附近的一个山顶，一群人权活动人士把反对平壤政权的传单、美元纸币和储存着韩国高人气肥皂剧和流行歌曲的U盘装入三个大塑料袋。

They then strap the bags and a giant placard condemning North Korea’s ballistic missile launches to cylindrical 7m-tall helium balloons, which they release in the hope they will drift deep into the hermit kingdom.

接着，他们把塑料袋和一个巨大的布告牌（上面写着谴责朝鲜发射弹道导弹的文字）捆在多个高7米的圆柱形氦气球上。他们希望这些气球释放后会飘到朝鲜这个隐秘王国的纵深地带。

It is the latest stunt by Fighters for Free North Korea, an activist group led by North Korean defector Park Sang-hak, who has for the past decade been at the vanguard of the propaganda campaign against the secretive Communist state.

这是脱北者朴相鹤(Park Sang-hak)领导的自由北韩斗士(Fighters for Free North Korea)实施的最新一次惊人之举。过去十年，朴相鹤一直置身于针对这个隐秘的共产党国家的宣传战的前沿。

North Korea is the worst feudal society.

朴相鹤表示：北韩是个最糟糕的封建社会。

It would surprise even Marx — North Koreans remain slaves of the three generations of the Kim dynasty, says Mr Park.

就连马克思也会对它感到震惊——北韩人民仍然是金家王朝三代人的奴隶。

The three Kims are above God there, although they killed millions of North Koreans through famine, war and concentration camps.

金氏三代人在北韩的地位比神还高，尽管他们通过饥荒、战争和集中营杀害了数以百万计的北韩人。

Mr Park’s mission is to destroy the personality cult around Kim Jong Un, the North’s young supreme leader, by challenging his monopoly on information.

朴相鹤的使命是通过挑战金正恩(Kim Jong Un)对信息的垄断，摧毁围绕这位朝鲜年轻最高领导人的个人崇拜。

North Korean defectors have accelerated their campaigns to float information into the country since Pyongyang’s fourth nuclear test in January, while Seoul has also escalated its psychological warfare against Pyongyang, resuming its propaganda blasts through loudspeakers across the border.

自朝鲜政府1月份实施第四次核试验以来，脱北者已强化宣传攻势，用气球向朝鲜传播各种信息。与此同时，韩国政府也升级了针对平壤的心理战，恢复了通过高音喇叭越境向朝鲜开展的宣传轰炸。

Although North Korea has survived years of international sanctions, rights groups believe the information war they are waging could eventually help topple the oppressive regime.

尽管朝鲜挺过了多年的国际制裁，但人权组织相信，他们正在发动的信息战最终会帮助推翻这个高压统治的政权。

We believe education is the key to assisting the North Korean people.

总部位于美国的非盈利组织人权基金会(Human Rights Foundation)的领导人托尔•哈尔沃森(Thor Halvorssen)表示：我们相信，教育是帮助朝鲜人民的关键。

We do not believe that the North Korean human rights catastrophe will be aided by military action or UN diplomacy, says Thor Halvorssen, head of the US-based non-profit Human Rights Foundation.

我们不相信军事行动或联合国斡旋对朝鲜的人权灾难会有帮助。

As North Koreans consume outside content, they learn that everything they have been taught is a lie and that there is something better beyond their borders.

随着朝鲜人对外来内容的消化，他们会了解到，他们被灌输的一切都是谎言，边境线的另一边存在更美好的东西。

Once enough North Koreans come to this realisation, the regime will no longer be able to sustain itself.

一旦足够多的朝鲜人达成这种认识，朝鲜政权将撑不下去。

Despite tight state control, North Koreans’ demand for outside information has increased sharply since nearly 1m people died of starvation in the mid-1990s.

尽管朝鲜政府实施着严格的控制，自上世纪90年代中期近100万人死于饥荒以来，朝鲜人对外界信息的需求已急剧上升。

News from beyond its borders has been making its way into North Korea in various ways and in greater volume amid the growing availability of televisions, radios, computers and mobile phones, activists say.

活动人士表示，随着电视、广播、电脑和移动电话的增多，境外信息一直在以各种途径向朝鲜内部传播，信息量也越来越大。

The younger generation does not have the same religious belief in the Kim dynasty that their parents and grandparents had, and they will not tolerate this system for long, says Mr Halvorssen.

哈尔沃森表示：较年轻的一代并不像其父辈或爷爷辈那样，怀有对金家王朝的宗教般信仰，他们不会容忍这种体制太久。

Human rights abuses remains widespread in the world’s most totalitarian society, with the US State Department in July blacklisting some officials involved in extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests and the running of prison camps that are believed to house up to 120,000 North Koreans.

在这个全球最极权主义的社会，对人权的践踏依然十分普遍。今年7月，美国国务院将部分参与凌驾司法之上的杀戮、随意逮捕和运营集中营的朝鲜官员列入黑名单——朝鲜的集中营据信关押着多达12万朝鲜人。

Washington also levied its first financial sanctions against Kim Jong Un in July to punish him for human rights abuses.

此外，美国政府还在今年7月首次针对金正恩实施了金融制裁，以惩罚他对人权的践踏。

Kim In-sung, researcher at the Database Center for North Korean Human Rights, says North Koreans’ political rights have deteriorated amid increased surveillance since Kim Jong Un came to power in late 2011.

北韩人权数据库中心(Database Center for North Korean Human Rights)研究人员金仁成（Kim In-sung，音译）表示，自金正恩在2011年底掌权以来，朝鲜的监控日益升级，朝鲜人的政治权利已大大恶化。

But the international community remains indifferent to their problems, says Kang Cheol-hwan, a prominent defector who wrote about human right abuses after escaping a North Korean concentration camp.

不过，著名脱北者姜哲焕(Kang Cheol-hwan)表示，国际社会依然对他们的问题漠不关心。姜哲焕曾在逃离朝鲜一座集中营之后，撰写过关于朝鲜人权践踏的文章。

I believe we are nearing an era in which bottom-up pressure can be piled on the regime, says Mr Kang.

姜哲焕表示：我相信我们正接近这样一个时代。在这个时代里，自下向上的压力会不断积聚在北韩当局身上。

But it will never go down unless international society does something to weaken [the North’s] absolute control over information.

不过，如果国际社会不做点什么削弱北韩对信息的绝对掌控，北韩政权永远都不会倒下。

In March South Korea passed the North Korean Human Rights Act after years of debate over how to deal with the regime, allowing the establishment of a foundation to research and record North Korean human rights abuses and to fund non-governmental groups working in the field.

今年3月，在如何对付朝鲜政权的问题上辩论多年后，韩国通过了《北韩人权法》(North Korean Human Rights Act)，允许建立基金会研究和记录朝鲜对人权的践踏，并为在这个领域开展工作的非政府组织提供资金。

But rights groups are not pinning much hope on the new legislation, although they believe increased information flows into North Korea are bringing changes as seen in the recent defections of elite North Koreans.

然而，人权组织对这部新法并未抱多大希望。不过他们相信，流入朝鲜信息的增多正在带来变化，这些变化从最近朝鲜精英人士的叛逃中可见一斑。

In the first seven months of this year, the number of North Korean defectors rose by about 15 per cent to 814, with many fleeing their country for political reasons rather than economic, according to Seoul’s unification ministry.

根据韩国统一部的说法，今年头七个月朝鲜叛逃人数增加了约15%，达到814人。其中许多人叛逃是出于政治原因而不是经济原因。

The defectors include North Korea’s deputy ambassador to the UK and a group of 13 North Korean restaurant workers in China, dealing an embarrassing blow to Pyongyang.

这些叛逃者包括朝鲜驻英国公使和在中国的13名朝鲜餐馆员工，他们的叛逃给平壤政权带来了打击，令其十分尴尬。

South Korean President Park Geun-hye said last week that they signalled a serious fracture within the North Korean regime, although experts say this does not necessarily mean Kim Jong Un himself is losing his grip on power.

上周，韩国总统朴槿惠(Park Geun-hye)表示，他们的叛逃反映出朝鲜政权内部的严重分裂。不过专家表示，这不一定表示金正恩自己正在丧失对权力的掌控。

Not all South Koreans are supportive of the increased propaganda campaigns.

并不是所有韩国人都支持升级对朝宣传攻势。

Liberals and residents of border towns worry that such activities risk provoking renewed conflict with Pyongyang, which has threatened artillery attacks against leafleting activists.

自由派人士和边境城镇的居民担心，这种活动可能会引发与平壤方面的新冲突，后者已威胁要炮击投放传单的活动人士。

But it is only North Koreans who can bring down the dictatorship.

朴相鹤表示：不过，能够打垮独裁的只有北韩人民。

They should know who and what caused their hardship, says Mr Park.

他们应该知道是谁、是什么导致他们处境艰难。

It is hard to expect them to rise against Kim Jong Un soon because they are brainwashed and society remains tightly controlled.

由于他们被洗脑，而且北韩社会依然处于严密控制之下，很难指望他们在短期内起来反对金正恩。

But we should never give up telling them the truth.

不过，我们永远都不应放弃把真相告诉他们。