脫北者加大對朝鮮宣傳攻勢
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.
在佈防嚴密的韓朝邊境附近的一個山頂，一羣人權活動人士把反對平壤政權的傳單、美元紙幣和儲存着韓國高人氣肥皂劇和流行歌曲的U盤裝入三個大塑料袋。
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，他們把塑料袋和一個巨大的布告牌（上面寫着譴責朝鮮發射彈道導彈的文字）捆在多個高7米的圓柱形氦氣球上。他們希望這些氣球釋放後會飄到朝鮮這個隱祕王國的縱深地帶。
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.
這是脫北者樸相鶴(Park Sang-hak)領導的自由北韓鬥士(Fighters for Free North Korea)實施的最新一次驚人之舉。過去十年，樸相鶴一直置身於針對這個隱祕的共產黨國家的宣傳戰的前沿。
North Korea is the worst feudal society.
樸相鶴表示：北韓是個最糟糕的封建社會。
It would surprise even Marx — North Koreans remain slaves of the three generations of the Kim dynasty, says Mr Park.
就連馬克思也會對它感到震驚——北韓人民仍然是金家王朝三代人的奴隸。
The three Kims are above God there, although they killed millions of North Koreans through famine, war and concentration camps.
金氏三代人在北韓的地位比神還高，儘管他們通過饑荒、戰爭和集中營殺害了數以百萬計的北韓人。
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.
樸相鶴的使命是通過挑戰金正恩(Kim Jong Un)對信息的壟斷，摧毀圍繞這位朝鮮年輕最高領導人的個人崇拜。
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.
自朝鮮政府1月份實施第四次核試驗以來，脫北者已強化宣傳攻勢，用氣球向朝鮮傳播各種信息。與此同時，韓國政府也升級了針對平壤的心理戰，恢復了通過高音喇叭越境向朝鮮開展的宣傳轟炸。
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.
儘管朝鮮挺過了多年的國際制裁，但人權組織相信，他們正在發動的信息戰最終會幫助推翻這個高壓統治的政權。
We believe education is the key to assisting the North Korean people.
總部位於美國的非盈利組織人權基金會(Human Rights Foundation)的領導人托爾•哈爾沃森(Thor Halvorssen)表示：我們相信，教育是幫助朝鮮人民的關鍵。
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.
我們不相信軍事行動或聯合國斡旋對朝鮮的人權災難會有幫助。
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.
隨着朝鮮人對外來內容的消化，他們會了解到，他們被灌輸的一切都是謊言，邊境線的另一邊存在更美好的東西。
Once enough North Koreans come to this realisation, the regime will no longer be able to sustain itself.
一旦足夠多的朝鮮人達成這種認識，朝鮮政權將撐不下去。
Despite tight state control, North Koreans’ demand for outside information has increased sharply since nearly 1m people died of starvation in the mid-1990s.
儘管朝鮮政府實施着嚴格的控制，自上世紀90年代中期近100萬人死於饑荒以來，朝鮮人對外界信息的需求已急劇上升。
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.
活動人士表示，隨着電視、廣播、電腦和移動電話的增多，境外信息一直在以各種途徑向朝鮮內部傳播，信息量也越來越大。
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.
哈爾沃森表示：較年輕的一代並不像其父輩或爺爺輩那樣，懷有對金家王朝的宗教般信仰，他們不會容忍這種體制太久。
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.
在這個全球最極權主義的社會，對人權的踐踏依然十分普遍。今年7月，美國國務院將部分參與凌駕司法之上的殺戮、隨意逮捕和運營集中營的朝鮮官員列入黑名單——朝鮮的集中營據信關押着多達12萬朝鮮人。
Washington also levied its first financial sanctions against Kim Jong Un in July to punish him for human rights abuses.
此外，美國政府還在今年7月首次針對金正恩實施了金融制裁，以懲罰他對人權的踐踏。
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.
北韓人權數據庫中心(Database Center for North Korean Human Rights)研究人員金仁成（Kim In-sung，音譯）表示，自金正恩在2011年底掌權以來，朝鮮的監控日益升級，朝鮮人的政治權利已大大惡化。
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.
不過，著名脫北者姜哲煥(Kang Cheol-hwan)表示，國際社會依然對他們的問題漠不關心。姜哲煥曾在逃離朝鮮一座集中營之後，撰寫過關於朝鮮人權踐踏的文章。
I believe we are nearing an era in which bottom-up pressure can be piled on the regime, says Mr Kang.
姜哲煥表示：我相信我們正接近這樣一個時代。在這個時代裏，自下向上的壓力會不斷積聚在北韓當局身上。
But it will never go down unless international society does something to weaken [the North’s] absolute control over information.
不過，如果國際社會不做點什麼削弱北韓對信息的絕對掌控，北韓政權永遠都不會倒下。
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，在如何對付朝鮮政權的問題上辯論多年後，韓國通過了《北韓人權法》(North Korean Human Rights Act)，允許建立基金會研究和記錄朝鮮對人權的踐踏，併爲在這個領域開展工作的非政府組織提供資金。
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，人權組織對這部新法並未抱多大希望。不過他們相信，流入朝鮮信息的增多正在帶來變化，這些變化從最近朝鮮精英人士的叛逃中可見一斑。
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.
根據韓國統一部的說法，今年頭七個月朝鮮叛逃人數增加了約15%，達到814人。其中許多人叛逃是出於政治原因而不是經濟原因。
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.
這些叛逃者包括朝鮮駐英國公使和在中國的13名朝鮮餐館員工，他們的叛逃給平壤政權帶來了打擊，令其十分尷尬。
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.
上週，韓國總統朴槿惠(Park Geun-hye)表示，他們的叛逃反映出朝鮮政權內部的嚴重分裂。不過專家表示，這不一定表示金正恩自己正在喪失對權力的掌控。
Not all South Koreans are supportive of the increased propaganda campaigns.
並不是所有韓國人都支持升級對朝宣傳攻勢。
Liberals and residents of border towns worry that such activities risk provoking renewed conflict with Pyongyang, which has threatened artillery attacks against leafleting activists.
自由派人士和邊境城鎮的居民擔心，這種活動可能會引發與平壤方面的新衝突，後者已威脅要炮擊投放傳單的活動人士。
But it is only North Koreans who can bring down the dictatorship.
樸相鶴表示：不過，能夠打垮獨裁的只有北韓人民。
They should know who and what caused their hardship, says Mr Park.
他們應該知道是誰、是什麼導致他們處境艱難。
It is hard to expect them to rise against Kim Jong Un soon because they are brainwashed and society remains tightly controlled.
由於他們被洗腦，而且北韓社會依然處於嚴密控制之下，很難指望他們在短期內起來反對金正恩。
But we should never give up telling them the truth.
不過，我們永遠都不應放棄把真相告訴他們。
