North+Korea

 North Korea 


 * Division of Korea (1945 WW2) **

Following the [|Allies] victory of World War ll over the [|Axis powers] , the Americans were finally able force the Japanese out of Korea, who had ruled the country since their victory of the [|Russo-Japanese War] in 1905. Once Japanese power had been entirely expelled from Korea, the country was divided into two. The North and South were divided along the 38th Parallel, which was occupied by both Soviet and American troops. While the Americans controlled the Southern end and ruled with democracy, the Soviets controlled the Northern section and enforced Communism. Differences between the two governmental systems eventually led to North Korea opening fire on South Korea in June of 1950, which then escalated to the outbreak of what was known as the Korean War.

** Korean War (1950-1953) ** The Korean War was aimed to unify the country entirely, as the leader of North Korea, Kim ll Sung stated “The war which we are forced to wage is a just war for the unification and independence of the motherland and for freedom and democracy”(eg.( [|__http://www.pbs.org__] )). North Korea barreled in with military forces that that were extremely superior to those of the South and quickly succeeded in pushing Southern powers to the furthest tip of the Peninsula, which was known as Punan. Just as the North was about to achieve complete control of Korea, the United Nations stepped in and quickly cut the military supply lines to the North. With no more ammunition or weaponry fluxuating, the Northern military had no other option but to retreat. After immense efforts by both sides, much aid from allied countries, and an unfathomable number of innocent lives lost, the war ended three years later, right back where it started; at a stalemate between the North and the South.

Premier Kim il Sung was the leader of North Korea (KWP) from its establishment in 1949, until his death in 1994. Sung began building his leadership skills before World War ll in Moscow, Russia. He gained further leadership experience when he took over the spot as chairman of Soviet-aidedPeople's Committee of North Korea in 1945. Three years later, in 1948 he took control of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea(DPRK) as the principal leader, and led the country to battle in the Korean War. Following the war, in 1972 Kim il Sung further founded his leadership by taking oath as president. Sung was heavily focussed on building the nations military forces, industrializing the nation, and reunifying the peninsula.

** KWP (Korean Workers Party) ** Headed by Kim il Sung, the KWP was the ruling Communist party of North Korea. The KWP [|revolved around] the principal idea of of "Juche," which in translation meant "self-reliance." Sung was determined to build the nation on his own, with no allied help, as he introduced his philosophy. Following the Korean war, Sung put a five year plan into action in order to establish a command economy, with government ownership of all industry and agriculture. The KWP's self-ran economy was very successful through the 50's and 60's. It wasn't until the late 80's and early 90's that the economy came to a halt, and the people of North Korea suffered a great famine of food.

Social The Cult of Personality used mass media and clever [|propaganda] to engrain the idea in everyones mind that Kim il Sung was such a heroic, and ideal leader for the nation. Sung used his strong charismatic character to his advantage and was able to maintain power over North Korea with media type="custom" key="25922352" align="right"an iron fist, unopposed, for 46 years until his death in 1994. Because of the KWP's strict Communist rule, the people of North Korea suffer fr om some of the worst human rights abuses. It was estimated that nearly one million North Korean's lives were claimed during the great [|famine in the early 90's], which was caused by the KWP's stubbornness to allow any help form outside countries. People were also granted no information or communication to the outside world and were severely punished in terms of death and torture, if they did not praise and worship their own ruler, Kim il Sung.

Foreign Policy

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As "Juche" and isolation was such a major belief of the KWP the only real foreign policy that the KWP upheld was retaining partnership with China and the Soviet Union and reaching no peace negotiations with America or South Korea. Relations With the Soviets and China were only to be kept for military purposes and because they aided North Korea in becoming an independent nation. =====

<span style="color: #43a52b; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 130%; vertical-align: baseline;">Globalization and its impact on North Korea

Because of North Koreas extreme isolation and refusal to accept the outside world, globalization affected the country very negatively. The people of North Korea were victims to globalization ever since the country was established. They suffered through poor living conditions and a major lack of food because of their small, state-run economy, which was very weak due to the globalized world. North Korea’s technology and milit ary developments also became obsolete compared to the rest of the world. Globalization set the small isolated North Korea very far back in time.