Encyclopedia
North Korea, officially the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea, is an
East Asian country occupying the northern half of the
Korean Peninsula. Its government defines itself as a
Communist-led democratic multi-party state of the
Juche political ideology, although the
American and
South Korean governments claim that, in practice, it functions as a dictatorship. North Korea is often referred to by global media sources as a
Stalinist, isolationist, and authoritarian country; it uses repressive central planning to implement its economic and social policies. Its ideological stance on issues such as the mass line, the role of intellectuals, and the source of revolutionary fervor mark North Korea's government as different from the
Leninist Soviet Union or
Maoist China.
North Korea has been characterized by a professor at the American Strategic Studies Institute as: "Highly repressive, heavily militarized, strongly resistant to reform, and ruled by a dynastic dictatorship that adheres to a hybrid ideology, North Korea might be 'the strangest political system in existence.' While distinctive, North Korea is an orthodox communist party-state best classified as an eroding totalitarian regime."
Its northern border is predominantly shared with the
People's Republic of China.
Russia shares an 18.3 kilometre border along the Tumen River in the far northeast corner of the country. To the south, it is bordered by
South Korea, with which it formed a single territorial unit known as
Korea until 1945.
Name
North Korea's official name is
Choson Minjujuui Inmin Konghwaguk or, more commonly,
Pukchoson or simply
Choson .
Choson is a reference to the
Kojoson.
History
In the aftermath of the Japanese occupation of Korea which ended with
World War II in 1945, Korea was left occupied by the
Soviet Union north of the 38th Parallel and by the
United States south of the
38th parallel. The Korean people were not consulted by either power prior to this division. While virtually all Koreans welcomed liberation from Japanese imperial rule, they objected to the reimpostion of foreign rule over the peninsula. The Soviets and Americans were unable to agree on the implementation of Joint Trusteeship over Korea. This led in 1948 to the establishment of separate governments in the north and south, each claiming to be the legitimate government of all of Korea.
Growing tensions between the governments in the north and south and border skirmishes eventually led to a civil war called the
Korean War, when on June 25, 1950 the Korean People's Army attacked across the 38th Parallel in a move to reunify the peninsula under their political system. The war continued until July 27, 1953, when the
United Nations Command, the Korean People's Army, and the
Chinese People's Volunteers signed the Korean War Armistice Agreement. The
DMZ has separated the North and South ever since.
North Korea was led by
Kim Il-sung from 1948 until his death on July 8, 1994, having delegated most domestic matters to his son,
Kim Jong-il, toward the end of his life. Three years after his father's death, on October 8, 1997, Kim Jong-il was named General Secretary of the Korean Workers' Party. In 1998, the legislature reconfirmed him as Chairman of the National Defence Commission and declared that position as the "highest office of state." International relations generally improved, and there was a historic North-South summit between the two Koreas in June 2000. However, tensions with the
United States have increased recently as North Korea resumed the development of a
nuclear weapons program and, on July 5, 2006, conducted
a series of missile tests. The UN called an emergency meeting to consider what response will be called for.
During the 1960s and 1970s the country's economy grew at a significant rate and, until 1975, was considered to be stronger than that in the South. However, under
Kim Jong-il's rule in the mid-to-late 1990s, the country's economy declined significantly, and food shortages developed in many areas. According to aid groups, millions of people in rural areas starved to death due to
famine, exacerbated by a collapse in the food distribution system . Large numbers of North Koreans illegally entered the People's Republic of China in search of food. Hwang Jang-yop, International Secretary of the Korean Workers' Party, defected to South Korea in 1997.
In August of 2006, the DPRK declared the armistice that ended the 1950-1953 Korean War "null and void."
- See also: History of Korea, Division of Korea
Politics and government
North Korea is widely considered to be one of the few
Communist states. The government is dominated by the
Korean Workers' Party , to which 80 percent of government officials belong. The official ideology of the KWP is known as
Juche , a political philosophy first developed by Kim Il-Sung and then expanded upon by his son, the current leader of the DPRK, Kim Jong-il. Although the KWP replaced mentions of Marxism-Leninism in the North Korean constitution with Juche in 1977, the constitution retains mentions of
Socialism and
Communism and Kim Jeong Il and the Korean Workers Party continue to claim to be Marxist-Leninists. Many
Communists outside North Korea deny that the KWP is still a communist organisation or that North Korea is still socialist, although it should be noted that every socialist state's status as such has been disputed by various Communist factions. Minor political parties also participate in elections, although in practice present no opposition. The exact power structure of the country is debated by outside observers.
The Premier is the head of government, although many observers consider that effective power lies with
Kim Jong-il, head of the KWP and the military. Kim holds several official titles, the most important being General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea, Chairman of the National Defense Commission, and Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army. Kim is not the Head of State or the Head of Government, positions held by Kim Yong Nam and Pak Pong-ju respectively. Kim Jong-il is referred to with the honorific "Great Leader" as part of a
personality cult and is referred to as such by some of his western supporters. The phrase "Dear Leader" was formerly used for Kim Jong-il.
In English-language news sources from North Korea, it is very rarely used except when quoting someone refering to him affectionately as such . Kim Jong Il's western supporters in the
Korean Friendship Association however, frequently refer to Kim Jong Il as "Dear Leader" or "Great Leader." .
The 1998 constitution refers to the late
Kim Il-sung as the "eternal president of the republic," as the post of president was abolished after his death. The constitution gives many of the functions normally accorded to a
head of state to the Supreme People's Assembly Presidium, whose president, currently Kim Yong Nam "represents the State" and receives credentials from foreign ambassadors. The government of the republic is led by the Prime Minister, currently Pak Pong-ju and a cabinet called the Central People's Committee , the government's top policymaking body. The CPC is headed by the President, a post which was abolished after Kim Il-sung's death, who also nominates the other committee members. The CPC makes policy decisions and supervises the Cabinet, or State Administration Council . The SAC is headed by a Premier and is the dominant administrative and executive agency.
The
parliament, the Supreme People's Assembly , is the highest organ of state power. Its 687 members are elected every five years by popular vote. In every district there is only one candidate for whom voters can vote. The People's Assembly usually holds two annual meetings, each lasting a few days, during which it elects a standing committee. The Assembly is viewed by the west as typically ratifing decisions made by the ruling KWP . A standing committee elected by the Assembly performs
legislative functions when the Assembly is not in session.
See also: Foreign relations of North Korea, Military of North Korea, North Korea and weapons of mass destructionForeign relations and military
Military
According to Western estimates, North Korea has the fifth-largest
military in the world, with the largest percentage of citizens enlisted . The North has an estimated 1.08 million armed personnel, compared to about 686,000
South Korean troops plus 29,000 US troops in South Korea. Military spending is about $5 billion
USD. The North has perhaps the world's second-largest special operations force , designed for insertion behind enemy lines in wartime. While the North has an adequate fleet of
submarines, its surface fleet has a very limited capability.
As of 1992, the North Korean Air Force comprised about 1,620 aircraft and 70,000 personnel, with roughly twice the number of aircraft as the South. Most of its aircraft are obsolete Soviet and Chinese models, but it has been modernizing since the 1980s. Modern aircraft include 150
MiG-21s, 60
MiG-23s, and 40
Q-5 Fantans. Since the 1980s, the air force has expanded its inventory of helicopters from 40 to 275. This inventory includes
Mi-2/HOPLITEs,
Mi-4/HOUNDs, and
Mi-8/HIPs. In 1985, the DPRK circumvented U.S. export controls to buy 87 U.S.-manufactured civilian model Hughes helicopters, which are more advanced than the Russian models and have probably been armed with guns and rockets. North Korea does not manufacture its own aircraft, but it does produce spare parts. The overall assessment is that the air force "has a marginal capability for defending North Korean airspace and a limited ability to conduct air operations against South Korea."
Foreign relations
The foreign relations of the DPRK with the
United States are often regarded as relatively tense and unpredictable. Since the end of the
Korean War in 1953, the North Korean government has been at odds with the
United States,
Japan and to a lesser degree
South Korea, with which it is still technically at war. Since 2000 its relations with the US have greatly deteriorated, and it was called a part of the "
axis of evil" and an "
outpost of tyranny" by US President
George W. Bush. North Korea does not have diplomatic relations with the US at present, and the United States maintains economic sanctions against the DPRK under the Trading with the Enemy Act.
North Korea has maintained close relations with the
People's Republic of China and
Russia, but the
fall of communism in
eastern Europe in 1989 and the disintegration of the
Soviet Union in 1991 resulted in a significant drop in communist aid to North Korea from Russia, although China continues to provide substantial assistance.
Although still technically at war, both North and South Korea proclaim that they are seeking eventual
reunification as a goal. North Korea's policy is to seek reunification without what it sees as outside interference, through a federal structure retaining each side's leadership and systems. Both North and South Korea signed the June 15th North-South Joint Declaration in which both sides made promises to seek out a peaceful reunification.
Venezuela has strengthened its ties with North Korea.
The DPRK continues to have strong ties with its socialist asian allies in
Vietnam,
Laos and
Cambodia.
North Korea is a member of several multilateral organizations. It became a member of the
United Nations in September 1991. North Korea also belongs to the
Food and Agriculture Organization; the
International Civil Aviation Organization; the
International Postal Union; the UN Conference on Trade and Development; the
ITU; the UN Development Programme; the
UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization; the
World Health Organization; the
World Intellectual Property Organization; the
World Meteorological Organization; the
International Maritime Organization; the
International Committee of the Red Cross; and the
Nonaligned Movement.
The highest level contact with the American government was
Madeleine Albright's 2000 visit to Pyongyang; the US and DPRK do not have formal diplomatic relations [https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/kn.html#Govt] and technically remain at war as the armistice never resulted in a peace treaty. Nearly 30,000 American soldiers remain in
South Korea, a military presense that the north Koreans consider aggressive and a means of preventing north/south reconciliation.
Missiles, nuclear weapons program, and the six-party talks
North Korea has stated that it has produced
nuclear weapons and according to many intelligence and
military officials it has produced, or has the capability to produce, up to six or seven such devices. It also has certain quantity of Nodong 1 and 2,
SCUD, and the long-range Taepodong 1 and 2 missiles. It has test-fired each of these missiles more than once, despite the Six-party talks, initiated in 2003. The Six-party talks have been the diplomatic route used to resolve the concern brought about by North Korea's nuclear weapons program. These talks are a series of meetings with six participating states - the People's Republic of China, South Korea, North Korea, the United States of America, the Russian Federation and Japan and were a result of North Korea withdrawing from the
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 2003. The aim of these talks is to find a peaceful resolution to the security concerns raised by the North Korean nuclear weapons program.
According to Richard Saccone, an expert on Korea, in April 2006 : "After decades of hostile exchanges and months of stalled negotiations about its nuclear weapons, North Korea quietly put forward a positive signal that it is prepared to talk." North America called the Tae Po Dong. This among other comments made by Kim Jong Il suggest they are actually not willing to co-operate
North Korea is not a signatory of the Missile Technology Control Regime and states that it has the sovereign right to test its missiles and pursue its weapons program. The DPRK's stance on the 2002 Pyongyang Declaration with Japan is that the agreement is now void due to Japan's failure to normalize relations with the regime. US sanctions following the six-party talks are also cited by North Korea as a reason to continue missile tests and other aspects of its weapons program.
Human rights
Amnesty International and other human rights organizations accuse North Korea of having one of the worst human rights records of any nation, severely restricting most freedoms, including
freedom of speech and
freedom of movement, both inside the country and abroad.
North Korean exiles have testified as to the existence of
detention camps with an estimated 150,000 to 200,000 inmates, and have reported
torture,
starvation, rape, murder and forced labour . . Japanese television aired what it said was footage of a prison camp . In some of the camps, US officials and former inmates say the annual mortality rate approaches 20% to 25% . The present regime has been compared to a
Stalinist approach, where an estimated two million civilians have been killed by the government A former prison guard and army intelligence officer said that in one camp, chemical weapons were tested on prisoners in a gas chamber . According to a former prisoner, pregnant women inside the camps are often forced to have abortions or the newborn child is killed . A recent documents a young woman's forced abortion in a prison camp and subsequent escape from North Korea. The government of North Korea refuses to admit independent human rights observers to the state.
The government of North Korea has also been implicated in terrorist attacks in South Korea as well as assassinations of dissidents in nearby states
Geography
North Korea is on the northern portion of the
Korean Peninsula. North Korea shares land borders with
China and
Russia to the north, and with
South Korea to the south. To its west are the
Yellow Sea and
Korea Bay, and to its east is the Sea of Japan . Japan lies east of the peninsula across the Sea of Japan.
The highest point in Korea is the
Paektu-san at 2,744 metres , and major rivers include the Tumen and the Yalu.
The local
climate is relatively temperate, with precipitation heavier in summer during a short rainy season called
changma, and winters that can be bitterly cold on occasion. The DPRK's capital and largest city is
P'yongyang; other major cities include
Kaesong in the south, Sinuiju in the northwest,
Wonsan and Hamhung in the east and Ch'ongjin in the northeast.
See also: Korean PeninsulaEconomy
North Korea's
socialist economy has been relatively stagnant since the 1970s. Publicly owned industry produces nearly all manufactured goods. The government focuses on heavy military industry, with an estimated 25% of the nation's
GDP being spent on the military
as of 2005. By comparison, neighboring South Korea spent 2.5% on its military. The government does not release economic data.
In the 1990s North Korea faced significant economic disruptions, including a series of natural disasters, political mismanagement, serious
fertilizer shortages, and the collapse of the Soviet bloc. These resulted in a shortfall of staple
grain output of more than 1 million tons from what the country needs to meet internationally-accepted minimum requirements. The resulting famine killed between 600,000 and 3.5 million people in the DPRK during the 1990s. By 1999, foreign aid reduced the number of famine deaths, but
North Korea's continuing nuclear program led to a decline in international food and development aid. In the spring of 2005, the World Food Program reported that famine conditions were in imminent danger of returning to North Korea, and the government was reported to have mobilized millions of city-dwellers to help rice farmers. Recent evidence suggests serious food shortages continue. . In spite of the massive food donations from other countries, over 22 percent of the population of North Korea is classified as
malnourished.
North Korea has previously received international food and fuel aid from China, South Korea, and the United States in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear program. In June 2005, the U.S. announced that it would give 50,000 metric tons of food aid to North Korea. The United States gave North Korea 50,000 tons in 2004 and 100,000 tons in 2003. On 19 September 2005, North Korea was promised food and fuel aid from South Korea, the U.S.A., Japan, Russia, and the PRC in exchange for abandoning its nuclear weapons program and rejoining the
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
China is currently the world's third largest food donor, with most of its donations destined for North Korea. Approximately 92% of 577,000 tonnes of food aid donated by China in 2005 was to North Korea, making up 49% of the food aid North Korea receives. South Korea was the second biggest donor in 2005, contributing 36% on top of China's 49%.
In July 2002, North Korea started experimenting with capitalism in the
Kaesong Industrial Region. A small number of other areas have been designated as Special Administrative Regions, including
Sinuiju along the China-North Korea border.
Mainland China and
South Korea are the biggest trade partners of North Korea, with trade with China increasing 38% to $1.02 billion in 2003, and trade with South Korea increasing 12% to $724 million in 2003. It is reported that the number of mobile phones in
P'yongyang rose from only 3,000 in 2002 to approximately 20,000 during 2004. As of June 2004, however, mobile phones became forbidden again. A small amount of capitalistic elements are gradually spreading from the trial area, including a number of advertising billboards along certain highways. Recent visitors have reported that the number of open-air farmers' markets has increased in
Kaesong,
P'yongyang, as well as along the China-North Korea border, bypassing the food rationing system.
According to the Ministry of Unification of South Korea, the GDP grew by 6.2% in 1999, but only 1.3% in 2000, 3.2 % in 2001, 1.2% in 2002 and 1.8 % in 2003.
In a 2003 event dubbed the "
Pong Su incident", a North Korean cargo ship allegedly attempting to smuggle heroin into Australia was seized by Australian officials, strengthening Australian and United States suspicions that Pyongyang engages in international drug smuggling. The North Korean government denied any involvement.
See also: List of North Korean companies, Communications in North Korea, Transportation in North Korea, Tourism in North KoreaDemographics
North Korea's estimated population of 23,000,000 is one of the most ethnically and linguistically homogenous places in the world, with small numbers of
