North Korea

조선민주주의인민공화국
Chosŏn Minjujuŭi Inmin Konghwaguk
Democratic People's Republic of Korea
조선민주주의인민공화국; Chosŏn Minjujuŭi Inmin Konghwaguk; Democratic People's Republic of Korea
	Flag Coat of arms of North Korea Coat of arms
	Motto: One is sure to win if one believes in and depends upon the people (translation)
	Anthem: Aegukka
Capital and largest city	P'yŏngyang
Official languages	Korean
Government	Communist dictatorship
Independence
• Water (%)	4.87%
Population
• 2002 estimate	22,224,1953 (48th)
• 2000 census	N/A
GDP (PPP)	2004 estimate
• Total	$29,580,000,000 (94th)
• Per capita	$1400 (166th)
Currency	Won (₩n) (KPW)
Time zone	UTC+9
• Summer (DST)	UTC+10, does not observe
Calling code	850
ISO 3166 code	KP
Internet TLD	none, .kp reserved
	1Kim Jong-il is the nation's most powerful figure and de facto dictator; his official title is Chairman of the National Defence Commission of North Korea; 2Kim Yong-nam is the "head of state for foreign affairs"; Kim Il-Sung (deceased) officially holds the title of "Eternal President of the Republic"; 3Population estimates vary widely; some aid organizations place the population between 18 and 20 million–North Korea does not release figures

North Korea, formally the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK; Korean: Chosŏn Minjujuŭi Inmin Konghwaguk; Hangul: 조선민주주의인민공화국; Hanja: 朝鮮民主主義人民共和國), is a country in East Asia, covering the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Locally and in mainland China, it is more commonly called Pukchosŏn ("North Chosŏn"; 북조선; 北朝鮮), a name that associates the country with the Joseon Dynasty. Bukhan ("North Han"; 북한; 北韓) is commonly used in South Korea.

North Korea is bordered by three countries. To the south along the DMZ, it borders South Korea, with which it had formed a single nation until 1948. Its northwestern and northern border is predominantly with the People's Republic of China. Russia shares a 19 km border along the Tuman River in the far northeast corner of the country.

History

Japanese rule of Korea ended after World War II in 1945. Korea was occupied by the Soviet Union north of the 38th Parallel and by the United States south of the 38th parallel, but the United States and the Soviet Union were unable to agree on 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 over all of Korea.

Growing tensions between the governments in the north and south eventually led to the Korean War, when on June 25 1950 the (North) Korean People's Army crossed the 38th Parallel and attacked in force. The war continued until July 27 1953, when William Harrison Jr., United Nations Command, and Nam Il, Delegation of Korean People's Army and the Chinese People's Volunteers, signed the Korean War Armistice Agreement. The demilitarized zone, or DMZ, was established to separate the two countries.

North Korea was ruled from 1948 by Kim Il-sung until his death on July 8, 1994. After the death of Kim Il Sung, his son Kim Jong-il was named General Secretary of the Korean Workers' Party on October 8, 1997. 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 in June 2000. However, tensions recently increased when North Korea resumed its nuclear weapons program.

During 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, a significant but unknown number 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.

North Korea has remained one of the most isolated places in the world, with severe restrictions on travelling in or out of the country. North Korea lacks a free press. Juche, created by Kim Il-Sung, is the state endorsed ideology of North Korea. Juche is based on self-reliance.

North Korea announced on February 10, 2005 that it has nuclear weapons. The DPRK withdrew from the six-party talks because the North Koreans claimed that the United States had "hostile intentions" towards their country. Due to this nuclear capability, U.S. President George W. Bush has placed North Korea into the so-called Axis of Evil. The DPRK wanted itself removed from this status before resuming the talks, which are aimed at curbing its WMD program.

On May 7, 2005 the USA announced its spy satellites had discovered possible preparations for a possible underground test of a nuclear weapon, which would be its first. Possibly in response to its failing economy, however, Kim Jong-il, the leader of North Korea, proposed the possible signing of a peace treaty with the U.S in late July 2005. North Korea also agreed to again attend the stalled six-party talks over its nuclear weapons program.

See also: Division of Korea

Politics

North Korea's government is dominated by the Korean Workers' Party (KWP), to which 80 percent of government officials belong. The KWP follows and upholds the ideology of Juche (self-reliance), which originally grew out of Stalinism. Like the former Soviet Union, North Korea is dominated by a party bureaucracy that claims to represent the will of the people. The KWP replaced mentions of Marxism-Leninism in the North Korean constitution with Juche in 1977. Communist critics of the KWP deny that it is a communist state. Minor political parties exist, but they are subordinated to the KWP and do not oppose its rule. In practice the exact power structure of the country is somewhat unclear, although it is commonly accepted that the nation's regime is a totalitarian dictatorship.

Nominally, the Premier is the head of government, but real power lies with Kim Jong-il (the son of the deceased Kim Il-sung), head of the KWP and the military. Kim holds a string of 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. Within the country he is commonly known by the affectionate title of "Dear Leader". Similarly, his father, Kim Il-sung, held the title of "Great Leader."

North Korea's 1972 constitution was amended in late 1992 and again in 1998. The 1998 constitution states that the late Kim Il Sung is "Eternal President of the Republic," and the post of president was abolished after his death. The Constitution gives much of the functions normally accorded to a head of state to the Supreme People's Assembly Presidium, whose president "represents the State" and receives credentials from foreign ambassadors. The government of the republic is led by the Prime Minister and, in theory, a super cabinet called the Central People's Committee (CPC), the government's top policymaking body. The CPC is headed by the President, who also nominates the other committee members. The CPC makes policy decisions and supervises the Cabinet, or State Administration Council (SAC). SAC is headed by a Premier and is the dominant administrative and executive agency.

Officially, the parliament, the Supreme People's Assembly Choego Inmin Hoeui), is the highest organ of state power. Its 687 members are elected every five years by popular vote, although these elections are non-competitive and in practice ceremonial. Usually it holds only two annual meetings, each lasting a few days, but it mostly ratifies decisions made by the ruling KWP (see rubberstamp (politics)). A standing committee elected by the Assembly performs legislative functions when the Assembly is not in session.

North Korea is widely held to be a totalitarian country. One major aspect of totalitarian countries is the presence of a single party which mirrors the structure of the State, and the fact that the power lies not in the State or its institutions, but in the party and its institutions. Thus, in countries such as the DPRK, it is the leader of the ruling party and not the Head of State who is the repository of power.

Administrative divisions

As of 2005, North Korea consists of two Directly-governed Cities (Chikhalsi; 직할시; 直轄市), three special regions with various designations, and nine Provinces (See provinces of Korea). (Names are romanized according to the McCune-Reischauer system as officially used in North Korea; the editor was also guided by the spellings used on the 2003 National Geographic map of Korea).

For historical information, see provinces of Korea and special cities of Korea.

Directly-governed cities

P'yŏngyang Directly-governed City (P'yŏngyang Chikhalsi; 평양 직할시; 平壤直轄市)
Rasŏn (Rajin-Sŏnbong) Chikhalsi (라선 (라진-선봉) 직할시; 羅先 (羅津-先鋒) 直轄市)

Special regions

Kaesŏng Industrial Region (Kaesŏng Kong-ŏp Chigu; 개성 공업 지구; 開城工業地區)
Kŭmgangsan Tourist Region (Kŭmgangsan Kwangwang Chigu; 금강산 관광 지구; 金剛山觀光地區)
Sinŭiju Special Administrative Region (Sinŭiju T'ŭkbyŏl Haengjeonggu; 신의주 특별 행정구; 新義州特別行政區)

Provinces

Chagang Province (Chagang-do; 자강도; 慈江道)
North Hamgyŏng Province (Hamgyŏng-pukto; 함경 북도; 咸鏡北道)
South Hamgyŏng Province (Hamgyŏng-namdo; 함경 남도; 咸鏡南道)
North Hwanghae Province (Hwanghae-pukto; 황해 북도; 黃海北道)
South Hwanghae Province (Hwanghae-namdo; 황해 남도; 黃海南道)
Kangwŏn Province (Kangwŏndo; 강원도; 江原道)
North P'yŏngan Province (P'yŏngan-pukto; 평안 북도; 平安北道)
South P'yŏngan Province (P'yŏngan-namdo; 평안 남도; 平安南道)
Ryanggang Province (Ryanggang-do; 량강도; 兩江道--sometimes also spelled as 'Yanggang' in English)

Major cities

Geography

North Korea is on the northern half of the Korean Peninsula that extends 1,100 km from the Asian mainland. North Korea shares its borders with three nations and two seas. To the west it borders the Yellow Sea and the Korea Bay and to the east it borders the Sea of Japan (East Sea of Korea). North Korea is of political importance as it borders South Korea, China, and Russia. The highest point in Korea is the Paektu-san at 2,744 m 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 jangma, and winters that can be bitterly cold on occasion. North Korea's capital and largest city is P'yŏngyang; other major cities include Kaesŏng in the south, Sinŭiju in the northwest, Wŏnsan and Hamhŭng in the east and Ch'ŏngjin in the northeast.

Economy

Following the official ideology of Juche (self-reliance) and the central planning mandated by its brand of Stalinism, North Korea's economy has stagnated. The government's refusal to participate in international trade and its refusal to publicize economic data limit the amount of reliable information available. Publicly-owned industry produces nearly all manufactured goods. The regime continues to focus on heavy military industry at the expense of agriculture.

The North Korean military's effect on the economy cannot be overstated. The government spends 25% (2005) of the nation's GDP on military (compared to 3.3% (FY03 est.) for the U.S. and 2.7% (FY03) spent by neighboring South Korea), and has recruited 1 million of the healthiest young men into the army and has 4.7 million in reserves (2005). This focus on military spending is unheard of anywhere else in the world, and has severely depressed the North's economy for decades.

A series of natural disasters, rampant corruption, and the collapse of the Soviet bloc have all caused the economy to stagnate. The agricultural outlook is terrible and food products are deliberately diverted away from citizens and into the military. The combined effects of a reclusive regime, serious fertilizer shortages, successive natural disasters, and structural constraints — such as little arable land and a short growing season — have reduced staple grain output to more than 1 million tons less than what the country needs to meet even minimum international requirements.

North Korea previously received a flow of international food and fuel aid from the People's Republic of China and the United States in exchange for promises not to develop nuclear weapons. In June 2005, the United States announced that it would give 50,000 metric tons of food aid to North Korea [1]. The United States gave North Korea 50,000 tons in 2004 and 100,000 tons in 2003 [2].

However, there is substantial evidence that the aid is not getting to those who need it. The Discovery Times channel documentary "Children of the Secret State" showed hidden camera footage from inside North Korea where clearly marked US food aid was being sold openly in front of North Korean police while malnourished orphans were ignored as they picked for scraps off of the ground nearby [3].

Recently, in July 2002, North Korea started running an experiment with capitalism in the Kaesŏng Industrial Region. A small number of other areas have been designated as Special Administrative Regions, including Sinŭiju along the China-North Korea border. Mainland China and South Korea are the biggest trade partners of North Korea, with trade with China going up 38% to $1.02 billion in 2003, and trade with South Korea going up 12% to $724 million in 2003 since the start of the experiment. It is reported that the number of mobile phones in P'yŏngyang 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 amount of open-air farmer markets have increased in Kaesong, P'yŏngyang, as well as the China-North Korea border, bypassing the food rationing system. Critics argue that these market reforms are merely a cover by the North Korean government, or perhaps an attempt by the country's rulers to further their own personal interests in some way.

Human rights

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North Korea has one of the worst human rights records of any nation. Reports by human rights organizations and foreign governments regularly accuse the government of failing to protect the human rights of North Koreans (Amnesty International); North Korea receives particular criticism for its policy of preventing citizens from leaving the country freely.

North Korea is accused of employing concentration camps (video link) and severely restricting most freedoms, such as freedom of speech. These camps are believed to hold as many as 200,000 inmates, including children whose only crime is having class enemies for parents; in some of the camps, the annual mortality rate approaches 25% ([4], [5]). A recent BBC documentary ([6]) also reported that in one of these camps, North Korea tests chemical weapons on prisoners in a gas chamber: " 'I witnessed a whole family being tested on suffocating gas and dying in the gas chamber,' he said. 'The parents, son and and a daughter. The parents were vomiting and dying, but till the very last moment they tried to save kids by doing mouth-to-mouth breathing.' [The North Korean citizen] has drawn detailed diagrams of the gas chamber he saw. He said: 'The glass chamber is sealed airtight. It is 3.5 metres wide, 3m long and 2.2m high_ [There] is the injection tube going through the unit. Normally, a family sticks together and individual prisoners stand separately around the corners. Scientists observe the entire process from above, through the glass." ([7])

Less often discussed are the human rights implications of North Korea's famine ([8]), which killed between 600,000 ([9]) and 3.5 million people ([10] ), mostly during the 1990's ([11]). By 1999, food and development aid reduced famine deaths. However, North Korea's deteriorating foreign relations resulting from its pursual of nuclear weapons led to a decline in foreign aid. In the spring of 2005, the World Food Program reported that famine conditions were in imminent danger of returning to North Korea ([12]), and the regime was reported to have ordered millions of city-dwellers to the countryside to perform farm labor ([13]).

North Korea's society is highly stratified by class, according to a citizen's family and political background ([14]). Refugees International ([15]), Médecins Sans Frontières ([16]), and Amnesty International ([17]), have all accused North Korea of discriminating against those in "hostile" classes in the distribution of basic necessities, including food. In some "closed" areas ([18]) that contained a higher concentration of "hostile" class members, the government appears to have prevented the delivery of any significant amounts of food aid at all.

Yet during this same period, North Korea maintained a massive military machine and supported an extravagant lifestyle for its leader, Kim Jong-Il ([19]). The World Food Program currently seeks $200 million in emergency food aid for North Korea ([20]) an increase from its 2004 request of $171 million ([21]). By comparison, its 2002 defense budget was $5.2 billion ([22]).

In 2005, news sources reported that North Korea continued to raise food prices while reducing food rations to the below-subsistence amount of 250 grams per person per day, the equivalent of two medium-sized potatoes ([23]).

North Korea claims that natural disasters caused the famine. Taken together, however, these reports suggest different explanations for North Korea's great famine. At best, it appears to be a program of malign and discriminatory neglect. At worst, it is a program of political classification and cleansing not unlike that used in Soviet Ukraine in the 1930s, or political cleansing by engineered famine ([24]).

Demographics

North Korea's population is one of the most ethnically and linguistically homogenous in the world, with very small Chinese and Japanese communities as the only non-Korean indigenous minorities. Most others are temporary residents, mostly being Russians and other East Europeans, Chinese, and Vietnamese. The Korean language is not a member of a wider linguistic family, though links to Japanese and Altaic languages are being considered. The Korean writing system, Hangul, was invented in the 15th century by King Sejong the Great to replace the system of Chinese characters, known in Korea as Hanja, which are no longer officially in use in the North. North Korea continues to use the McCune-Reischauer romanization of Korean, in contrast to the South's revised version.

North Korea is officially atheist, although it has a Buddhist and Confucianist heritage, with Christian and traditional Chondogyo ("Heavenly Way") communities. Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea, was the center of Christian activity before the Korean War.

Culture

Traditional aspects of Korean culture tend to be downplayed or ignored in North Korea. The state is officially atheist and shuns traditional religious ceremonies and practices, though some state-sanctioned churches exist.

There is a vast personality cult built up around Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-il, and much of North Korea's literature, theater, and film deal with praising or glamorizing various exploits of the two men and their life stories.

In July 2004, the Complex of Koguryo Tombs was the first site in North Korea to be included into the UNESCO list of World Heritage.

Tourism

North Korea's government is extremely reclusive and secretive, and few foreigners want to visit the country. In principle, any person is allowed to travel to North Korea, and in practice, among those who actually go through the complex process of applying, almost no one is refused entry by North Korea. That being said, visitors are not allowed to travel outside designated tour areas without their Korean guides. The daunting presence of government minders and the negative international reputation of the government discourages many outsiders from visiting. Accounts of travels throughout the region can be found in the external links section.

Panmunjeom, Border between South and North Korea, facing DPRK.

Tourists are not permitted on passports from the United States, and citizens of South Korea require special government permission from both governments to enter North Korea. In 2002, the area around Mount Kŭmgang, a scenic mountain close to the South Korea border, has been designated as a special tourist destination (Kŭmgangsan Tourist Region), where South Korean citizens do not need special permissions. Tours run by private companies bring thousands of South Koreans to Mount Kŭmgang every year.

In July 2005 the South Korean company Hyundai Group came to an agreement with Kim in regards to opening more areas to tourism, including Mount Paektu and Kaesong.

Miscellaneous topics

External links

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North Korean organizations

Links associated with North Korean government

Kim Il Sung: 10 Point programme for reunification of the country
korea-dpr.com - Website officially associated with North Korea. (Maintained from a Texas server by the Korean Friendship Association.)
Naenara ("My country," in Korean) DPRK's Official Web Portal
The Korean Central News Agency, The DPRK's news service.

Web sites about North Korea

CIA World Factbook - North Korea
Library of Congress - Country Studies: North Korea - data as of June 1993
BBC News - Country Profile: North Korea
Glimpses of a Hermit Nation Los Angeles Times expose from July 3, 2005 on Chongjin and a changing North Korea (Part 1)
Guardian Unlimited - Special Report: North and South Korea
Happy Birthday, North Korea - travel to 3 sanctioned areas
Korean Tourist Map
LookSmart - North Korea directory category
NKzone - discussions and information exchange on North Korea
North Korea Resources - background news and analysis of North Korea
Open Directory Project - North Korea directory category
Pyongyang Metro System Unofficial Web Site - 1
Tours / Tourism page of North Korea, with links to other North Korea related sites
Trading Ideals for Sustenance Second part of Los Angeles Times expose on changing North Korean life (July 4, 2005)
Yahoo! - North Korea directory category
Yahoo! News - Full Coverage: North Korea

Web sites criticizing North Korea

One Free Korea - Blog focusing on human rights conditions in North Korea
Another Korea - Background stories on North Korea
Students for War - Student group calling for invasion of North Korea

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