North Korea, offically known as the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (D.P.R.K) was founded on the 9th September, 1948 by the eternal president Kim Il Sung. Juche (주체) is the official state ideology of North Korea meaning self-relieance with the idea that man is the master of his own destiny.
To the North and North west, North Korea borders with China and Russia and is offically seperated by the Amnok and Tumen rivers. The South borders with South Korea which is seperated by the Korean Demiloterized Zone (DMZ). Pyongyang is the Capital and by far the largest city in North Korea with 3.3 million citizens.
In 1945 after the World War 2 in which Korea was ruled under Imperial Japan, the Korean Peninsula was divided in two. The North of the country was occupied by the Soviet Union and the South by the United States. In 1948 seperate governments were formed after failed reunification talks, the socialist Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in the north, and the capitalist Republic of Korea in the South.
The Korean war broke out in 1950 when North Korea launched an invasion on the South under the leadership of kim Il-Sung. After 3 years of intense conflict and almost 5 million deaths reported, the Korean Armistice Agreement brought about a ceasefire however there was no peace treaty signed.
North Korea is generally seen as a totalitarian dictatorship which is ruled by the young leader Kim Jong-Un. It is described as a hermit kingdom with it’s secretive ways and remains one of the most oppresive regimes in the world. The government restricts all civil and political liberties, including freedom of expression, assembly, association, and religion. It also prohibits all organized political opposition, independent media, civil society, and trade unions.
The North Korean economy is strictly controlled with the majortity of the countries capital being plunged into funding its Nucelar and missile program despite widespread food shortages, fuel and other basic necessities. In 1994 under the rule of Kim Jong-Il the country suffered one of it’s worst ever food shotages with reports that the number of deaths reached up to 3.5 million out of the countries 24 million population. The North Korean Famine came about due to Natural disasters including draught/flooding, economic mismanagment and the fall of the soviet union which funded North Korea heavily. In total the North Korean Famine lasted for 4 years.
North Korea runs its country based on terror and fear with its citizens forbidden to speak badly about the Kim family or how the government run the country. For North Korea to continue under its current regime its knowns that it must be protected from both internal and international threats. Anbody who opposses the government with be sent to labour camps where they will be sentenced to forced labour, starvation, torture or even execution, depending on the severity of the crime. The North korean people are immensely paranoid and are afraid to voice their opinions as they are not aware as to who may be listening. Guards are appointed to the streets to keep an eye out for anybody who speaks badly about the regime. It is not uncommon for whole families to be completely wiped out for crimes committed by family members. Keeping the elites happy and its citizens under control allows the regime to continue and make sure that I can’t be overthrown by rebels. This means that the second threat to the country is outside threat. By developing nucelar weapons capable of reaching anywhere in the world makes North Korea a very dangerous country who must be taken seriously. The weapons are crucial to the survival of the regime which they have worked hard to develop primarily since the 1950s. International sanctions have been handed to North Korea for many years with the country having had numerous de-nuclearization talks, only for them to have later fallen through.
North Korea 