North Korea

North Korea is the commonly used short form name for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (or DPRK), a state located in East Asia, in the northern half of the Korean Peninsula, with its capital and largest city being Pyongyang.

To the south, separated by the Korean Demilitarized Zone, lies South Korea, with which it formed the Korean Empire until its occupation and division following World War II. At its northern Amnok River border are China and, separated by the Tumen River in the extreme north-east, Russia.

North Korea is a one party state. The country's government styles itself as following the Juche ideology of self reliance, developed by Kim Il-sung, the country's former leader. The current leader is Kim Jong-il, the late president Kim Il-sung's son. Relations are strongest with other officially socialist states: Vietnam, Laos, and especially China, as well as with Russia, Cambodia and Myanmar. Following a major famine in the early 1990s, due partly to the collapse of the Soviet Union (previously a major economic partner), leader Kim Jong-il instigated the "Military-First" policy in 1995, increasing economic concentration and support for the military.

Geography

North Korea occupies the northern portion of the Korean Peninsula, covering an area of Template:convert/km2 (roughly the size of the American state Pennsylvania). North Korea shares land borders with China and Russia to the north, and borders South Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone. To its west are the Yellow Sea and Korea Bay, and to its east lies Japan across the Sea of Japan (East Sea of Korea). The highest point in North Korea is Paektu-san Mountain at Template:convert/m. The longest river is the Amnok River which flows for Template:convert/km.

North Korea's climate is relatively temperate, with precipitation heavier in summer during a short rainy season called changma, and winters that can be bitterly cold.

The capital and largest city is Pyongyang; other major cities include Kaesong in the south, Sinuiju in the northwest, Wonsan and Hamhung in the east and Chongjin in the northeast.

Government and politics

North Korea is a self-described Juche (self-reliance) state. Government is organized as a dictatorship, with a pronounced cult of personality organized around Kim Il-sung (the founder of North Korea and the country's first and only president) and his son and heir, Kim Jong-il. Following Kim Il-sung's death in 1994, he was not replaced but instead received the designation of "Eternal President", and was entombed in the vast Kumsusan Memorial Palace in central Pyongyang.

Although the active position of president has been abolished in deference to the memory of Kim Il-sung, the de facto head of state is Kim Jong-il, who is Chairman of the National Defence Commission of North Korea. The legislature of North Korea is the Supreme People's Assembly, currently led by President Kim Yong-nam. The other senior government figure is Premier Kim Yong-il.

North Korea is a single-party state. The governing party is the Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland, a coalition of the Workers' Party of Korea and two other smaller parties, the Korean Social Democratic Party and the Chondoist Chongu Party. These parties nominate all candidates for office and hold all seats in the Supreme People's Assembly.

Foreign relations

Since the ceasefire of the Korean War in 1953, the relations between the North Korean government and South Korea, European Union, Canada, the United States, and Japan have remained tense. Fighting was halted in the ceasefire, but both Koreas are still technically at war. Both North and South Korea signed the June 15th North-South Joint Declaration in 2000, in which both sides made promises to seek out a peaceful reunification. Additionally, on October 4, 2007, the leaders of North and South Korea pledged to hold summit talks to officially declare the war over and reaffirmed the principle of mutual non-aggression.

The highest-level contact the government has had with the United States was with U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who made a visit to Pyongyang in 2000, but the two countries do not have formal diplomatic relations. By 2006, approximately 37,000 American soldiers remained in South Korea, with plans to reduce the number to 25,000 by 2008. Kim Jong-il has privately stated his acceptance of U.S. troops on the peninsula, even after a possible reunification. Publicly, North Korea strongly demands the removal of American troops from Korea (see North Korea-United States relations).

North Korea has long maintained close relations with the People's Republic of China and Russia. The fall of communism in eastern Europe in 1989, and the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991, resulted in a devastating drop in aid to North Korea from Russia, although China continues to provide substantial assistance. North Korea continues to have strong ties with its socialist southeast Asian allies in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. North Korea has started installing a concrete and barbed wire fence on its northern border, in response to China's wishing to curb refugees fleeing from North Korea. Previously the shared border with China and North Korea had only been lightly patrolled.

As a result of the North Korean nuclear weapons program, the Six-party talks were established to find a peaceful solution to the growing unrest between the two Korean governments, the Russian Federation, the People's Republic of China, Japan, and the United States.

On July 17, 2007, United Nations inspectors verified the shutdown of five North Korean nuclear facilities, according to the February 2007 agreement.

On October 4, 2007, South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il signed an 8-point peace agreement, on issues of permanent peace, high-level talks, economic cooperation, renewal of train, highway and air travel, and a joint Olympic cheering squad.

Military

Kim Jong-il is the Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army and Chairman of the National Defence Commission of North Korea. The Korean People's Army (KPA) is the name for the collective armed personnel of the North Korean military. The army has four branches: Ground Force, Naval Force, Air Force, and the Civil Securities Force.

North Korea has the fourth-largest military in the world, at an estimated 1.21 million armed personnel, with about 20% of men aged 17-54 in the regular armed forces. North Korea has the highest percentage of military personnel per capita of any nation in the world, with approximately 40 enlisted soldiers per 1,000 citizens. Military strategy is designed for insertion of agents and sabotage behind enemy lines in wartime, with much of the KPA's forces deployed along the heavily fortified Korean Demilitarized Zone.

Economy

While North Korea is more developed than most African and South Asian nations with a Medium HDI of 0.766 and a GDP per capita standing at about $2,000, its strong isolation policy means that international trade is highly restricted, hampering a significant potential for future economic growth. North Korea's large economic potential can be seen when compared with its neighbour, South Korea, who has adopted a capitalist economy and is now a major economic power and a highly developed country in the world. In the aftermath of the Korean War and throughout the 1960s and early 1970s, the country's state-controlled economy grew at a significant rate before collapsing. State-owned industry produces nearly all manufactured goods. The government focuses on heavy military industry, following Kim Jong-il's adoption of the Songun "Military-First" policy.

Estimates of the North Korean economy cover a broad range, as the country does not release official figures and the secretive nature of the country makes outside estimation difficult.

According to accepted estimates, North Korea spends $5 billion out of a gross domestic product (GDP) of $20.9 billion on the military, compared with South Korea's $24 billion out of a GDP of $1.196 trillion. Part of the reason for this is that the military serves a number of roles in addition to national defense. The military assists farmers with crops, local areas with building of infrastructure, and, as is similar to the National Guard in the United States, assisting during natural disasters.

Foreign commerce

China and South Korea remain the largest donors of unconditional food aid to North Korea. The U.S. objects to this manner of donating food due to lack of oversight. In 2005, China and South Korea combined to provide 1 million tons of food aid, each contributing half. In addition to food aid, China reportedly provides an estimated 80 to 90 percent of North Korea's oil imports at "friendly prices" that are sharply lower than the world market price.

On September 19, 2005, North Korea was promised fuel aid and various other non-food incentives from South Korea, the U.S., Japan, Russia, and China in exchange for abandoning its nuclear weapons program and rejoining the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Providing food in exchange for abandoning weapons programs has historically been avoided by the U.S. so as not to be perceived as "using food as a weapon". Humanitarian aid from North Korea's neighbors has been cut off at times to provoke North Korea to resume boycotted talks, such as South Korea's "postponed consideration" of 500,000 tons of rice for the North in 2006 but the idea of providing food as a clear incentive (as opposed to resuming "general humanitarian aid") has been avoided. There have also been aid disruptions due to widespread theft of railroad cars used by mainland China to deliver food relief.

Pyongyang Metro.

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 SinÅ­iju along the China-North Korea border. China and South Korea are the biggest trade partners of North Korea, with trade with China increasing 15% to US$1.6 billion in 2005, and trade with South Korea increasing 50% to over 1 billion for the first time in 2005. It is reported that the number of mobile phones in Pyongyang 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 number 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 and Pyongyang, as well as along the China-North Korea border, bypassing the food rationing system.

Tourism

Tourism in North Korea is organized by the state owned Tourism Organisation ("Ryohaengsa"). Every group of travelers as well as individual tourist/visitors are permanently accompanied by one or two "guides" who normally speak the mother tongue of the tourist. While tourism has increased over the last few years, tourists from Western countries remain few. The majority of the tourists that do go come from China and Japan. For citizens of the US and South Korea it is practically impossible to obtain a visa for North Korea. Exceptions for US citizens are made for the yearly Arirang Festival.

In the area of the KÅ­mgangsan-mountains, the company Hyundai established and operates a special Tourist area. Traveling to this area, one of the nicest regions on the Korean peninsula, is also possible for South Koreans and US citizens, but only in organized groups from South Korea. A special administrative region known as the KÅ­mgangsan Tourist Region exists for this purpose.

Demographics

North Korea's population of roughly 23 million is one of the most ethnically and linguistically homogeneous in the world, with very small numbers of Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, South Korean and European expatriate minorities.

Religion

Both Koreas share a Buddhist and Confucian heritage and a recent history of Christian and Cheondoism ("religion of the Heavenly Way") movements. The North Korean constitution states that freedom of religion is permitted. According to Human Rights Watch, free religious activities no longer exist in the DPRK as the government sponsors religious groups only to create an illusion of religious freedom.

Pyongyang was the centre of Christian activity in Korea before the Korean War. Today, four state-sanctioned churches exist, which freedom of religion advocates say are showcases for foreigners. Official government statistics report that there are 10,000 Protestants and 4,000 Roman Catholics in North Korea.

According to a ranking published by Open Doors, an organization that supports persecuted Christians, North Korea is currently the country with the most severe persecution of Christians in the world. Human rights groups such as Amnesty International also have expressed concerns about religious persecution in North Korea.

According to government's statistics, as of 2000 Cheondoism is the largest organized religion in North Korea, which adherents constitute about 12.9% of the total population. Cheondoists are followed by Christians (2.1%) and Buddhists (1.5%). Korean shamanism, an unorganized system of beliefs, is followed by 12.3% of the North Koreans.

Language

North Korea shares the Korean language with South Korea. There are dialect differences within both Koreas, but the border between North and South does not represent a major linguistic boundary. While prevalent in the South, the adoption of modern terms from foreign languages has been limited in North Korea. Hanja (Chinese characters) are no longer used in North Korea, although still occasionally used in South Korea. Both Koreas share the phonetic writing system called Chosongul in North Korea and Hangul South of the DMZ. The official Romanization differs in the two countries, with North Korea using a slightly modified McCune-Reischauer system, and the South using the Revised Romanization of Korean.

Culture

A popular event in North Korea is the Mass Games. The most recent and largest Mass Games was called "Arirang". It was performed six nights a week for two months, and involved over 100,000 performers. Attendees to this event report that the anti-West sentiments have been toned down compared to previous performances. The Mass Games involve performances of dance, gymnastic, and choreographic routines which celebrate the history of North Korea and the Workers' Party Revolution. The Mass Games are held in Pyongyang at various venues (varying according to the scale of the Games in a particular year) including the May Day Stadium.

Culture is officially protected by the North Korean government. Large buildings committed to culture have been built, such as the People's Palace of Culture or the Grand People's Palace of Studies, both in Pyongyang. Outside the capital, there's a major theatre in Hamhung and in every city there are State-run theatres and stadiums.

Korean culture came under attack during the Japanese rule from 1910-1945. Japan enforced a cultural assimilation policy. Koreans were forced to learn and speak Japanese, adopt the Japanese family name system and Shinto religion, and forbidden to write or speak the Korean language in schools, businesses, or public places. In addition, the Japanese altered or destroyed various Korean monuments including Gyeongbok Palace and documents which portrayed the Japanese in a negative light were revised.

In July 2004, the Complex of Goguryeo Tombs became the first site in the country to be included in the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites.

In February 2008, The New York Philharmonic Orchestra became the first US musical group ever to perform in North Korea.

Administrative divisions

See also: Provinces of Korea and Special cities of Korea

Principal divisions of North Korea.

	Namea	hangul	hanja
Directly-governed cities (T'ŭkbyŏlsi)a
1	Pyongyang (National Capital)	평양 직할시	平壤直轄市
2	Rason	라선 직할시	羅先直轄市
Special Administrative Regions (T'ŭkbyŏl Haengjeonggu)a
3	Kaesŏng Industrial Region	개성 공업 지구	開城工業地區
4	Kumgangsan Tourist Region	금강산 관광 지구	金剛山觀光地區
5	Sinuiju Special Administrative Region	신의주 특별 행정구	新義州特別行政區
Provinces
6	Chagang	자강도	慈江道
7	Pyongbuk	평안 북도	平安北道
8	Pyongnam	평안 남도	平安南道
9	Hwangnam	황해 남도	咸鏡南道
10	Hwangbuk	황해 북도	咸鏡北道
11	Kangwon	강원도	江原道
12	Hamnam	함경 남도	咸鏡南道
13	Hambuk	함경 북도	咸鏡北道
14	Ryanggang *	량강도	兩江道
* - Sometimes rendered "Yanggang".

Further reading

• Jasper Becker Rogue Regime: Kim Jong Il and the Looming Threat of North Korea Oxford University Press (2005) , hardcover, 328 pages, ISBN 13: 9780195170443
• Gordon Cucullu, Separated At Birth: How North Korea Became The Evil Twin Globe Pequot Press (2004) , hardcover, 307 pages, ISBN 1-59228-591-0
• Bruce Cumings, Korea's Place in the Sun: A Modern History, W.W. Norton & Company, 1998, paperback, 527 pages, ISBN 0-393-31681-5
• Bruce Cumings, Origins of the Korean War (Vol. 1) : Liberation and the Emergence of Separate Regimes 1945-1947, Princeton University Press, 1981, paperback, ISBN 0-691-10113-2
• Bruce Cumings, Origins of the Korean War (Vol. 2) : The Roaring of the Cataract 1947-1950, Cornell University Press, 2004, hardcover, ISBN 89-7696-613-9
• Bruce Cumings, North Korea: Another Country, New Press, 2004, paperback, ISBN 1-56584-940-X
• Bruce Cumings, Living Through The Forgotten War: Portrait Of Korea, Mansfield Freeman Center for East Asian Studies, 2004, paperback, ISBN 0-9729704-0-1
• Bruce Cumings, Inventing the Axis of Evil: The Truth About North Korea, Iran, and Syria, New Press, 2006, paperback, ISBN 1-59558-038-7
• Delisle, Guy, Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea, Drawn & Quarterly Books, 2005, hardcover, 176 pages, ISBN 1-896597-89-0
• Nick Eberstadt, aka Nicholas Eberstadt, The End of North Korea, American Enterprise Institute Press (1999) , hardcover, 191 pages, ISBN 0-8447-4087-X
• John Feffer, North Korea South Korea: U.S. Policy at a Time of Crisis, Seven Stories Press, 2003, paperback, 197 pages, ISBN 1-58322-603-6
• Ron Goodden, North Korea commentary (August, 2007)
• Michael Harrold, Comrades and Strangers: Behind the Closed Doors of North Korea, Wiley Publishing, 2004, paperback, 432 pages, ISBN 0-470-86976-3
• Helen-Louise Hunter, Kim Il-song's North Korea. Praeger, 1999. ISBN 0-275-96296-2.
• Kang, Chol-Hwan (2001). The Aquariums of Pyongyang, Basic Books, 2001. ISBN 0-465-01102-0.
• Mitchell B. Lerner, The Pueblo Incident: A Spy Ship and the Failure of American Foreign Policy, University Press of Kansas, 2002, hardcover, 408 pages, ISBN 0-7006-1171-1
• Andrei Lankov, 'North of the DMZ: Essays on Daily Life in North Korea , McFarland & Company (April 24, 2007), paperback, 358 pages, ISBN 978-0786428397
• John Feffer, North Korea South Korea: U.S. Policy at a Time of Crisis, Seven Stories Press, 2003, paperback, 197 pages, ISBN 1-58322-603-6
• Oberdorfer, Don. The two Koreas : a contemporary history. Addison-Wesley, 1997, 472 pages, ISBN 0-201-40927-5
• Kong Dan Oh, and Ralph C. Hassig, North Korea Through the Looking Glass, The Brookings Institution, 2000, paperback, 216 pages, ISBN 0-8157-6435-9
• Osmond, Andrew, High, Minnow Press, 2004, paperback, 216 pages, ISBN 978-0953944828 Includes a fictional account of the creation of a new state of New Korea.
• Quinones, Dr. C. Kenneth, and Joseph Tragert, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding North Korea, Alpha Books, 2004, paperback, 448 pages, ISBN 1-59257-169-7
• Sigal, Leon V., Disarming Strangers: Nuclear Diplomacy with North Korea, Princeton University Press, 199, 336 pages, ISBN 0-691-05797-4
• Chris Springer, Pyongyang: The Hidden History of the North Korean Capital. Saranda Books, 2003. ISBN 963-00-8104-0.
• Vladimir, Cyber North Korea, Byakuya Shobo, 2003, paperback, 223 pages, ISBN 4-89367-881-7
• Norbert Vollertsen, Inside North Korea: Diary of a Mad Place, Encounter Books, 2003, hardcover, 280 pages, ISBN 1-893554-87-2
• Wahn Kihl, Y. (1983) "North Korea in 1983: Transforming "The Hermit Kingdom"?" Asian Survey, Vol. 24, No. 1: pp100-111
• Robert Willoughby, North Korea: The Bradt Travel Guide. Globe Pequot, 2003. ISBN 1-84162-074-2.
• Hyun Hee Kim, "The Tears of My Soul", William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1993, hardcover, 183 pages, ISBN 0-688-12833-5
• Ducruet, Cesar et Jo, Jin-Cheol (2008) Coastal Cities, Port Activities and Logistic Constraints in a Socialist Developing Country: The Case of North Korea, Transport Reviews, Vol. 28, No. 1, pp. 1-25: http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/462288788-26821155/content~content=a782923580~db=all~tab=content~order=page

Pictorials

• Christian Kracht, Eva Munz, Lukas Nikol, "The Ministry Of Truth: Kim Jong Il's North Korea", Feral House, Oct 2007, 132 pages, 88 color photographs, ISBN 978-932595-27-7

External links

• Official Website of the DPR Korea
• Official Website of the DPR Korea in Switzerland
• KCNA - Korean Central News Agency, the official news agency of the DPRK
• Naenara - ("My country") DPRK's Official Web Portal run by Korea Computer Company