With North Korea being in news quite often now, many of us will be wondering what is the problem with north Korea and why does it seem to be the most hated country on earth?and why is Trump hell bent on its destruction.
To answer these questions we must first understand its ideology and history. How the country of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea came to be?
North Korea is the northern part of the Korean Peninsula with Pyongyang being its capital. Korea used to be one country but evidently has been separated in two, with the southern part being called South Korea. Between the two there is a heavily fortified Korean Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) and Both countries claim to be the legitimate government of the entire Korean peninsula.
Before WWI Korea was seen as any other south east Asian country but WWI would change everything as now the Japanese empire had invaded and conquered the Korean peninsula.
The Koreans not liking the idea of having the Japanese rule over them would fight a guerrilla war trying to liberate there country, one of the guerrilla leaders was the communist Kim Il-sung,
who later became the first 'supreme' leader of North Korea.
At the end of WWII and after the Japanese surrendered in 1945, Korea was divided into two areas, with the north being occupied by the Soviet union and the south by the Americans,
an agreement between the two lead to the official borders being cemented, the same borders we see today.
The soviet's wanted to make there part (North Korea) into a communist regime and the Americans were hell bent on stopping the spread of communism which is also the reason they invaded Vietnam.
The people of both areas north and south wanted these superpowers to leave and become one country again But as we have seen in history proxy wars have severe consequences.
By 1949 both the soviets and the Americans had left the Korean peninsula. The soviets had supported Kim Il-sung as chairman of the Provisional People's Committee for North Korea.
In 1948 Negotiations on reunification failed and separate governments were formed. The socialist Democratic People's Republic of Korea in the north and the capitalist Republic of Korea in the south.
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea was established in the North on 9 September 1948 with Kim Il-sung becoming its ruler.
In 1950 Kim Il-sung suspected the south of indenting an attack on the north he successfully lobbied the soviets to assist him in invading the south which lead to the out break of the the Korean War.
North Korea took control of the south but due to the Americans intervening they had to retreat . The war eventually resulted in a cease fire. to this day a heavily guarded demilitarised zone (DMZ) remains separating the two countries.
Until the 1960's the GDP of both countries remained the same and north Korea after revaluing its Korean won held a stronger currency then its southern counterpart. Growth remained high and development could bee seen. After the fall of the Soviet union in the 70's and china opening up to the west North Korea started to experience a down turn. The situation was deteriorating fast with hyper inflation and the economy on the verge of collapse. Flooding in the mid 1990's swelled the economic crisis, severely damaging crops and infrastructure and led to widespread famine which the government proved incapable of curtailing thus forcing north Korea to take aid from the UN.
Kim Jong-il the son of Kim ill sung slowly began taking over various state affairs. Kim Il-sung died of a heart attack in 1994, in the midst of a standoff with the United States over North Korean
nuclear weapon development. Kim Jong-il declared a three-year period of national mourning before officially announcing his position as the new leader. North Korean efforts to build nuclear weapons were halted under the Agreed Framework, negotiated with U.S. president Bill Clinton and signed in 1994 this resulted in relations becoming somewhat normal.
Kim Jong-il instituted a policy called Songun, or "military first". This policy would be used as a strategy to strengthen the military while deterring coup attempts. Restrictions on travel were
tightened and the state security apparatus was strengthened. He also implemented the policy of Juche, an ideology of national self-reliance This resulted in all means of production (factories) being owned by the state through state-run enterprises and farms. The implementation of juche was an effort to become self sustainable, not requiring the outside world for imports in case trade was stopped in the face of sanctions. Most services such as healthcare, education, housing and food production would become subsidised or state-funded. in the face of such circumstances the administration has reluctantly tolerated illegal black markets while officially maintaining a state socialist economy. Corruption flourished and disillusionment with the regime spread. while in the south the economy was booming with the introduction of technology companies like Samsung would propel the south's economy and the gap between the two countries would become irreversible.
The international environment really changed with the election of U.S. president George W. Bush in 2001. His administration rejected the Agreed Framework which was signed between bill Clinton and North Korea since then The U.S. government has treated North Korea as a rogue state, while they would subsequently increase their efforts to acquire nuclear weapons in order to deter the us from going to war .On 9 October 2006, North Korea announced it had conducted its first successful nuclear weapons test, making the US reluctant to go to war.
On 17 December 2011, the supreme leader of North Korea Kim Jong-il died from a heart attack and the nation was in extreme mourning as if they had lost a family member weather state sponsored propaganda to the world or actual emotion one can judge by looking into videos of his funeral where numerous North Koreans can bee sen crying.
Kim Jong-il's youngest son Kim Jong-un was announced as his successor. Over the following years, North Korea continued to develop its nuclear arsenal despite international condemnation.
Notable tests were performed in 2013 and 2016 And intercontinental ballistic missile testes were carried out in 2017 over japan which really caused fractures in relations resulting in to the president of the US Donald Trump calling Kim Jong un a 'rocket man on a suicide mission' in the UN general Assembly with responses from north Korea calling the statement of Trump 'like a barking dog'.
Concluding the situation, before g.w bush one can see how relation's could have were improving and if the policy of further dialog was implemented by the bush administration who knows maybe North Korea would have been an ally. Its never to late and maybe the US the us should try and adopt the policy of bill Clinton which would turn the situation around but with Trump in power lets not get too optimistic. .
To answer these questions we must first understand its ideology and history. How the country of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea came to be?
North Korea is the northern part of the Korean Peninsula with Pyongyang being its capital. Korea used to be one country but evidently has been separated in two, with the southern part being called South Korea. Between the two there is a heavily fortified Korean Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) and Both countries claim to be the legitimate government of the entire Korean peninsula.Before WWI Korea was seen as any other south east Asian country but WWI would change everything as now the Japanese empire had invaded and conquered the Korean peninsula.
The Koreans not liking the idea of having the Japanese rule over them would fight a guerrilla war trying to liberate there country, one of the guerrilla leaders was the communist Kim Il-sung,
who later became the first 'supreme' leader of North Korea.
At the end of WWII and after the Japanese surrendered in 1945, Korea was divided into two areas, with the north being occupied by the Soviet union and the south by the Americans,
an agreement between the two lead to the official borders being cemented, the same borders we see today.
The soviet's wanted to make there part (North Korea) into a communist regime and the Americans were hell bent on stopping the spread of communism which is also the reason they invaded Vietnam.
The people of both areas north and south wanted these superpowers to leave and become one country again But as we have seen in history proxy wars have severe consequences.
By 1949 both the soviets and the Americans had left the Korean peninsula. The soviets had supported Kim Il-sung as chairman of the Provisional People's Committee for North Korea.
In 1948 Negotiations on reunification failed and separate governments were formed. The socialist Democratic People's Republic of Korea in the north and the capitalist Republic of Korea in the south.
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea was established in the North on 9 September 1948 with Kim Il-sung becoming its ruler.
In 1950 Kim Il-sung suspected the south of indenting an attack on the north he successfully lobbied the soviets to assist him in invading the south which lead to the out break of the the Korean War.
North Korea took control of the south but due to the Americans intervening they had to retreat . The war eventually resulted in a cease fire. to this day a heavily guarded demilitarised zone (DMZ) remains separating the two countries.
Until the 1960's the GDP of both countries remained the same and north Korea after revaluing its Korean won held a stronger currency then its southern counterpart. Growth remained high and development could bee seen. After the fall of the Soviet union in the 70's and china opening up to the west North Korea started to experience a down turn. The situation was deteriorating fast with hyper inflation and the economy on the verge of collapse. Flooding in the mid 1990's swelled the economic crisis, severely damaging crops and infrastructure and led to widespread famine which the government proved incapable of curtailing thus forcing north Korea to take aid from the UN.
Kim Jong-il the son of Kim ill sung slowly began taking over various state affairs. Kim Il-sung died of a heart attack in 1994, in the midst of a standoff with the United States over North Korean
nuclear weapon development. Kim Jong-il declared a three-year period of national mourning before officially announcing his position as the new leader. North Korean efforts to build nuclear weapons were halted under the Agreed Framework, negotiated with U.S. president Bill Clinton and signed in 1994 this resulted in relations becoming somewhat normal.
Kim Jong-il instituted a policy called Songun, or "military first". This policy would be used as a strategy to strengthen the military while deterring coup attempts. Restrictions on travel were
tightened and the state security apparatus was strengthened. He also implemented the policy of Juche, an ideology of national self-reliance This resulted in all means of production (factories) being owned by the state through state-run enterprises and farms. The implementation of juche was an effort to become self sustainable, not requiring the outside world for imports in case trade was stopped in the face of sanctions. Most services such as healthcare, education, housing and food production would become subsidised or state-funded. in the face of such circumstances the administration has reluctantly tolerated illegal black markets while officially maintaining a state socialist economy. Corruption flourished and disillusionment with the regime spread. while in the south the economy was booming with the introduction of technology companies like Samsung would propel the south's economy and the gap between the two countries would become irreversible.
The international environment really changed with the election of U.S. president George W. Bush in 2001. His administration rejected the Agreed Framework which was signed between bill Clinton and North Korea since then The U.S. government has treated North Korea as a rogue state, while they would subsequently increase their efforts to acquire nuclear weapons in order to deter the us from going to war .On 9 October 2006, North Korea announced it had conducted its first successful nuclear weapons test, making the US reluctant to go to war.
On 17 December 2011, the supreme leader of North Korea Kim Jong-il died from a heart attack and the nation was in extreme mourning as if they had lost a family member weather state sponsored propaganda to the world or actual emotion one can judge by looking into videos of his funeral where numerous North Koreans can bee sen crying.
Kim Jong-il's youngest son Kim Jong-un was announced as his successor. Over the following years, North Korea continued to develop its nuclear arsenal despite international condemnation.
Notable tests were performed in 2013 and 2016 And intercontinental ballistic missile testes were carried out in 2017 over japan which really caused fractures in relations resulting in to the president of the US Donald Trump calling Kim Jong un a 'rocket man on a suicide mission' in the UN general Assembly with responses from north Korea calling the statement of Trump 'like a barking dog'.
Concluding the situation, before g.w bush one can see how relation's could have were improving and if the policy of further dialog was implemented by the bush administration who knows maybe North Korea would have been an ally. Its never to late and maybe the US the us should try and adopt the policy of bill Clinton which would turn the situation around but with Trump in power lets not get too optimistic. .
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