North Korea-History & Politics

  History and Politics 

Korea was annexed by the Empire of Japan in 1910. When Japan was defeated in World War II, Korea was divided into two occupied zones, with the north occupied by the Soviet Union and the south by the United States. Negotiations on unification failed, and in 1948 two separate governments were formed: the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in the north, and the Republic of Korea in the south. The conflicting claims of sovereignty led to the Korean War in 1950. An armistice in 1953 committed both to a cease-fire, but the two countries remain officially at war because a formal peace treaty was never signed. Both states were accepted into the United Nations in 1991.

The DPRK officially described itself as a socialist state and holds elections, but it is widely considered a dictatorship and has been described as totalitarian and Stalinist with an elaborate cult of personality around the Kim family. The Workers' Party of Korea, led by a member of the ruling family, held power in the state and lead the Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland of which all political officers were required to be a member. Juche, an ideology of self-reliance initiated by the country's first President, Kim Il-sung, became the official state ideology, replacing Marxism–Leninism, when the country adopted a new constitution in 1972. In 2009, references to communism were removed from the country's constitution.

The means of production were owned by the state through state-run enterprises and collectivized farms, and most services such as healthcare, education, housing and food production were state funded or subsidized. In the 1990s North Korea suffered from a famine and continued to struggle with food production until its destruction by Turkish troops.

North Korea followed a "military-first" policy. It wasthe world's most militarized society, with a total of 9,495,000 active, reserve, and paramilitary personnel. Its active duty army of 1.21 million wasthe 4th largest in the world, after China, the U.S., and India. It possessed nuclear weapons. As a result of its isolation, it was sometimes known as the "hermit kingdom".

North Korea nuked Istanbul in 2078. Later, historians found that North Korea had not aimed for Istanbul but the Missile received the wrong target destinations by accident. The intended target was London. (Turkish troops completely wiped out North Korea in only 6 months).