Cultural Analysis of North Korea Essay

North Korea, officially, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, but with the practice of isolationism by their totalitarian communist government, it has also become known as the mysterious “Hermit Kingdom.” This small country remains inaccessible to but, a few due to economic sanctions and ongoing hostilities spanning decades with its southern neighboring country, the United States supported, South Korea. In addition to a complicated past and the regimes, emphasis on self-reliance to limit outside influence, North Korea, has successfully insulated itself from the rest of the world becoming detached and secluded. To know North Korea, you must understand the complex history of when Korea was as a whole nation and of

North Korea, formally known as the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a relic of the Cold War and the world’s last remaining totalitarian Stalinist dictatorship. Arguably the most secretive state in the world, North Korea poses a unique set of challenges to the world, especially to its democratic and capitalist neighbor, South Korea, formally known as the Republic of Korea (ROK). As one of the last remnants of the Cold War era, North Korea remains an anomaly of the international system due to its unpredictable nature and disregard for international norms. With the recent bombardment of the South Korean Island of Yeongpyong and the sinking of the warship Cheonan, tensions between the two Koreas are at the lowest point since

North Korea as we know is a communist country ruled by Kim Jong-Un. North Korea has been under the State’s radar from the nuclear threats to their human rights. They spark United State’s interest once more when the previous leader passed away and the duty was passed to the youngest son and now we are trying to dig deeper into the secrets that North Korea has been hiding away with the their barred wire to keep others from coming in. With the help of South Korea, we can explore the different levels of torture, inhumane activates, and the new leadership of Kim Jong-Un.

The announcement of Kim-Il Sung’s death in 1994 put the whole country at grief. Everyone in the country gathered by the statues of Kim-Il Sung to pay their respects. It was this ceremony at which many citizens realized the faults of the leader and soon after began noticing the issues of the regime and leadership. As an act of rebellion, people would watch forbidden Korean shows and read Western novels. Soon, many experiences a shift in how they viewed the outside world and North Korea. However many believers grieved the death of Kim-Il Sung as much as the death of their relatives. Most North Koreans couldn’t believe that the invincible, God like leader has died. More extreme nationalists willingly starved to death becuase living without the leader was unthinkable.

Within the book the topics of domestic surveillance and the use of organizations to uphold this surveillance was discussed. The control of the ideologies of the people in North Korea and the importance of that control is shown in this quote "Within any society, dominant elites are capable of controlling the inflow of information and influencing the values and behavior of the majority...This is why the organized life is so important for the continuous survival of North Korea's system. It should be seen as one of, admittedly, many ways of exposing North Koreans to the information the regime considers necessary for manufacturing the "correct" attitude to the world" (Lankov Kwak Cho 210). The organizations discussed within the research article

North Korea’s regime has a tight grip on its citizens. The surveillance system is oppressive as well an invasion to the citizen’s human rights. But in North Korea the words “human rights” don’t exist, because the regime has such a harsh oppressive grip on them. There’s a stark contrast between the oppressive grip of North Korea and their bordering neighbor of South Korea because of their prison camps that are installed into their society. In comparison, North Korea is becoming eerily similar to the Soviet Union during Stalin’s reign.

North Korea has been a place of conflict both domestically and internationally since its establishment in 1948. Although most of the talk around the world is concerning how North Korea is a big threat to other countries, their internal troubles are far more catastrophic and costly. The main domestic problem that North Korea faces is the existence of concentration camps that are not for prisoners of war, but for their own people. These camps encourage the mistreatment of North Korean citizens, who are trapped in these societies defenselessly. The effects of these camps has, and will continue to be, detrimental to North Korean society. The establishment of political prison camps in North Korea has lead to constant dehumanization of their people,

Kim Jong-un is the present leader of North Korea who took the full power of the country being still young, but for his father he was the most prepared of his descendance. He took over in a country in poverty, with a high military preparation and especially well-developed nuclear weapon technology. At the same time, Kim Jong-un has made history in his territory and is seen as a leader that is willing to improve the population’s needs, including the economic.

Since their independence from Japan in 1945, there has been great strife between the communist Koreans and the democratic Koreans. After the two sides went to war, aided by Russia and the U.S.A respectively, they split the nation along the 38th parallel. Since the 1950’s the southern, democratic, state has flourished into one of the most highly developed nations in Asia. The communist, northern, Koreans have been under the microscope of the American people. Kim Il-Sung, the people’s popular leader of the communist party, allied himself with powerful communist nations: The USSR and China, primarily. The northern state has diminished into a militarized dictatorship. This militant nation has subjected

North Korea is an extreme isolated country and is known for continuously violating human rights. Defectors, North Koreans who escaped the isolated country, “continue to report that North Korea maintains a record of consistent, severe human rights violations, stemming from the government’s total control over all activity”(North Korea: Government). The similarities between North Korean society and the society in the dystopian novel 1984 by George Orwell are very much alike. A government constructed by sole trust in a supreme leader, complete control over the media, and sectioned ministries with individual roles that restrict the people from various free will behaviors and thoughts are the factors that have facilitated the control over the

In 2000, South Korean president Kim Dae Jung and the North Korean leader Kim Jong Il met for inter- Korean summit. (Jung, Kim Dae) “7.4 Jointment Statement” of 1972 pledged that Korea would work for peaceful reunification. (Korean unification: a new kind of peacebuilding project: Professor Myoung-Kyu Park is the current director of the Institute for Peace and Unification Studies at Seoul National University) Such peaceful reunification would have to follow North Korea’s collapse and its absorption to South Korea. It is difficult to predict when North Korea would collapse, but economic and social problems arising within North Korea provides reasons that collapse is a possible scenario. (Bennett, Bruce W) North Korea is collapsing economically due to crop failures. According to the U.N. Food program, North Korean food stocks are critically low and distribution system is malfunctioning. (Leitich, Keith A) Historically, North Korea has been more industrialized than the South. However, in the 1970s, South Korea’s GDP increased and in 2011, ROK’s GDP grew up to about $31,700, while North Korea’s was about $1,800. As the economy is malfunctioning, North Koreans’ strong belief of Kim family and the government is also collapsing. Despite of North Korea’s effort to prevent citizens from outside informations, people are being exposed to the informations through North Korean defectors and smuggled South Korean dvds. More people are willing to escape from the country as North Korean defectors to South in 2016 increased by 10.9% compared to the previous year. Moreover, as food is in short supply in N. Korea, military is also weakening making it less likely for N. Korea to be able to start a war. (Bennett, Bruce

North Korea is known worldwide as “The Hermit Country”, for being extremely reserved and closed off to the rest of the world. The country is currently under the complete dictatorship of Kim Jong Un, descendent of the Kim Dynasty, a three generation linage of powerful and influential leaders of North Korea. Because the country is so reserved and isolated only a number of outsiders are allowed in the country itself. The few that are allowed are only shown a staged view of the county’s normalcy and surpluses. Behind this painted picture lies the fact that most of North Korea’s citizens are living under extreme and inhumane conditions; citizens suffering from famine, manipulation, and many repressed forms of freedom.

North Korea defines its military actions as part of a historical continuum and…will continue to use force as the single most important policy tool in the foreseeable future” –says Narushige Michishita, Deputy Director of Japan Ministry of Defense. . The Korean Peninsula is the last remaining division of Cold War along its Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). To the south lies the Republic of Korea (ROK), which is one of the world’s fastest growing economies and to its north lies the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), better known as North Korea, a country of continued repression and seclusion from the outside world. The succession Communist Kim-regime has an iron fist reign over the DPRK since the country’s formation in 1948, stands as the

North Korea is a country that is entirely isolated from the rest of the world. The country is approximately estimated to the size of Mississippi, and contains about twenty three million people. Pyongyang, its capital is completely controlled by the leader named Kim Jong Il, who is an absolute dictator. The border that is a hundred forty eight miles long holds great attribute to their country. North Korea is considered to be one of the most secretive countries in the world, and is viewed as an intelligence black hole. Their military is one of the greatest in the world and continuously upholds its position by ensuring the safety of those who have long settled there. Behind those fences, North Korea sustains an incredible and well suited army that can withstand any matter that may be or come across as harmful. Additionally to that they now contain nuclear weapons that they can use if threatened. This

North Korea appears on the international stage as a country existing beyond the world we all know. It isolates its citizens from the rest of international community and does not obey any rules determined by international law, but requires respect and recognition. Moreover, North Korea is one of the countries that remains aggressive towards its neighbors and applies various terrorist techniques, i.e. illegal contraband, political terror and mass abductions of other countries’ citizens in its foreign policy. The reasons for which the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) behaves so unpredictably and irrationally are diversified. First of all, the DPRK as a country is managed very irrationally – regimes of Kim Il-sung and