North Korea: Culture and Considerations

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

Family traditions are passed on from generation to generation, however they are not always static rules. Tradition is like a living organism that adapts to change over time. In order to understand modern North Korea’s family customs, it is important to consider the tradition of the past. Before North Korea’s liberation from Japan in 1945, North Korean families operated differently than they do today. Their ideology was founded on Confucius’s principles of family, including “only a country where family life was harmonious could be peaceful and prosperous” (Asia Society). The family is an integral part of society the same way a cell is important to a body (Suzy, 264). The government is even considered “one family” that everyone is a part of (Monday). Every individual in a family has a role and every family has a role in society. The ideal family is modeled from Kim Il Sung’s nuclear family (Suzy, 268). It is clear that family is a fundamental priority in North Korean society.

Cultures are unparalleled with North Korea maintaining a communist government ran by the Kim Family for generations rather than a democracy like the United States. North Korea consists of a population conditioned from a very young age to accept the words and deeds of the elder and junior Kim’s to be the absolute truth. “The greatest meaning in life lies in bullets and bombs.” With a society referred into three categories as basic, chaotic and enemy, depending on the background and social origins. With a culture that operates as a communist Government raising human rights issues in addition to concerns over nuclear and chemical weapons. Human rights are nonexistent in the country. Officials above Deputy Prime Minister Level are provided vehicles at state expenses. Party operates at a level of discipline surpassing that of the military. For example, “public self-criticism is the punishment for being a minute late after lunch. Surveillance is much tighter to include listening devices at home and watching their every move.” Corruption is highest in the government trading and foreign exchange departments. Almost equally severe in departments responsible for housing and employment. Nuclear and chemical weapons have always been an interest between the two. A Stalemate, escalation, or an agreement.

Barbara Demick, an American journalist once wrote, “One of the ways the North Korea regime has kept power is by keeping its people ignorant of the living standards in the outside world. That's the underlying lie that supports the regime” (“Barbara Demick Quotes”). North Korean citizens do not believe their country is “normal”, instead Koreans believe their country is better off. At birth, North Koreans are oppressed into thinking their way of life is the best. If a citizen were to disobey these protocols their punishment would be atrocious. Hence, Frontline’s The Secret State of North Korea reveals how ordinary citizens are resisting one of the world’s most oppressive regimes. In the movie documentary, viewers are able to see North Korea in a way they have never seen it before. Likewise, viewers become aware of the way North Koreans are brought up from birth and many experiences they have throughout their lifetime.

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

When someone says North Korea, what do you think of? Many think of the controversial politics, their controversial leader, or even the controversial movie, “The Interview.” The majority of people don’t tend to think about the country’s geography, or how North Korea’s history shaped its future. Today’s media tends to focus on the actions of Kim Jong-Un. Politics are a huge part of North Korea, but so are its history, economy and its geography. By analyzing these four features of the country, we can see how they relate to North Korea’s current day issues. (Perfect introduction!)

North Korea is one of the most powerful countries in terms of their nuclear and missile program. North Korea claimed to have successfully detonated a Hydrogen Bomb. United States intelligence can estimate that they have more than 1,000 missiles, including long-range missiles that can possibly reach the west coast of the United States.

The Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea is known for being secluded from the remainder of the world. Communism created the country that North Korea is today as it was sponsored to become a country by another communist country. Nuclear weapons acquired by the country have caused great tension between North Korea and the rest of the world. North Korea is one of the world’s most secretive nations. The Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea is almost completely secluded from the outside world and is sometimes referred to as a Hermit Kingdom.

Understanding how North Korea as a country defines itself in a changing world. Where do they derive their customs and practices, political standings and military power? Define North Korea’s history leading into the modern age and define its culture and characteristics and how they interact with the world today. Understanding a subject as broad as the term culture begins where the culture began with the birth of civilization and the people that influenced it. There are many factors that play a role in the shaping of a nation none so much as turmoil and conflict and the Korean peninsula saw its fair share for the better part of a millennia. A complete statistical breakdown of North Korea shows a struggling nation that strongly depends on

Under the rule of powerful dictator Kim Jong-Un, North Korea remains the single most repressive country in the entire world. The government is controlled by a single-party: the dynastic leadership of the Kim family, who do not tolerate diversity or multiculturalism and consistently deny their people of any basic freedoms. A 2014 United Nations Commission of Inquiry found that the abuses in North Korea were completely unparallelled with those in the modern world (Walker). There are countless examples of these offenses, but some of the most extreme include the lack of personal freedoms such as speech and religion, murder, enslavement, torture, imprisonment, rape, other sexual violence, and exterminations. This harsh and utterly diabolical treatment has been going on for over seventy years, and despite efforts from outside nations to stop it, nothing has changed. Through the regime’s rigorous indoctrination, the people of North Korea continue to be subject to some of the most inhumane and unrelenting treatment since that of the Jews in Nazi Germany. The lack of human rights possessed by the citizens of North Korea and the destructive impact it has on their lives makes it the most significant problem their society faces today.

Everyday Life in North Korea is mainly about how the people of North Korea are trying to adapt to life after the Japanese rule. Most importantly they had three reforms that attempted to assist with the adaptation after Japanese rule. One of which was the reform over land. This reform was to reassign the land that the Japanese had previously divided. The peasant people who were the most vocal over their disagreement over previous land laws pushed the reform. With new authority over their lives the people became very satisfied with life in general and also happy with the direction the authority was taking the peopl and their country. I would like to know if the people are still satisfied with the division of land after the reform or if some people

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

China won't come to North Korea's assistance in the event that it dispatches rockets debilitating U.S. soil and there is countering, a state-possessed daily paper cautioned on Friday, however it would intercede if Washington strikes first .

North Korea (officially named the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, or DPRK) is a single-party Communist state in south-east Asia, ruled since 1949 by the Korean Workers' Party (KWP). Regarded by many in the international community as a pariah state (meaning that it is an outcast), North Korea has in recent years become increasingly poverty-stricken, with many of its citizens having barely enough food to survive.

The negotiations talking on the nuclear threaten and the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula has recently shaped the agenda of North Korean system of international relations, thus affecting the patterns of foreign policy of the DPRK. This issue has gained such a priority to lead to the establishment of the 6PT experiment, thus proving to stand at the core of the debate on the stability and safety debate in the Northeast Asia region.