North Korea A World Cultures Case Study. Ancient History Korea's unified history dates at least...
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Transcript of North Korea A World Cultures Case Study. Ancient History Korea's unified history dates at least...
North KoreaA World Cultures Case Study
Ancient History
Korea's unified history dates at least from the kingdom of Silla (c.670–935), which unified the peninsula in the seventh century
The Buddhist-influenced kingdom of Koryo (935–1392) followed. (The English name "Korea" comes from "Koryo.")
The Yi dynasty (1392–1910) adopted Confucianism as the state ideology
Japan came to rule the Koreans directly, when that country subordinated the Yi royal family in the colonial annexation of 1910
Japanese Rule of Korea Japan in 1938 outlawed use of Korean language in an attempt to
eradicate Korean national identity
Deep lament and resentment toward invaders prevailed in Korean literature and music
During World War II, Japan took more and more of Korea’s resources, including its people, to feed its imperial war machine
Japanese surrender on August 15, 1945, causes the peninsula to come under divided rule: the USSR occupied Korea north of 38th parallel, while U.S. occupied southern section
Emergence of North Korea
The Soviets endorsed a group of former guerrilla fighters as national leaders of North Korea
This included a thirty-two-year-old legendary anti-Japanese guerrilla fighter, Kim Il Sung
The North Korean state was founded on September 9, 1948, three weeks after American support of the South Korean state emerged, under leader Syngman Rhee
With Soviet support, the northern leaders had carried out socioeconomic reforms including free distribution of land to the farmers, a gender equality law, and public ownership of key industries
Korean War (1950-53)
Soviet Union and the United States could not agree on how to unify Korea
Forces removed in 1949, Korea remained divided
June 24, 1950: North Korea invaded South Korea
North Korea decided to unify the country by force
June 25, 1950 - the armies of North Korea crossed the 38th parallel into South Korea
South Koreans were no match for the north
gained control over much of South Korea
Truman reacted quickly by ordering the use of limited American air and sea forces in Korea
no declaration of war from Congress
called it a "police action" in the name of containment
Legacy of Korean War
Neither Korea signed armistice
State of war continues
Both Koreas considered themselves the only legitimate authority
Both Koreas had authoritarian dictatorships at least through 1987
40,000 US troops remain to guard South Korea
US supports pro-American authoritarian regimes
North Korea: Chinese troops leave
North argues that South Korea is an occupied country, not independent
North sees US troops as a threat
http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/22/world/asia/korea-demilitarized-zone/
Kim Il Sung
Juche Ideology
National independence
Economic independence
Military independence
Focus on people’s needs
Aligned with USSR and China
Plays them off against each other until 1991 (Communism fails in USSR; becomes Russia)
Standard pattern of brinksmanship to get what he wants
Achievements (?) after Korean War 1960s: North Korea was richer than the South
everybody had shelter and clothing
nearly eliminated illiteracy
1970: every village was wired for electricity
VERY dependent on Communist allies
oil, rice, fertilizer, pharmaceutical, industrial equipment, trucks, cars, medical equipment
when Communism starts failing around the world, North Korea is left without
electricity starts to become sporadic, eventually only on Kim holidays
wealth squandered on military
25% of gross national product spent on military
one million men under arms (4th largest in world)
Kim Il Sung harnessed power of faith didn't want to be like Stalin; wanted to be like Santa Claus
wanted to be regarded as a father supernatural abilities
all families were to have a framed picture of the great leader inspectors would stop by unannounced to make sure it was in perfect
order
created anticonsumerist society government provided everything one needed (in theory)
2 sets of clothes per year - winter and summer
food provided in public distribution style staples of rice, soy sauce, cooking oil, gochujang (bean paste)
national holidays - might get pork or dried fish Holiday being Kim family birthdays
North Korean jobs were paid more like an allowance movies, haircuts, train tickets, make up, cigarettes, etc.
1990s North Korean Famine
The famine stemmed from a variety of factors
Economic mismanagement and the loss of Soviet support caused food production and imports to decline rapidly
A series of floods and droughts exacerbated the crisis, but were not its direct cause
The government proved too inflexible to effectively curtail the disaster
Estimates of the death toll vary widely
Out of a total population of approximately 24 million, somewhere between 240,000 and 3,500,000 North Koreans died from starvation or hunger-related illnesses, with the deaths peaking in 1997
Recent research suggests the likely range of excess deaths between 1993 and 2000 was between 500,000 and 600,000
By 1997, population was getting 128 grams (or 1 cup) of food per day from government
Propaganda machine urged its people on the "Arduous March" as a metaphor to remind the population that it could be worse
Dawn of a New Kim
Kim Il Sung died July 8, 1994
people began converging on statues on Kim Il Sung to pay their respects
grief was legitimate and orchestrated; became a patriotic obligation
orchestrated parades and mourning
body embalmed and put in underground mausoleum, much like V.I. Lenin
son Kim Jong Il had become leader; Kim Il Sung was later named the eternal president
Kim Jong Il (1994-2011)
continual downward spiral of economy
most of famine under Kim Jong Il
nuclear proliferation
2006 - declared they had successfully conducted their first nuclear test
2007 - confirmed that North Korea has nuclear weapons
even after the advent of cell phones and the internet, technology is kept strictly monitored to keep population oblivious to outside world
militaristic activities began to escalate
2008 - reports of Kim Jong Il to be in poor health
died in 2011; son Kim Jong Un became leader
lack of experience became an issue
Kim Jong Un (2011-present)
http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2015/02/kim-jong-un-north-korea-understanding
Pyongyang
Capital of North Korea
Population: 3.2 million (2008)
erupted literally from scratch after the Korean War
Kim Il Sung wanted to showcase North Korean might
foreigners will be fooled to believe that the city is recovering from "Arduous March"
homeless, peasants, or undernourished are removed from city
women with traditional clothing will pretend to read books on benches
foreigners are treated to multicourse banquets, Internet access, electricity
gone as soon as tourists leave
Black Markets
North Korea may have begun with communist principles in mind, but very capitalist black markets have arisen despite government crackdowns
Some black market merchants even manage to move goods across the border from China, bringing in food and raw materials
Smuggled South Korean DVDs combat the propaganda of the Kim regime, which tells its citizens that South Koreans are worse off than they
Vehicle ownership in North Korea is allowed only for the military and the government
travel for citizens is severely restricted
in the 1990s, corrupt military and party elite made a habit of registering vehicles and then hiring private drivers to pick up people who needed transportation, essentially creating private taxi companies that are crucial to smuggling operations around the country
Demography
Population: 24,851,627 (July 2014 est.)
Literacy Rate: 100%
Language: Korean (dialect different than the South)
Social Classes government officially claims that North Korea is a classless society
clearly a class society starkly divided between the politically powerful and politically powerless
The highest ranking people in North Korea are Kim Il Sung's family and relatives, followed by his old comrades and their families
The next level is made up of the families of Korean War veterans and anti-South Korea sabotage officers
The vast majority of North Koreans are ordinary citizens who are divided and subdivided into ranks according to their family history and revolutionary or unrevolutionary origin
Status is regularly reviewed, and if any member of the family commits an antirevolutionary crime, other members of the family are also demoted in status
Prison Camps
Some 154,000 North Koreans live in prison camps
six camps, surrounded by electrified barbed wire
Two camps allow for some "rehabilitation" and release of prisoner
The rest are prisons for life
Torture, malnutrition, slave labor and public execution are ways of life in the camps
it is estimated that 40 percent of camp prisoners die of malnutrition
Food
The foundation of North Korean meals include cold noodles (Naung-myon), tofu, short-grain rice and porridge
Meats such as poultry, duck and beef are also North Korean staples, as are seafood and veggies While North Korean cuisine has a reputation for being milder than South Korean food, North
Koreans use a variety of savory broths and condiments, such as bean paste, sesame oil, garlic, ginger, pepper flakes and chile paste, to flavor dishes
Due to food shortages in the 1990s and early 2000s, government handouts of rice and meat have been sporadic at best
Kimchi is generally composed of cabbage or cucumbers soaked in a ginger, garlic and chile brine and often flavored with bean paste
Traditionally, North Koreans made kimchi to last the entire winter, storing the brined vegetables in jars, but that practice has decreased due to modern refrigeration as well as the country’s food shortages in the early 2000s