Contents:-
I. INTRODUCTION
II. LAND AND RESOURCES
A. Rivers and Lakes
B. Climate
C. Natural Resources
D. Plants and Animals
III. POPULATION
A. Population Characteristics
B. Principal Cities
C. Religion
D. Language
E. Education
F. Culture
IV. ECONOMY
A. Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing
B. Mining
C. Manufacturing
D. Energy
E. Currency and Banking
F. Commerce and Trade
G. Labour
H. Transport
I. Communications
V. GOVERNMENT
A. Executive and Legislature
B. Political Parties
C. Judiciary
D. Local Government
E. Health and Welfare
F. Defence
G. International Organizations
VI. HISTORY
A. Kim Il Sung’s Rise to Power
B. The Post-Korean War Period
C. After Kim Il Sung
Description:-
I INTRODUCTION
II LAND AND RESOURCES
North Korea is extremely mountainous and marked by deep, narrow valleys. A complex system of ranges and spurs extends across the country in a generally north-eastern to south-western direction. The most prominent mountain range is the Nangnim, in the north-central region. Mount Paektu (2,744 m/9,003 ft), on the Chinese border, is the highest peak. Lowland plains comprise only about one fifth of the total area and are largely confined to the country’s western coast and to the several broad river valleys of the west. Fertile alluvial soils are found in these river valleys. Most of the soils in the mountainous regions lack organic material and are relatively infertile.
A Rivers and Lakes
Nearly all the major rivers of North Korea rise in the mountains and flow west to the Yellow Sea. The longest river, the Yalu (Amnok), forms part of the border with China. Other streams include the Taedong, Ch’ong-ch’on, and Chaeryong. Of the major rivers, only the Tumen flows to the eastern coast to empty into the Sea of Japan.
B Climate
North Korea has a continental climate, with hot summers and cold winters. The average July temperature at P’yongyang is 24.4° C (76° F). Winter temperatures at Wonsan, in the south, average -3.9° C (25° F) but are considerably lower in the north. Annual precipitation in most parts of the country is about 1,000 mm (40 in) and is concentrated in the summer months.
C Natural Resources
North Korea is one of the richer nations in Asia in terms of mineral resources. Major reserves are found of coal, iron ore, tungsten, magnesite, and graphite. Among the other minerals present are gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, and molybdenum.
D Plants and Animals
Extensive coniferous forests are found in the country’s mountainous interior. Predominant species include spruce, pine, larch, fir, and cedar. The lowland areas of the west have been deforested and are under cultivation. Because of deforestation, large indigenous mammals of North Korea, which include leopards, tigers, deer, bears, and wolves, are becoming increasingly rare, and are confined to remote forested regions. Bird life includes crane, heron, eagle, and snipe.
III POPULATION
North Korea is one of the most ethnically homogeneous countries in the world, like South Korea, with no racial or linguistic minorities other than a small resident foreign (mainly Chinese) population. The dominant stock is of the Tungusic branch of the Mongol races. Koreans are essentially Mongoloid, but taller on average than Mongols, with lighter skin.
A Population Characteristics
North Korea has a population of 21,968,228 (2001 estimate). The average population density is 182 people per sq km (472 per sq mi). The population, however, is very unevenly distributed and is largely concentrated in the lowland plains of the west. Life expectancy at birth (2001) is 68 years for men and 74 years for women. Urbanization of the North Korean population has progressed rapidly since the 1950s; approximately 62 per cent of the total population of North Korea is now classified as urban.
B Principal Cities
P’yongyang has a population of 2,500,000 (1995 estimate). Other major cities include Chongjin, with a population of 582,480 (1993), Namp’o, population 731,448 (1993), Sinuiju, 326,011 (1993), Wonsan, 300,148 (1993), and Kaesong, 334,433 (1993).
C Religion
Although religious freedom is guaranteed by the North Korean constitution, in actual practice religious activity is discouraged, and about two thirds of the people are declaredly non-religious. Perhaps the most prominent religious tradition belongs to the indigenous Ch’ondogyo (“Religion of the Heavenly Way”), which combines elements of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism.
D Language
The language of Korea, Korean, is a member of the Altaic language family. A phonetic writing system known as Choson'gul (called Han’gul in South Korea) is used.
E Education
Eleven years of education are free and compulsory in North Korea. These include one year of pre-school education, four years of primary school, and six years of secondary school. In the late 1980s some 1.5 million pupils were enrolled annually in primary schools, and another 2.8 million students attended vocational and secondary schools. The principal institution of higher education is Kim Il Sung University (1946) in P’yongyang. Total enrolment in some 280 institutions of higher education exceeds 300,000. The literacy rate is estimated at about 99 per cent.
F Culture
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| Opera House |
IV ECONOMY
With the establishment of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in 1948 all industry was nationalized and agriculture was collectivized. North Korea has operated a centrally planned command economy ever since. Successive economic plans have given emphasis to development of heavy industry and to mechanization of agriculture. The gross national product (GNP) in 1995 was US$20,000 million (US$1,000 per capita). Few reliable statistics are available from North Korea, and estimates are based on South Korean sources. It is estimated that the North Korean economy has recently been contracting, by up to 5 per cent in 1992 and at greater speed since, as an agrarian crisis has taken hold. The estimated national budget for 1992 was US$19,300 million in revenue and expenditure, 40 per cent of which is customarily allocated to military expenditure.
A Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing
Agriculture in North Korea is collectively organized, though some smallholdings exist. Large-scale mechanization, irrigation, and land reclamation have increased crop yields. The principal crops (with their yields for 2000) include rice (2.10 million tonnes), maize (1.23 million), and potatoes (1.96 million). Other important crops are millet, barley, wheat, vegetables, apples, sweet potatoes, and soya beans. Livestock number about 2.97 million pigs, 565,000 cattle, 185,000 sheep, and 12 million chickens. Actual agricultural production is now acknowledged as being in catastrophic decline, owing to severe floods and structural deficiencies, with the country facing frequent widespread famines.
Annual production of roundwood stands at about 7 million cu m (247 million cu ft). North Korea has a modern fishing fleet; the catch in 1997 was about 0.31 million tonnes per year, largely anchovy, tuna, and mackerel.
B Mining
Mining is an important sector of the North Korean economy, and efforts are being made to develop new deposits. The focus has been on iron ore and coal mines, which had, in 1999, outputs of 3.90 million and 79 million tonnes respectively. Other important minerals include tungsten, magnesite, zinc, copper, lead, silver, and gold.
C Manufacturing
Metallurgical industries and the manufacture of heavy machinery represent a major share of North Korea’s national income. Output of pig iron amounted to 6.6 million tonnes per year in the early 1990s; crude steel totalled 8.1 million tonnes. Other manufactures include trucks, diesel locomotives, heavy construction equipment, cement, synthetic fibres, fertilizers, and refined copper, lead, zinc, and aluminium.
D Energy
North Korea is well endowed with hydroelectric resources, which account for nearly 66 per cent of the annual electrical output. In 1993 electricity consumption was about 27 billion kWh. However, a fall-off in energy supplies after 1992—caused by the end of cheap fuel deliveries from China and the former Soviet Union—led to a reported halving of industrial productivity. Exploration for petroleum has been undertaken, but no production has begun as yet. A nuclear power plant under construction is to be supplanted by two light-water reactors provided by the United States and South Korea.
E Currency and Banking
The monetary unit of North Korea is the won, of 100 chon (2.2 won equal US$1; 2001). The official exchange rate bears little relation to the currency’s true worth, which is widely regarded as much less. North Korea has three banks, all state-controlled; the Choson Central Bank is the bank of issue.
F Commerce and Trade
The bulk of North Korea’s foreign trade throughout the post-war period was with the USSR, China, and other Communist countries. Since the end of the Cold War, however, trade has been diversified to include non-Communist countries, notably Japan, Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong, and Australia. The ending of barter trading with the Soviet Union in 1991 was a severe blow to North Korea’s economy. Minerals, metals, rice, and fish constitute the principal exports (worth about US$805 million in 1995). Petroleum, coal, chemicals, and machinery are major imports (US$1,200 million).
G Labour
In 1999 the estimated total work force of North Korea was around 12 million, with about 38 per cent of the work force engaged in agriculture. The major industrial and technical trade unions are affiliated with the General Federation of Trade Unions; also important is the Korean Agricultural Working People’s Union. Professional workers, including artists, writers, lawyers, and scientists, have their own trade organizations.
H Transport
The railway system of North Korea is electrified along 38 per cent of its 8,530 km (5,300 mi) of track. There are about 1999 km (19,387 mi) of roads, of which only 6 per cent are paved. The River Taedong is important to internal trade; the total length of inland waterways is about 2,250 km (1,400 mi). Major ports include Namp’o and Haeju, on the western coast, and Ch’ojin and Wonsan, on the eastern coast.
I Communications
In 1992 North Korea had some 1.1 million telephones. The government-run Korean Central News Agency is the principal distributing source of news in North Korea; several daily newspapers are published. Radio broadcasting is under the auspices of the Korean Central Broadcasting Committee; television broadcasting was instituted in 1969: some 3 million radios and 1 million televisions were in use in 1997. All media are subject to close government control.
V GOVERNMENT
North Korea has a strongly centralized Communist government, and is perhaps the last extant example of totalitarian Stalinism. The government’s structure is set forth in the constitution promulgated in 1972 and amended in 1992 and 1998, which replaced that of 1948.
A Executive and Legislature
Executive power in North Korea is vested in the chair of the National Defence Committee, who is head of state and head of government. The chair is elected by the Supreme People’s Assembly and in turn appoints the members of the National Defence Committee, which is the government’s highest policy-making body. Formerly the head of state was the president, but the constitutional revisions of 1998 left this post as a memorial to Kim Il Sung, who was named “Eternal President”. In practice, the real position of authority is that of Secretary-General of the ruling Korean Workers’ Party (KWP).
The legislature, which in theory is the supreme government organ, is the unicameral Supreme People’s Assembly. Its 687 members are elected by direct vote for five-year terms. The legislature generally meets only several times a year; its day-to-day duties are performed by the standing committee of the assembly.
B Political Parties
The dominant political party, and the actual source of political power, is the Korean Workers’ Party (KWP). Two smaller parties join with the KWP in the Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland.
C Judiciary
The judicial system of North Korea consists of the central court and the provincial and people’s courts. The central court is the state’s highest judiciary authority; its judges are appointed to four-year terms by the standing committee.
D Local Government
North Korea is divided into nine provinces, three special cities, and one special district. Provinces are further subdivided into counties and districts. Each local administrative unit has its elected people’s assembly.
E Health and Welfare
All North Korean citizens are entitled to disability benefits and retirement allowances. Medical care is free and available at people’s clinics throughout the country. In 1993 there were about 62,100 doctors (around 1 per 370 people). The official infant mortality rate in 2001 was 24 deaths per 1,000 live births.
F Defence
The president of North Korea is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces. The KWP maintains political control of the military. Military service of three to ten years is compulsory for all able-bodied males. In 1999 the total military personnel was about 1,082,000.0, distributed as follows: army, 950,000; navy, 46,000; and air force, 86,000. Reserve forces total 4.7 million. North Korea has one of the largest armies in East Asia, though its quality is regarded as poor.
G International Organizations
North Korea is a member of the UN. Otherwise, its membership of international organizations is limited.
VI HISTORY
For the history of the Korean Peninsula before it was partitioned into North and South Korea, see Korea. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) was proclaimed in P’yongyang on September 9, 1948, but a more significant date of inception would perhaps be August 29, 1946, when North Korea’s Communist Party, properly known as the Korean Workers’ Party (KWP), was inaugurated under the leadership of Kim Tubong and Kim Il Sung.
A Kim Il Sung’s Rise to Power
After the establishment of the KWP, Kim Il Sung enjoyed the support of the occupying Soviet forces (until they withdrew in late 1948), and began playing a leading role in Korean affairs north of the 38th parallel. Under the Communist Party and before the establishment of the DPRK, key political and economic reforms had already been made: elimination of moderate and right-wing elements, subordination of the formal government apparatus to Communist Party control, suppression of religious and most other sectarian groups, confiscation of land and wealth formerly belonging to the Japanese or to enemies of the regime, and the initiation of party-directed economic planning and development. Although Kim Il Sung emerged early as the principal leader, others contended for the top position. One of these, Pak Honyong, a Communist from the south, was executed after the Korean War; some believe that Pak was blamed for the loss of the war, the people of South Korea having failed to support the north as Pak had supposedly promised. Kim Tubong and other possible rivals were eliminated by the end of the 1950s, leaving Kim Il Sung in undisputed control. His personal power was buttressed by an extensive personality cult.
B The Post-Korean War Period
The war caused enormous damage, but KWP discipline and forced-labour policies resulted in considerable recovery and development by 1960. At the same time, the North Korean leadership began to turn away from Soviet tutelage, emphasizing the national character of the Korean revolution under Kim Il Sung’s ideology of juche (self-reliance). As the quarrel between China and the USSR intensified, North Korea manoeuvred for even more independence of action. During the 1960s heavy industrial growth was emphasized, but the production of consumer goods and the general standard of living lagged, though in 1970 the estimated GNP per head was still higher than South Korea. Late in the 1960s, North Korea developed an especially aggressive stance towards the south: an assassination team nearly succeeded in killing South Korea’s president, Park Chung Hee. In 1968 the Pueblo, a United States intelligence-gathering vessel, was seized by North Korean gunboats and its crew held for a year. Guerrilla raids were launched on the south, but without much effect. A US reconnaissance plane was shot down in April 1969. These events, rather than weakening the south, stimulated renewed defence measures and were probably counter-productive. They also influenced the formation of a harder political order in the south. A new constitution, promulgated in December 1972, created the post of president for Kim Il Sung.
In the 1970s secret talks with southern officials led to a joint declaration (July 4, 1972) that both sides would seek to develop a dialogue aimed at unification, but by spring 1973 this effort had dissolved in acrimony. Sporadic discussions on unification were held throughout the 1980s.
At the KWP Congress in 1980, Kim Il Sung’s son, Kim Jong Il, was given high ranking in the Politburo and on the Central Committee of the party, placing him in a commanding position to succeed his father. Relations with the South swung between conciliation and aggression; in 1983 North Korean agents killed several South Korean Cabinet members in a bomb attack in Rangoon, but in 1986 the border with South Korea was opened for family visits. In November 1987 North Korean agents planted a bomb on a South Korean airliner which exploded over South East Asia, killing 115 passengers. These apparent shifts in policy may have stemmed from the initiatives of Kim Jong Il, reportedly an advocate of a hard line towards the South. Kim Il Sung was re-elected President in May 1990 for a four-year term. However, his regime’s position was undercut by the collapse of European communism after 1989 and a rush by former Communist nations to establish diplomatic ties with South Korea. The USSR announced the end of barter trade with North Korea in 1990, plunging the economy into crisis.
In 1991 both North and South Korea joined the UN, and the two nations signed accords regarding nuclear weapons and reconciliation. China’s decision in 1992 to establish full relations with South Korea left the North effectively isolated. In 1992 North Korea signed a pact with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to allow their nuclear facilities to be inspected. Widespread domestic unrest was reported following the cessation of aid from other Communist economies. In 1993 the North Korean government refused to let inspectors examine sites suspected of nuclear-weapons production, and threatened to withdraw from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which the government had signed in 1985. In December 1993 the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) said that North Korea had most likely built at least one atomic weapon. Tension rose on the Korean Peninsula, with some advocating a pre-emptive US air strike on suspect sites.
C After Kim Il Sung
Throughout the first half of 1994 the North Korean government continued to resist international pressure and did not allow a full IAEA inspection of alleged nuclear-weapon production sites, announcing its withdrawal from the NPT in June. Kim Il Sung died on July 8, 1994. After widespread national mourning, Kim Jong Il emerged as Head of State, though he delayed formal assumption of titles. The nuclear issue was formally resolved in August 1994 by an agreement between North Korea and the United States under which the latter would establish diplomatic relations and supply the North with new nuclear reactors to replace those with weapons potential. The new North Korean regime appeared somewhat more broadly based than Kim II Sung’s firm dictatorship, and made tentative moves to open its economy to foreign investment and trade. North Korea only finally agreed on implementation of the nuclear agreement in mid-1995.
In the summer of 1995 disastrous flooding severely damaged North Korea’s agricultural sector and raised the possibility of mass starvation. Shipments of food aid from South Korea, Japan, the United States, and the UN were periodically obstructed. Arguments which had delayed implementation of the 1995 nuclear accord were finally settled in December 1995. In April 1996 North Korea sent units into the Demilitarized Zone separating it from South Korea, in defiance of the 1953 armistice which ended the Korean War. Amid reports from a string of defectors of the crisis situation in North Korea, in May 1996 South Korea, Japan, and the United States elected to discontinue food aid following North Korea’s refusal to participate in talks on a permanent settlement to replace the armistice; South Korea resumed shipments in June. The food aid issue was complicated by provocative incidents such as the beaching of a North Korean submarine in South Korea in September 1996 and the pursuit of its infiltration team crew, all but one of whom were captured or killed. North Korea issued an unprecedented apology to the South over the incident in December 1996.
North Korea’s food crisis worsened in 1997, with reports of peasants eating grass and cannibalism. Aid agencies complained that the government was denying them the freedom to work, and other states were reluctant to extend help: the United States over reports that the North Korean military were hoarding food, Japan over the fate of Japanese nationals allegedly kidnapped by North Korean intelligence. A prominent North Korean ideologue, Hwang Jang Yop, who defected to South Korea in February 1997, warned that the desperate North Korean regime was prepared for a total nuclear war as a last act of defiance.
The food crisis continued throughout 1997, with the EU joining relief efforts from May. In July 1997 the official mourning period for Kim Il Sung ended, and in October Kim Jong Il was elected to the vacant post of Secretary-General of the ruling KWP. In December 1997 four-party talks between the two Koreas, the United States, and Russia to reach a permanent peace settlement for the Korean peninsula formally opened in Geneva. With no respite in the North Korean food crisis, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) launched the biggest aid operation in its history in January 1998 to tackle the situation. In a surprise reversal of previous policy, North Korea announced in February 1998 that it was prepared to talk directly to the South. Talks began in Beijing in April after an unexpected invitation from North Korea; after some success on the reuniting of families separated after the Korean War, they broke down on the question of food-aid terms.
In August 1998 North Korea test-fired a ballistic missile over the Sea of Japan, raising fears of escalating tension in the region. In September 1998 Kim Jong Il became official head of state under the newly revised constitution as chair of the National Defence Commission. A report by international aid agencies in November 1998 concluded that almost two thirds of North Korean children were malnourished. In September 1999 the United States announced the easing of long-standing economic and trade sanctions against North Korea, although sanctions did remain on military equipment and on goods that can be used in weapons manufacturing.
On June 14, 2000, South Korea's Kim Dae Jung met the North Korean leader Kim Jong Il at the North Korean capital of P'yóngyang to sign a landmark agreement to improve cooperation between the two countries and to work towards reunification. It was the first time that leaders of the two countries had met since the Korean Peninsula was divided at the 38th parallel in 1945. The five-point declaration called for both sides to work independently towards reunification, initiate governmental contacts to ease border tensions, increase economic cooperation, and begin a range of exchanges. Although the agreement did not address pressing security issues facing both countries, Kim Dae Jung pledged to resolve quickly the fate of dozens of North Korean political prisoners held in South Korea, and North Korea agreed to permit reunions of families divided between the two countries since the 1950-1953 Korean War, the first of which took place in August 2000. Kim Jong Il also accepted an invitation to visit the South Korean capital of Seoul.
Improvements in relations between the two nations looked set to continue in early 2001 when the first official exchange of mail took place between people in North and South Korea—the first written communications allowed between people divided by the Korean War 50 years earlier. The reopening of the Kyongui railway line and roads connecting the two countries were also discussed. However, further advances towards reconciliation remained in question, when talks scheduled for March 2001 were cancelled by North Korea. The cancellation of the talks followed renewed criticism by US President George W. Bush’s government over North Korean security issues.
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