North Korea, is currently known as an infamous country worldwide due to its dictatorial regime and its ruler Kim Jong, where civil rights are zero. Do you want to know the history of Uttara Kriya, then you are at the right place. In this article, we will know the history of North Korea, in which we will study the history of North Korea in English from its birth till now.
History of North Korea in English
Did you know, the history of North Korea begins with the Japanese occupation of Korea, which ended in 1945 with the end of World War II? Korea was then divided in two by the 38th parallel: the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) took control. United States Army of the North and South. It established two independent governments in 1948, the North and the South, each claiming sovereignty over the whole of Korea.
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Rising tensions between the North and South governments led to the Korean War when on June 25, 1950, North Korean forces crossed the 38th parallel (which served as a border) and attacked. The war continued until July 27, 1953, when the United Nations (UN) committee, volunteers from the People’s Republic of China, and North Korea signed the Korean War Armistice. A demilitarized zone was established to divide the two countries.
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North Korea was led by Kim Il-sung from 1948 until his death on July 8, 1994. Later, on October 8, 1997, his son Kim Jong-il was appointed General Secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea. In 1998, he was named chairman of the National Defense Commission and his position was declared the “highest position in the state”. International relations generally improved. A historic North-South summit also took place in June 2000. However, tensions have risen again with North Korea restarting its nuclear weapons program.
During the rule of Kim Jong-il in the late 1990s, the country’s economy declined rapidly and food shortages became apparent in many areas. According to some aid organizations, an unknown but large number of people died as a result of the famine, which was exacerbated by a decline in the food distribution system. Many North Koreans entered China illegally in search of food.
North Korea is one of the most isolated places in the world, with severe restrictions on entering or leaving the country. The press is controlled by the state and mass organizations, and the Juche ideology, which includes not depending on others, is the official government.
In recent years, its nuclear program has sparked controversy among nuclear states, particularly the United States, over its military development objectives. While the North Korean government argues that nuclear weapons development is for deterrence and ultimately defense purposes, the US administration, and the European Union consider North Korea’s possession of nuclear war material illegal.
Division of Korea
The Japanese military occupation of Korea ended with the end of World War II and the surrender of Japan, which was announced on August 15, 1945. To annex Manchuria, Korea and Sakhalin, and the Kuril Islands. On August 10, the US government, which did not have troops stationed on the peninsula at the time, ordered a demarcation of the two occupation zones and a demarcation along the 38th parallel arbitrarily set, which the US government quickly accepted. took.
After three years in which various unification projects failed, on August 15, 1948, the Americans created the Republic of Korea in the south, headed by Syngman Rhee, a veteran politician in exile in Hawaii and an opponent of the Japanese invasion of Korea. In response, the Russians recognized the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea on 9 September with a government headed by Kim Il-sung, who had fought against the Japanese since 1932, considering him one of the most popular Korean guerrilla leaders and dangerous. Were.
The government of the north adopted an authoritarian form and the one of the south began to suppress pro-communist guerrillas and other movements of the left, but both regimes, once the occupying forces had retreated, equally wanted to keep the country under their control. were willing to subdue.
Border provocations followed, and both Ri and Kim-il-sung requested support for an invasion, but the US and the Soviets at first declined to grant it, although Stalin eventually gave limited support to the North Korean leader and Conditioned on Mao’s approval. Mao reacted discreetly and asked Stalin to confirm Kim’s version, while the latter ordered that the Chinese be excluded from any military plans, including concealing the date of the attack from them.
Korean War 1950
As war broke out at dawn on June 25, 1950, the Korean People’s Army crossed the 38th parallel and reached the gates of Seoul in only three days. June, thanks to the fact that the USSR did not exercise its right to veto B, a UN Security Council resolution in support of international military intervention, although they could not stop the advance of the North Koreans, who attacked in late August. had established its dominance over almost the entire peninsula.
However, after landing at Inchon on 15 September at Inchon, along the lines of the exhausted Northern Army, the Americans advanced rapidly and took Seoul on 26 October and Pyongyang on 19 October. That same day, Mao decided to intervene directly.
The “Chinese People’s Volunteer Army”, led by Peng Dehui, initially inflicted heavy defeats on the Americans (to the extent that MacArthur came to Pei to propose the use of nuclear weapons) and captured Seoul on January 4, 1951. recaptured.
A month later the Americans counterattacked, captured Seoul, and advanced towards the 38th parallel, around which they built a strong line of defense. The war then entered a phase of stalemate, although North Korea’s heavy bombardment continued until an armistice was signed at Panmunjom on 27 July 1953, restoring the pre-war 38th parallel border. However, it did not culminate in a peace treaty.
Armistice
Armistice talks, which began in July 1951, were finally concluded on July 27, 1953, at Panmunjeom in the present-day Korean Demilitarized Zone (ZDM). The armistice agreement was signed by the North Korean military, the Chinese People’s Volunteers, and the United States and the Republic of Korea supported by the United Nations Command. No peace treaty has been signed yet.
Communist tradition
North Korea was led by Kim Il-sung from 1948 until his death on July 8, 1994. Later, on October 8, 1997, his son Kim Jong-il was elected as the General Secretary of the Korean Party by the Supreme People’s Assembly. activists and in 1998 as chairman of the National Defense Commission and his status was proclaimed as the “supreme office of the state”, following a reform of the country’s constitution, elaborated in 1972, the memory of Kim Il Sung The post of Chairman has been left vacant.
the economic condition of North Korea
GNP per capita in North Korea nearly quadrupled between 1953 and 1960 ($55 to $208), while it remained nearly stagnant in South Korea ($56 to $60). Historian Bruce Cummings noted that: “An internal CIA report acknowledged various achievements of the regime: care for children and especially orphans, a “radical change” in the status of women, free medical care and preventive medicine, infant mortality, and Life expectancy compared to most advanced countries.
International relations generally improved during the Bill Clinton administration. There was also a historic summit between Seoul and Pyongyang in June 2000.
Later, in 2008, the then President of the United States, George Walker Bush, changed his policies towards North Korea, demanding disarmament and suspension of its nuclear weapons program; For its part, Pyongyang asked in return to remove its country from the terrorism blacklist and that the United States supplies it with fuel and energy.
Famine in North Korea
During the rule of Kim Jong-il in the late 1990s, the country’s economy deteriorated significantly and food shortages became apparent in many areas due to heavy rains and floods in North Korean territory.
Official figures provided by the “Committee for the Rehabilitation of the Victims of North Korea” estimate the number of deaths due to the famine that hit the country between 1995 and 1998 at 220,000; 1617 However, according to some humanitarian organizations, an unknown but large number of people—some say as many as three million; The Economist estimates that between 400,000 and 500,000 died as a result, exacerbated by a collapse in the food distribution system. Many North Koreans entered China illegally in search of food.
North Korea is one of the most isolated places in the world, with severe restrictions on people entering or leaving the country. The press is controlled by the state and mass organizations, which are governed by the principles of Juche thought, a Korean interpretation of socialism.
El 17 de diciembre de 2011, el Líder Supremo Kim Jong-il murió durante un viaje en tren. Su hijo, el joven Kim Jong-un, quien fue nombrado sucesor del gobierno el 28 de septiembre de 2010, asumió el cargo de jefe de Estado.
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2013 Korean crisis
The 2013 Korean Crisis was an escalation of tensions in February 2013 due to a nuclear test carried out by North Korea in response to United Nations Security Council Resolution 2087, requested by the United States, which gave it permission to launch the Kwangmyeongsong 3-2 satellite was approved for.
The nuclear test led the United States to once again request the Security Council to impose more sanctions against the North Korean government, which happened through Resolution 2094. which they carry out annually. In response to these moves, North Korea canceled its non-aggression pact with South Korea and cut direct lines of communication with its neighbor.
On March 29, two nuclear-capable US B-2A bombers launched missiles over the Korean Sea, calling Pyongyang the start of a war against their nation. Del Norte announced the entry into a “state of war.”
As of mid-April, both South and North Korea have made proposals to start talks between the parties, but they have not been accepted by their counterparts due to the initial conditions for the meeting.
Since the end of the Korean War with an armistice in 1953, tensions on the Korean peninsula have never abated due to a succession of various military moves by both countries and other regional powers on both sides of the border and in adjacent seas. . ,
North Korea’s nuclear test
Starting in January 2016, North Korea conducted nuclear tests at its Punggye-Ri nuclear test site, about 50 km northwest of the city of Kilju, alarming the international community.
On April 20, 2018, Kim Jong announced the suspension and shutdown of nuclear programs.
The inter-Korean summit between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un took place on April 27, 2018.
State of education in North Korea
The 2008 census listed the entire population as literate. An 11-year free, compulsory cycle of primary and secondary education is provided in more than 27,000 nursery schools, 14,000 kindergartens, 4,800 four-year primary, and 4,700 six-year secondary schools. 77% of males and 79% of females aged 30–34 have completed secondary school. An additional 300 universities and colleges provide higher education.
Most graduates from the compulsory program do not attend university, but begin their compulsory military service or go on to work on farms or in factories. The main drawbacks of higher education are the heavy presence of ideological subjects, including 50% of courses in social studies and 20% in science, and an imbalance in the curriculum. Too much emphasis is laid on the study of natural sciences while social sciences are neglected. Heuristics are actively implemented throughout the system to develop students’ independence and creativity. In 1978, the study of Russian and English was made compulsory in upper middle schools.
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Language in Korea
North Korea shares the Korean language with South Korea, although some dialectal differences exist between the two Koreas. North Koreans refer to their Pyongyang dialect as Munhwao (“cultured language”), in contrast to the dialects of South Korea, particularly the Seoul dialect or P’yeojun’o (“standard language”), due to its use is seen as extinct. Loanwords from Chinese and European languages (especially English). Words of Chinese, Manchu, or Western origin have been dropped from the mouthpiece, with the use of Chinese Hancha characters. The written language uses only the Chosongul (Hangul) phonetic alphabet, which was developed under Sejong the Great (1418–1450).
Religion in North Korea
Officially, North Korea is an atheist state. Although its constitution guarantees freedom of religion in Article 68, the principle is limited by the requirement that religion not be used as an excuse to harm the state, introduce foreign forces, or harm the existing social order Could
Despite this constitutional guarantee of freedom of religion and the right to religious ceremonies, the religious practice remains restricted, according to Human Rights Watch. Although conversion is prohibited due to concerns about foreign influence, the number of Christian church-goers more than doubled between the late 1980s and the early 2000s, due to the recruitment of Christians who had previously been privately or Worshiped in small home churches. The Open Doors Mission, a Protestant group based in the United States and founded during the Cold War era, claims that the most severe persecution of Christians in the world occurs in North Korea.
There are no known official statistics on religions in North Korea. According to Religious Intelligence in 2007, 64% of the population is irreligious, 16% follow Korean Shamanism, 14% follow Chondoism, 4% are Buddhist, and 2% are Christian. Amnesty International has expressed concern about religious persecution in North Korea.
Pro-North groups such as the Pactu Solidarity Alliance refute these claims, saying that many religious facilities exist across the country. Some shrines are located at foreign embassies in the capital, Pyongyang. Pyongyang has five Christian churches built with state funds: three Protestant, one Roman Catholic, and one Russian Orthodox. Critics claim that these are showcases for foreigners.
Buddhism and Confucianism still influence spirituality. Chondoism (“Heavenly Way”) is an indigenous syncretic faith combining elements of Korean shamanism, Buddhism, Taoism, and Catholicism that are officially represented by the WPK-controlled Chondoist Chongu Party. Chondoism is recognized and supported by the government, seen as an indigenous form of “revolutionary religion”.
Sources:wikipedia