North Korea

North Korea (Buk Han, in Han'gul: 북한; in Hanja: 北漢), officially known as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (Chosun Minchu-chui Inmin Konghwa-guk, in Han'gul: 조선민주주의 인민공화국; in Hanja: 朝鮮民主主義人民共和國) is a nation that covers the northern half of Korea. Kim Jong Il has ruled North Korea since his father and the country's founder, President Kim Il Sung, died in 1994. After decades of mismanagement, the isolated North relies heavily on international food aid to feed its population, while continuing to expend resources to maintain an army of over 1 million, the fifth largest in the world. North Korea's long-range missile development and research into nuclear and chemical weapons are of major concern to the international community (see KEDO). North Korea is the world's last outpost of Stalinism.

History

Following World War II, Korea was split into a northern, communist half and a southern, Western-oriented half. North Korea was formed on September 9, 1948 amidst the power vacuum the resulted from the defeat of Japan in World War II (the Japanese occupied the Korean peninsula during the war).

With the backing of the Soviet Union, Kim Il-Sung started on a series of popular social and economic reforms which included land redistribution and nationalizing Japanese assets.

The Korean War, which soon followed the formation of the country, resulted from political differences that couldn't be reconciled between the communist north and the American-controlled south. The Soviet Union and the United States entered the conflict in order to prevent all of Korea from falling into the other side's hands. A formal division of the peninsula was established in 1948 forming a de-facto front. The conflict lasted from 1950 to 1953 and inflicted heavy human losses in North Korea and closer ties with the Soviets.

After the war support from the Soviet Union waned, and Kim Il-sung started to move towards "self-reliance" or Juche in the 1950s. Some degree of industrial and economic gains resulted from these strategies but by the 1970s a more expensive oil along with a growing technology gap with the rest of the world undermined the reforms. Instead of turning to real reforms, like China, Kim Il-sung opted for an ideological purity of his economic policy under a rigid state-controlled system. This resulted in worsening problems that were made worse by large military expenditures.

North Korea defaulted on almost all of its loans in 1980 and by the late 1980s industrial output was declining by greater than 4% per year. In spite of this, Kim Il-sung refused to allow private enterprise or open the nation to foreign investment.

Kim Il-sung died in 1994, and following a power struggle that left the country without a clear leader from 1994-1997, his son, Kim Jong-il, took control of the country in October 1997.

Following the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks, the George W. Bush Administration named North Korea as part of the so-called "axis of evil." In November 2002, North Korea admitted that it was working on a weapon of mass destruction program in response to "imperialist threats (presumably from western nations)." In late December 2002 North Korea expeled United Nations weapons inspectors, and announced plans to reactivate a dormant nuclear fuel processing laboratory and power plant north of P'yŏngyang. This nuclear reactor is thought by U.S. officials to be the source for plutonium for two previously produced atomic bombs.

Economy

North Korea ranks among the world's most centrally planned and isolated economies. The resulting economic distortions and the government's reluctance to publicize economic data limit the amount of reliable information available. State-owned industry produces nearly all manufactured goods, and the regime continues to devote its focus on heavy and military industries at the expense of light and consumer industries. Economic conditions remain stagnant at best and the country's deepening economic slide has been fueled by acute energy shortages, poorly maintained and aging industrial facilities, and a lack of new investment. The agricultural outlook, though slightly improved over previous years, remains weak. The combined effects of serious fertilizer shortages, successive natural disasters, and structural constraints - such as marginal arable land and a short growing season - have reduced staple grain output to more than 1 million tons less than what the country needs to meet even minimum international requirements. The steady flow of international food aid has been critical in meeting the population's basic food needs. The impact of other forms of humanitarian assistance such as medical supplies and agricultural assistance largely has been limited to local areas. Even with aid, malnutrition rates are among the world's highest and estimates of mortality range in the hundreds of thousands as a direct result of starvation or famine-related diseases.

From the CIA World Factbook 2000. Not Wikified.