Transcript North Korea - Issaquah Connect

North Korea
“the hermit kingdom”
How this all started…
• 1945- WWII ends.
• Japan loses war and Japanese
occupation of Korea ends.
• Korea was divided at the 38th
parallel in accordance with a
United Nations arrangement,
to be administered by the
Soviet Union in the north and
the United States in the south.
US vs. Soviet forces
• Soviets want to spread
communism, US wants to
spread democracy – both see
Korea as an important
battleground for this “Cold
War”
• Soviets support founding of
Korean Workers’ Party –
KWP (Communist)
• Soviets install Kim Il Sung
(head of KWP) as leader
Korean War
• 1950 – South declares
independence (remember, N & S
Korea had been one nation for
hundreds of years leading up to this)
• In response, North Korea invades
South – Korean war begins
• Soviets and China avidly support
(fight for) Communist North Korea
• US avidly supports (fight for)
Democratic South Korea
Korean War cont.
• More than 2 million civilians and soldiers
from both sides.
• War ends in an armistice – agreement to stop
fighting with neither side the clear winner or
loser (although many consider this the first
war the US lost)
• Korean War is first armed confrontation
of the Cold War
• Korean War created the idea of a
proxy war – where two superpowers
would fight in another country,
forcing the people in that nation to
suffer the bulk of the destruction and
death involved in a war between
such large nations.
Tense “peace”
• Relative peace between the
South and the North was
punctuated by border
skirmishes and
assassination attempts. The
North failed in several
assassination attempts on
South Korean leaders.
• 1972 – North & South Korea issue joint statement on peaceful
reunification, but in end both sides disagree on what the joint
statement meant.
Nuclear Weapons
• 1985 – North Korea joins the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
(NPT)– says they cannot have nuclear weapons.
• 1993 – North Korea accused of violating NPT – North Korea
threatens to quit
Nuclear Weapons
• 1994 – Kim Il Sung dies –
national mourning
• Kim Il Sung’s son Kim Jong
Il succeeds him as ruler
• 1996 – floods and famine – 3
million reportedly* die from
starvation
• Same year North Korea
announces it will no longer
honor armistice that ended the
Korean War – Send troops to
demilitarized zone
These people
are nuts
• 1998 – North Korea fires longrange missile over Japan into
Pacific Ocean – proves to world
North Korea has more advanced
weapons than thought
*If this is the “official” number the
true number is likely MUCH higher
Nuclear Weapons
• 2002 – US President George W.
Bush labels North Korea, Iraq, &
Iran and “axis of evil” for
continuing to build “weapons of
mass destruction”
• Little proof exists to prove this
• 2002– N & S Korea engage in
naval battle in Yellow Sea
• 2002 – NK reports that it has
secretly been developing
uranium-based nuclear program
• 2002 – NK announces it is
reactivating nuclear facilities
• 2003 – NK withdraws from NPT
These people
are nuts
• 2005 – NK admits publicly for first
time that they produced nuclear
weapons for “self-defense”
*If this is the “official” number the
true number is likely MUCH higher
st
21 Century
• In 2002, United States president George W. Bush labeled North Korea part of an
"axis of evil" and an "outpost of tyranny". The highest-level contact the government
has had with the United States was with U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright,
who made a visit to Pyongyang in 2000,[but the two countries do not have formal
diplomatic relations.
• By 2006, approximately 37,000 American soldiers remained in South Korea,
although by June 2009 this number had fallen to around 30,000.Kim Jong-il has
privately stated his acceptance of U.S. troops on the peninsula, even after a possible
reunification. Publicly, North Korea strongly demands the removal of American
troops from Korea.
• On June 13, 2009, the Associated Press reported that in response to new UN
sanctions, North Korea declared it would progress with its uranium enrichment
program. This marked the first time the DPRK has publicly acknowledged that it is
conducting a uranium enrichment program.
• In August 2009, former US president Bill Clinton met with Kim Jong-il to secure
the release of 2 US journalists, who had been sentenced for entering the country
illegally.[
• Current U.S. President Barack Obama's position towards North Korea has been to
remain calm in the face of North Korea's provocations while resisting making deals
with North Korea merely for the sake of defusing tension, a policy known as
"strategic patience."
Democratic People's Republic of
Korea
Government Structure
• North Korea is a self-described Juche (selfreliant) state, described by some observers
as a "hereditary dictatorship"[ with a
pronounced cult of personality organized
around Kim Il-sung (the founder of North
Korea and the country's only president) and
his son and heir, Kim Jong-il.
• Following Kim Il-sung's death in1994, he
was not replaced but instead received the
designation of "Eternal President", and was
entombed in the vast Kumsusan Memorial
Palace in central Pyongyang.
• The structure of the government is described
in the Constitution of North Korea. It is a
single-party state. The governing party is the
Democratic Front for the Reunification of
the Fatherland.
• In June 2009, it was reported in South
Korean media that intelligence indicates the
country's next leader will be Kim Jong-un,
the youngest of Kim Jong-il's three sons.
• Plaid Avenger
Military
• The Korean People's Army (KPA) is
the name for the collective armed
personnel of the North Korean
military. It has five branches: Ground
Force, Naval Force, Air Force, Special
Operations Force, and Rocket Force.
• According to the U.S. Department of
State, North Korea has the fourthlargest army in the world, at an
estimated 1.21 million armed
personnel, with about 20% of men
aged 17–54 in the regular armed
forces. North Korea has the highest
percentage of military personnel per
capita of any nation in the world, with
approximately 1 enlisted soldier for
every 25 citizens.
• Military strategy is designed for insertion of agents
and sabotage behind enemy lines in wartime, with
much of the KPA's forces deployed along the
heavily fortified Korean Demilitarized Zone.
• The Korean People's Army operates a very large
amount of equipment, including 4,060 tanks, 2,500
APCs, 17,900 artillery pieces, 11,000 air defense
guns and some 10,000 MANPADS and anti-tank
guided missiles. in the Ground force; at least 915
vessels in the Navy and 1,748 aircraft in the Air
Force, of which 478 are fighters and 180 are
bombers.
• The equipment is a mixture of World War II
vintage vehicles and small arms, widely
proliferated Cold War technology, and more
modern Soviet or locally produced weapons.
• In line with its asymmetric warfare strategy, North
Korea has also developed a wide range of
unconventional techniques and equipment, such as
GPS jammers, stealth paint, midget submarines and
human torpedoes, a vast array of chemical and
biological weapons, and anti-personnel lasers.
• According to official North Korean media, military
expenditures for 2010 amount to 15.8% of the state
budget.
• North Korea has active nuclear and ballistic missile
weapons programs and has been subject to United
Nations Security Council resolutions 1695 of July
2006, 1718 of October 2006, and 1874 of June
2009, for carrying out both missile and nuclear
tests. North Korea probably has fissile material for
up to 9 nuclear weapons, and has the capability to
deploy nuclear warheads on intermediate-range
ballistic missiles.
Current
Crisis
• On November 23, 2010, North Korea fired about 170 rounds of
•
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artillery on Yeonpyeong Island and the surrounding waters near the
Yellow Sea border, with some 90 shells landing on the island.
The attack resulted in the deaths of two South Korean marines and
two civilians. Fifteen marines and at least three civilians were
wounded.
North Korean news sources alleged that the North Korean actions,
described as "a prompt and powerful physical strike", were in
response to provocation from South Korea, alleging that South Korea
fired "dozens of shells inside its territorial waters".
Former US President Jimmy Carter made a call for a peaceful solution
of this crisis
Plaid Avenger
Nuclear Weapons
• As a result of the North Korean nuclear weapons program, the Six-party talks
were established to find a peaceful solution to the growing tension between
the two Korean governments, the Russian Federation, the People's Republic
of China, Japan, and the United States.
• On July 17, 2007, United Nations inspectors verified the shutdown of five
North Korean nuclear facilities, according to the February 2007 agreement.
• On October 4, 2007, South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun and North
Korean leader Kim Jong-il signed an 8-point peace agreement, on issues of
permanent peace, high-level talks, economic cooperation, renewal of train,
highway and air travel, and a joint Olympic cheering squad.
near-autarkic, highly centralized
command economy.
• Of the five remaining Communist
states in the world, North Korea is one
of only two (along with Cuba) with an
almost entirely government-planned,
state-owned economy. The Central
Planning Committee prepares,
supervises and implements economic
plans, while a General Bureau of
Provincial Industry in each region is
responsible for the management of
local manufacturing facilities,
production, resource allocation and
sales.
• North Korea's isolation policy means
that international trade is highly
restricted. North Korea passed a law
in 1984 allowing for foreign
investment through joint ventures, but
failed to attract any significant
investment. In 1991, it established the
Rason Economic Special Zone in an
attempt to attract foreign investment
from China and Russia. Chinese and
Russian companies have purchased
rights to use the ports at Rason.
Economy
• Until 1998, the United Nations
published HDI and GDP per capita
figures for North Korea, which stood
at a medium level of human
development at 0.766 (ranked 75th)
and a GDP per capita of $4,058.
• The average salary is about $47 per
month. Despite substantial economic
problems, quality of life is improving
and wages are rising steadily. Smallscale private markets, known as
janmadang, exist throughout the
country and provide the population
with imported food and commodities
ranging from cosmetics to
motorcycles in exchange for money.
In 2009, the government carried out a
currency redenomination with the aim
to curb free market activity across the
country, but the attempt failed, causing
inflation rates to skyrocket, and
eventually led to the lifting of the ban
on free market trade.
productivity from agriculture and
industry, since the 1960s the North
Korean government has introduced a
number of management systems such
as the Taean work system. In the 21st
century, North Korea's GDP growth
has been slow but steady, although in
recent years, growth has gradually
accelerated to 3.7% in 2008, the
fastest pace in almost a decade,
largely due to a sharp growth of 8.2%
in the agricultural sector.
• Major industries include military
products, machine building, electric
power, chemicals, mining,
metallurgy, textiles, food processing
and tourism.
• In 2005, North Korea was ranked by
the FAO as an estimated 10th in the
production of fresh fruit and as an
estimated 19th in the production of
apples. It has substantial natural
resources and is the world's 18th
largest producer of iron and zinc,
having the 22nd largest coal reserves
Six Party Talks
• Participating Countries:
▫ the Democratic People's Republic of
Korea (North Korea)
▫ the Republic of Korea (South Korea)
▫ the People's Republic of China
▫ the United States of America
▫ the Russian Federation
▫ the State of Japan
was in fact a test of North Korea's
Taepodong-2 ICBM. The launch was a
failure, and it landed in the Pacific
Ocean. Despite the failure, U.S.
President Barack Obama responded
that "violations must be punished,"
ordered North Korea to be "punished.
South Korea urged heavier sanctions
against North Korea.
• On April 13, 2009, the United Nations
Security Council agreed unanimously
to a Presidential Statement that
condemned North Korea for the
launch and stated the Council's
intention to expand sanctions on North
Korea.
• On April 14, 2009, North Korea,
responding angrily to the UN Security
Council's resolution, said that it "will
never again take part in such [six
party] talks and will not be bound by
any agreement reached at the talks."
North Korea expelled nuclear
inspectors from the country and also
informed the International Atomic
Energy Agency that they would
resume their nuclear weapons
South Korea: Republic of
Korea
•
Under its current constitution the state is sometimes
referred to as the Sixth Republic of South Korea.
•
Like many democratic states, South Korea has a
government divided into three branches: executive,
judicial, and legislative.
•
The South Korean government's structure is determined
by the Constitution of the Republic of Korea. This
document has been revised several times since its first
promulgation in 1948 at independence.
•
Although South Korea experienced a series of military
dictatorships since the 1960s up until the 1980s, it has
since developed into a successful liberal democracy.
Today, the CIA World Factbook describes South Korea's
democracy as a "fully functioning modern
democracy".
plaid avenger
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