North Korea is widely considered to be a Stalinistdictatorship.[2][3][4][5][6][7] The country's government styles itself as following the Juche ideology of self-reliance, developed by Kim Il Sung, the country's former leader. The current leader is Kim Jong Un, the late president Kim Il Sung's grandson and son of deceased leader Kim Jong Il. Relations are strongest with other officially socialist states: Cuba, Vietnam, Laos, and China, as well as with Russia, Cambodia, and Myanmar. Following a major famine in the early 1990s, due partly to the collapse of the Soviet Union (previously a major economic partner), leader Kim Jong Il instigated the "Military-First" policy in 1995, increasing economic concentration and support for the military.
North Korea's culture is officially promoted and heavily controlled by the government. The Arirang Festivals or "Mass Games" are government-organized events glorifying the regime, involving over 100,000 performers.
Korea under Japanese rule – Japan endeavored to integrate Korea into its empire, exploiting its resources and its people
Surrender of Japan – marked the end of World War II, and the end of Japanese occupation of Korea
Division of Korea – at the end of World War II, the Soviets and Americans occupied Korea, dividing the region at the 38th parallel. Two governments emerged, one in the North, and another in the South, both claiming sovereignty over the whole of Korea. This led to the...
Korean conflict – conflict that began with the division of Korea and continues to the present day
Korean War – war that began when North Korea invaded South Korea.
Korean Armistice Agreement – document that ended the Korean War. However, no peace treaty followed, so North and South Korea are technically still at war.
Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) – strip of land running across the Korean Peninsula. It was established at the end of the Korean War to serve as a buffer zone between North and South Korea.
^Spencer, Richard (2007-08-28). "North Korea power struggle looms". The Telegraph (online version of UK national newspaper). London. Archived from the original on 2007-09-12. Retrieved 2007-10-31. A power struggle to succeed Kim Jong-il as leader of North Korea's Stalinist dictatorship may be looming after his eldest son was reported to have returned from semi-voluntary exile.
^Brooke, James (2003-10-02). "North Korea Says It Is Using Plutonium to Make A-Bombs". The New York Times (online version of New York, United States newspaper). Retrieved 2007-10-31. North Korea, run by a Stalinist dictatorship for almost six decades, is largely closed to foreign reporters and it is impossible to independently check today's claims.
^Parry, Richard Lloyd (2007-09-05). "North Korea's nuclear 'deal' leaves Japan feeling nervous". The Times (online version of UK's national newspaper of record). London. Archived from the original on July 26, 2008. Retrieved 2007-10-31. The US Government contradicted earlier North Korean claims that it had agreed to remove the Stalinist dictatorship's designation as a terrorist state and to lift economic sanctions, as part of talks aimed at disarming Pyongyang of its nuclear weapons.
^Walsh, Lynn (2003-02-08). "The Korean crisis". CWI online: Socialism Today, February 2003 edition, journal of the Socialist Party, CWI England and Wales. socialistworld.net, website of the committee for a worker’s international. Archived from the original on 2007-12-03. Retrieved 2007-10-31. Kim Jong-il's regime needs economic concessions to avoid collapse, and just as crucially needs an end to the strategic siege imposed by the US since the end of the Korean war (1950-53). Pyongyang's nuclear brinkmanship, though potentially dangerous, is driven by fear rather than by militaristic ambition. The rotten Stalinist dictatorship faces the prospect of an implosion. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, which deprived North Korea of vital economic support, the regime has consistently attempted to secure from the US a non-aggression pact, recognition of its sovereignty, and economic assistance. The US's equally consistent refusal to enter into direct negotiations with North Korea, effectively ruling out a peace treaty to formally close the 1950-53 Korean war, has encouraged the regime to resort to nuclear blackmail.
^Oakley, Corey (October 2006). "US is threat to peace not North Korea". Edition 109 - October–November 2006. Socialist Alternative website in Australia. Retrieved 2007-10-31. In this context, the constant attempts by the Western press to paint Kim Jong Il as simply a raving lunatic look, well, mad. There is no denying that the regime he presides over is a nasty Stalinist dictatorship that brutally oppresses its own population. But in the face of constant threats from the US, Pyongyang's actions have a definite rationality from the regime's point of view.
^Baruma, Ian (2008-03-13). "Leader Article: Let The Music Play On". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 2011-08-11. Retrieved 2008-03-27. North Korea, officially known as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, is one of the world's most oppressive, closed, and vicious dictatorships. It is perhaps the last living example of pure totalitarianism — control of the state over every aspect of human life. Is such a place the right venue for a western orchestra? Can one imagine the New York Philharmonic, which performed to great acclaim in Pyongyang, entertaining Stalin or Hitler?
North Korea UncoveredArchived 2008-12-22 at the Wayback Machine, (North Korea Google Earth) Comprehensive mapping on Google Earth of the DPRK's political and economic infrastructure, including railways, hotels, factories, military facilities, tourist destinations, cultural facilities, ports, communications, and electricity grid.
KCNAArchived 2004-10-06 at the Wayback Machine - Korean Central News Agency, the official news agency of the DPRK
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