A Crisis in North Korea

Little is known about North Korea in the world; except for the rare but striking news story about its international terrorism, the nuclear arms threat, and the devastating famine of recent years. This is due to the nation's strict closed-country policy: not many outsiders have visited there and not many North Koreans have traveled to the outside world.For much of its history Korea existed as an ancient, independent kingdom, but in the latter years of the 19th Century it came under the sphere of influence of Japan. In 1910, Korea was forcibly annexed by Tokyo beginning a controversial period of Japanese rule. Although Japan built modern road and communications networks, life for ordinary Koreans was harsh. The export of Korean crops to Japan caused food shortages and any opposition to Japanese rule was harshly suppressed.

The Japanese also banned the Korean language, and teaching of Korean history and culture in schools, in an attempt to eradicate the national identity.Days after the surrender of Japan in August 1945, Soviet forces entered Northern Korea. With the south administered by the United States, the country was effectively split into two occupation zones. The US-dominated south was strongly geared to free-market capitalism while USSR-affiliated North followed traditional communist lines.Korea has been a divided country since 1945, when it was liberated from the defeated Japan after World War II.After the war Kim II-sung, a Korean communist politician, who later became North Korea’s Prime Minister and President switched away from orthodox Marxist-communism to his own self-scripted doctrine of "Juche", which essentially calls for self-sufficiency in all aspects of life. His policies saw North Korea become even more isolated from and hostile to Western powers. International trade declined and Kim began to perpetuate a personality cult, styling himself as the "Great Leader". In the mid-1990s, years of economic mismanagement and drought culminated in a severe famine in which the UN estimates between 500,000 and 2 million people may have died.

As poverty increased and the lack of food intensified, there were reports that crimes related to the situation were on the increase—from petty theft to organized gang robbery, often involving murder. North Korea began relying heavily on foreign aid from South Korea, Japan, the United States, and other Western nations.

North Korea is the most militarized country in the world today, having the fourth-largest standing army in the world, at an estimated 1.1 million armed personnel. It operates an enormous network of military facilities scattered around the country, a large weapons production base, and an extremely dense air defense system. Some of the primary air bases have underground runways from which aircraft can be directly launched. But experts believe that the weapons in possession are not advanced and they do not have the claimed capabilities.

It is said that North Korea is economically weak and to draw the attention of other super powers like United States and Japan it claims to have nuclear weapons. North Korea is purposefully conducting activities around its so called nuclear plants to draw the attention of US satellites. US though believe that North Korea has the material to create nuclear weapons, which is forcing it and other countries like Japan and South Korea to indulge in negotiations with North Korea. In recent years, North Korea's series of ballistic missile tests and efforts to build nuclear weapons has fuelled regional tension.

A detailed report based on eyewitness accounts compiled by the US Committee for Human Rights in North Korea suggests that about 200,000 political prisoners are incarcerated in gulags and labour camps. In many cases, up to three generations of the same family are being detained. Inmates face a regime of hard labour and beatings, and are kept alive on starvation rations.

The North Korean society is almost isolated from the outside world. All media is state controlled. TV and radios are fixed-tuned to the state channels since reception of foreign television is forbidden. Radios must be registered at police stations. These controls mean that most North Koreans may have little or no idea of world events, or how their country and their "Dear Leader", are perceived by the outside world.

Technically, all those who live on North Korean soil are North Korean citizens except for those who already have foreign citizenship, such as diplomats and visitors. Tourism in North Korea is highly controlled by the government, and as such it is not a frequently visited destination. North Koreans have citizens' certificates identifying their class origin and current address. No one in North Korea is allowed to change their residence at will: they have to apply to move to another province or town and have a legitimate reason, such as marriage. Not even weekend journeys or holidays are left to individual discretion; one has to apply for such a trip through the appropriate authorities. Family holidays must be approved by the authorities, and normally families have to wait for their vacation quota. Sometimes individuals who distinguish themselves in devotion to the party and the state are rewarded with a family vacation.

A majority of Pyongyang’s residents live in apartments. Individual houses with their own electricity and heating systems are reserved for high-ranking party members and army officers and majority of North Korean citizens do not own a car.Another point to stress is that they do not seem to have candies or sweets for children: sugar is in short supply and regarded as a highly luxurious ingredient. Only when one visits the ranking officer’s stores is there a poor variety of sugary sweets. Many North Korean children are still malnourished. The country faces daily shortages. Satellite images reveal acute power shortages. There is water pollution and inadequate supply of potable water resulting in waterborne disease.

Currently, the country is in deep trouble, making it one of the weakest nations in this world and least open economy having chronic economical problems. It has also the reputation of indulging in illegal activities in terms of illicit drug trade, human trafficking and selling their military technology to some terrorist sources and rogue nations.

Linus Orakles
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