Post War North Korean History

Post War North Korea

North Korean News

For its size of 120,538 sq km ( slightly smaller than Nicaragua ) , population ( roughly 24 million, about the same as Ghana and Yemen ) and nominal GDP slightly less than Ethiopia , North Korea or the Democratic People's Republic of Korea ( DPRK ) exerts a weighty influence on world affairs . Its large army ( fourth in the world in terms of number of troops ),development of nuclear weapons and provokative actions make it a flashpoint for a regional or even a world war. How did this come to be ?

On July 27, 1953, there was a final burst of firing along the line, then the hills were quiet. Both armies withdrew 2 kilometers, leaving a four kilometer wide DMZ. The Korean War was over. An official peace treaty, however, was never signed, and the two Koreas have technically been at war since 1950. North Korea had suffered an estimated 500,000 casualties and the country was devastated by American bombings. The North inherited a more industrialized country than the South, as the Japanese had located many industries in the North to help with the war effort. While many of these facilities were destroyed in the war, the basic groundwork remained. While the Chinese stayed out of internal domestic politics,they demanded management of the war. Peng Dehuai was reported to have said that the war was between him and MacArthur, and Kim Il Song had no part in it. This of course irked the supreme North Korean leader, and in the Revolutionary museum in Pyongyang today there is not a single picture of the Chinese contribution to the Korean War. The Chinese occupation force did not depart North Korea till 1958. American forces are still in South Korea till this day.

A huge oil refinery in Wonson bombed out in 1950. Much of North Korea devastated by American bombing.

After the war, Kim took control of North Korean politics, with the support of the armed forces, who respected his wartime record and long resistance to the Japanese. Pak Hon-yong, party vice chairman and Foreign Minister of the DPRK, was blamed for the failure of the southern population to support North Korea during the war and was executed after a show-trial in 1955. Pak had told Kim that 200,000 South Koreans would rise up after the invasion and overthrow the South Korean government. Most of the South Korean leftists who defected to the North in 1945–1953 were also accused of espionage and other crimes and killed, imprisoned or exiled to remote agricultural and mining villages. Most of the South Korean Communist were expelled from the party. There were some challenges to Kim Il Song's rule during and after the Korean War, but the coup leaders were disorganized. Kim systematically purged his political opponents to gain permanent and unlimited power. In theory Kim as premier reported to the legislature, in reality he was dictator, king for life, with more power than any Korean king ever held. He lived in luxury with at least five palaces in North Korea. The Workers' Party of Korea merged with other Korean Communist parties and has remained ruling party in the DPRK since its foundation.

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North Korea and South Korea Facts from CIA Fact Book

North Korea militia trainees

North Korean Population ( 2009 est) 24,051,218 South Korea Population 48,754,657 ( 2011 est )

North Korean GDP (2008 est) $28.2 billion 94th in world

South Korean GDP $1.375 trillion ( 2009 est ) 44th in world

North Korean GDP per Capita $1,800 (2009 est.) South Korean GDP per Capita $28,300 ( 2009 est )

North Korean Land Area 120,538 sq km ( slightly smaller than Mississippi )

South Korean Land Area 99,720 sq km ( slightly larger than Indiana )

North Korea's life expectancy was 63.8 years in 2009

South Korean Life Expectancy 79.05 years

Time Line of North Korea History

April 15,1912	Kim Il-sung (birth name Kim Sŏng-ju ) born
1935	Kin Il Sung joins Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army, organized by the Manchuria branches of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP),later supported by the Soviet Union,fights Japanese at Pochonbo (1937)
1941	Kim retreats to Soviet Union, trains in Soviet camps till the end of WWII., becomes captain in Soviet Army.
Feb 16, 1942	Kim Jong-il born
July 1945	Allies decide to divide Korea
Aug 9, 1945	Soviet Union attacks Japanese in Manchuria, advances in Korea to 38 parallel,Soviets maneuver Kim Il Sung into power
Aug 15,1945	Japanese surrender
Feb 8,1948	Korean People's Army (KPA) established
March 31,1948	UN election, held only in the South
Aug 15,1948	Republic of Korea declared
Sept 9, 1948	Democratic People's republic founded, Kim Il sung becomes first premier
Dec 24,1948	Remainder of Soviet occupation force leaves Korea
June 25,1949	US troops leave Korea
June 30,1949	North Korean Worker's Party and South Korean worker's Party unite to form Worker's Party of Korea, Kim Il sung becomes chairman
June 25,1950	Korean War starts
Sept 15, 1950	Incheon landing
Oct 7,1950	UN forces cross 38 parallel
Oct 25 1950	Chinese troops enter Korea
June 27, 1953	cease fire agreement signed, ending fighting in Korean War, North and South Korea still officially at war
Dec 28, 1955	Kim Il sung delivers speech on Juche
Dec 1956	Chollima work teams method to increase production
early 60s	North Korean economy stronger than South Korea due to investment in heavy industry, drastically increased military expenditures after brief Korean-Soviet split weakens economy
Sept 1961	Kim Il sung re-elected chairman
1962	Taean work method promoted, populace to be trained in arms
Jan 16, 1968	North Korean commandos attempt to assassinate Park Chun Hee
Jan 23, 1968	USS Pueblo captured
April 15,1969	American EC-121 spy plane shot down, crew of 31 killed
Dec 25, 1972	Kim elected president
Dec 27,1972	new constitution proclaimed
1970s	South Korean GNP surpasses North Korea, South Korea starts and abandons nuclear weapons project under US pressure, North Korea begins to dig tunnels under DMZ, fuel and food shortages leads to greater crackdowns on dissent
1972	Juche becomes official ideology of North Korea in 1972 constitution
1973 1975	Beginning of Red Cross talks North Korea produces plutonium
Aug 18, 1976	Axe murder incident at DMZ
1976	North Korea defaults on international loan repayments
Dec 1977 1978	Kim re-elected president Kim Jong-il orders the kidnapping of South Korean actress Choi Eun-hee and her ex-husband, director Shin Sang-ok
1980	Kim Jong il promoted to 2nd highest position in the party
1982	Kim's 70th birthday celebrated with the Arch of Triumph,Juche Tower and Kim Il sung stadium, Yongbyon gas grahite nuclear reactor sta rted. As this type of reactors are used more for producing weapons than electricity, US and USSR alarmed. Soviet Union agrees to aid NK in producing light water reactors, which can't produce nuclear weapons. Collapse of Soviets prevents this.
Oct 9, 1983	Assassination attempt against Park Chung Hee in Rangoon,17 SK high officals killed
Oct 7, 1987	Korean Air flight 858 bombed, 115 killed
1988	Seoul Olympics
1991	Soviet Union established diplomatic relations with South Korea, Russia and China demand hard currency for fuel, food and other products. Severe power shortages result. America removes last nuclear weapons from South Korea. Free trade zones established. Reported coup against Kim Il Sung by by Perestroika influenced generals. Plot uncovered and generals exected. Kim Il Sung backs supports hard line coup in Soviet Union. Coup fails, Yeltsin cuts off aid and credit.
1992	PRC recognises South Korea and cuts off aid to North Korea. demands market prices for goods and oil.
1993	U.S. announces it will target NK with nuclear missles.North Korean announcement to withdraw from Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. U.S. draws up plans to attack Yongbyon nuclear plant.
July 8, 1994	Kim Il Song dies of heart attack, son Kim Jong il becomes head of state, North Korea signs the Agreed Framework after Carter visits NK in which NK agrees to halt development ofof nuclear weapons in return building civilian reactors and oil supplies
1995	Severe Floods, famine estimates of deaths as high as 2~3 million,North Korea $10 billion in debt, 50% of GNP Kim Jong-il announces the 'military first' or (선군정치, Son'gun chŏngch'i policy Rise in power of military in NK. Reported coup attempt against Kim Jong Il by army elements in famine hit North Hamgyong province. Exposed by Kim Yong Chun, who is promoted by Kim Jong Il to Vice Chairman of the powerful National Defense Commission.
1996	Sept 1996, North Korean commando submarine stranded in South,24 NK killed, 14 SK killed in firefights. 'Red Banner Philosophy' promoted in NK, emphasing defense of the Suryong (leader) and martial spirit and becomes more prominent than juche.
1997	Defection of Hwang Jang-yop , prominent NK official and architect of juche
1998	South Korean President Kim Dae jong establishes Sunshine policy to improve relations with the North, North Korea launches first satellite with a Taepodong-1 is a two-stage intermediate-range ballistic missile
2002	George Bush refers to North Korea as part of the 'axis of evil'
April 2003	The Pong Su incident Australian Special Operations Command intercepted and boarded the Pong Su, a North Korean ocean freighter in Australian territorial waters. The ship was suspected of being involved in smuggling almost 150 kg (330 pounds) of heroin into Australia. An official of the governing Korean Workers' Party was found on board, linking the drug shipment to Kim Jong-il's government. Nuclear reactors reactivated, refuses to allow nuclear inspectors into country. Test firing of missile into Sea of Japan .
2006	In reaction to the US invasion of Iraq, North Korea builds and detonates nuclear device on Oct 9,2006,
2007	severe flooding in Aug, 2007, about 450 killed, more famine
2008	South Korean tourist shot and killed at Kŭmgangsan Tourist Region suspendeds South Korea tourist travel to the region
Aug 2009	former President Clinton meets with Kim Jong-il to secure the release of 2 US journalists
March 26, 2010 Dec 17, 2011	South Korean corvette Cheonan sinks near North Korean border, South claims ship was torpedoed by North Korean miniature submarine. Death of Kim Jong-il, succeeded by his third youngest son, Kim Jong-un.

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