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Politics of north and south Korea
Political analysis of South Korea
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The Narrow Prospect of North Korea
The fate of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, one of the few remaining communist countries, lies in the hands of rulers who have abused their power, limiting the freedoms of the people and creating a single-minded administration. Although it carries the potential to be as prosperous as South Korea, North Korea is unfortunately constrained because the Communist party has heavily focused on its military and nuclear power, while ignoring other vital aspects such as its economic prosperity and the interests of its people. Since the Cold War, the Soviet Union has influenced North Korea which has trapped it in a political situation that affirms its notorious reputation of abuse, restrictions, and precarious risks. Kim II Sung, who ruled from 1948 until his death in 1994, his son Kim Jong-II, who inherited supreme power, and the Communist Korean Worker’s Party (KWP) have been the decision makers of the entire country, holding the responsibility of determining its prospect. Therefore, as a result of North Korea’s political alignment with the Soviet Union, communism in North Korea perpetuates famine, facilitates militarization, and threatens neighboring countries.
The surrender of Japan in World War II in August 1845 led to the immediate division of Korea in which the United States administered the south and USSR controlled north of the 38th parallel after the Korean War (Korea North). This has resulted in the establishment of two separate nations with significantly different economic and social systems. However, the most significant discrepancy is their political systems as the United States exercises a democratic-style governmental control while the Soviet Union implements a Comm...
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... not last in the long-term and will eventually fall just as the Soviet Union did in 1991, following its footsteps once again to a doom.
Works Cited
"Communism." Issues: Understanding Controversy and Society. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 21 Apr. 2010. .
Lerner, K. Lee. "North Korean Nuclear Weapons Programs." Encyclopedia of Espionage, Intelligence, and Security. Ed. K. Lee Lerner and Brenda Wilmoth Lerner. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale, 2004. 346-350. Global Issues In Context. Web. 21 Apr. 2010.
Lanʹkov, A. N. North of the DMZ: Essays on Daily Life in North Korea. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland &, 2007. Print.
Miller, Debra A. North Korea. San Diego: Greenhaven, 2004. Print.
"Korea, North." Countries of the World and Their Leaders Yearbook 2008. 2008 ed. Vol. 1. Detroit: Gale, 2007. 1061-1074. Global Issues In Context. Web. 21 Apr. 2010.
Blaine Harden, former national correspondent and writer for the New York Times, delivers an agonizing and heartbreaking story of one man’s extremely conflicted life in a labor camp and an endeavor of escaping this place he grew up in. This man’s name is Shin Dong-hyuk. Together, Blaine Harden and Shin Dong-hyuk tell us the story of this man’s imprisonment and escape into South Korea and eventually, the United States, from North Korea. This biography that takes place from 1982-2011, reports to its readers on what is really going on in “one of the world’s darkest nations” (back cover of the book), that is run under a communist state and totalitarian dictatorship that was lead by Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong-il, and currently lead by Kim-Jong un. In Escape from Camp 14, Shin shows us the adaptation of his life and how one man can truly evolve from an animal, into a real human being.
Salter, Christopher L., and Charles F. Gritzner. "Introducing North Korea,." North Korea. 2nd ed. New York: Chelsea House, 2007. . Print.
1984 demonstrates a dystopian society in Oceania by presenting a relentless dictator, Big Brother, who uses his power to control the minds of his people and to ensure that his power never exhausts. Aspects of 1984 are evidently established in components of society in North Korea. With both of these society’s under a dictator’s rule, there are many similarities that are distinguished between the two. Orwell’s 1984 becomes parallel to the world of dystopia in North Korea by illustrating a nation that remains isolated under an almighty ruler.
This response will focus on the key issue of fragmentation. In his book Korea’s Twentieth-Century Odyssey, Michael E. Robinson wrote “Multiple interest groups resided within the bureaucracy and even divided the royal house” (p. 16). Arguably, Korea’s sovereignty was lost in large part, due to the lack of unity among different groups and faction. It was clear from the readings that some Korean individuals and groups prioritized their self-interests above their own country’s benefit. Nowhere was this most evident then the issue of national security.
North Korea Comments. N.p., n.d. Web. The Web. The Web. 02 Apr. 2014.
方玥雯[Fang Yue Wen] (2009). 北韓核武研發與東北亞安全:2002-2007. [The North Korea’s Nuclear Weapons and the Security in Northeast Asia: 2002-2007] in台灣[Taiwan]: 國立政治大學[National Cheungchi University] Retrieved 18 July, 2013 from http://nccuir.lib.nccu.edu.tw/handle/140.119/37029
Since the end of the Korean War, the United States has enacted policies to isolate and undermine the Kim Dynasty in North Korea. A key development took place in the past several decades where North Korea broke away from the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) to develop their own nuclear weapons and while lacking launch capabilities, they have been successful in their development. During this process, the United States took active policies to deter the North Koreans in pursuit of their goals. It is easy to assume that the United States took this stance in order to maintain a military edge in the region. But under closer examination, this neo-realist perspective does not explain why the United States pursued this policy.
Relations between the United States and North Korea have been unstable since the second world war and with each passing decade the relations have become more tense. The U.S has never have formal international relations with North Korea , however the conflict has caused much controversy in U.S foreign policy. North Korea has been the receiver of millions of dollars in U.S aid and the target of many U.S sanctions. This is due to the fact that North Korea is one of the most oppressive regimes on the planet, that uses unjust techniques such as murder, torture, and starvation to get their citizens to be obedient. They restrict contact from their citizens to the outside world, through censorship of technology and rarely allowing visitors to the country. The root of the US-North Korea conflict however ,has been on the basis of nuclear weapons and North Korea threatening to use those weapons against the U.S and neighboring South Korea. The U.S and other nations have been working for the last few decades to stop the regime from purchasing and utilizing destructive nuclear weapons.
This book is pieced together in two different efforts, one which is to understand the latter history of the post-1945 era with its political liberalization and rapid industrialization period, while at the same time centering its entire text on the question of Korean nationalism and the struggle against the countless foreign invasions Korea had to face. The purpose of this book was composed to provide detailed treatment of how modern Korea has developed with the converged efforts of top eastern and western scholars who wanted to construct a fair overview of Korea's complicated history. Also, the writers wanted to create an updated version of Korea's history by covering the contemporary arena up to the 1990's. The ...
North Korea and the Kim Dynasty. N.p., n.d. Web.
Since its origin in 1948, North Korea has been isolated and heavily armed, with hostile relations with South Korea and Western countries. It has developed a capability to produce short- and medium-range missiles, chemical weapons, and possibly biological and nuclear weapons. In December 2002, Pyongyang lifted the freeze on its plutonium-based nuclear weapons program and expelled IAEA inspectors who had been monitoring the freeze under the Agreed Framework of October 1994. As the Bush administration was arguing its case at the United Nations for disarming Iraq, the world has been hit with alarming news of a more menacing threat: North Korea has an advanced nuclear weapons program that, U.S. officials believe, has already produced one or two nuclear bombs. As the most recent standoff with North Korea over nuclear missile-testing approaches the decompression point, the United States needs to own up to a central truth: The region of Northeast Asia will never be fully secure until the communist dictatorship of North Korea passes from the scene. After threatening to test a new, long-range missile, Pyongyang says it is willing to negotiate with "the hostile nations" opposing it. But whether the North will actually forgo its test launch is anyone's guess. North Korea first became embroiled with nuclear politics during the Korean War. Although nuclear weapons were never used in Korea, American political leaders and military commanders threatened to use nuclear weapons to end the Korean War on terms favorable to the United States. In 1958, the United States deployed nuclear weapons to South Korea for the first time, and the weapons remained there until President George Bush ordered their withdrawal in 1991. North Korean government stateme...
John F. Kennedy once noted: “Mankind must put an end to war before war puts an end to mankind.” Rising tensions between two opposing forces can lead to intense conflict. Provided that China and Japan have struggles of their own, North and South Korea have had struggles since 1950 (“Korean War”, 1) and continue to hold their conflicts, which seem to be increasing. South Korea, a democratic nation, is the exact opposite of North Korea; a hyper-nationalist nation - seemingly creating a “personality clash” between the two. Much like World War I, there may be, sometime in the future, a full blown war because of North Korea’s hyper-nationalist secretive rule. North Korea’s isolation, internal struggles, and Kim Jong-un’s intention of proving leadership will increase tensions between North and South Korea and may result in an outbreak of war in the near future.
Korea gained independence from Japanese colonial rule in August of 1945 and also the division of Korea into the republic south and communist north in the 38th parallel. South Korea then was under the United States occupation from l945-48. Before the United States occupation South Korea had already organized a central People’s committees and established the Korean People of Republic (Memorial Foundation). Nevertheless, United States did not recognize any of the provisional or republic government. The United States refused to do so until there had been an agreement among the western allies. In 1954, there was a Mutual Security Agreement signed between the United States and South Korea, which states that they agreed to defend each other in the event of outside aggression (Memorial Foundation). South Korea has been under military authoritarian regime from 1961-1979 under President Park Chung Hee and from 1980-1992 under President Chun Doo Hwan. The Kwangju uprising occurred in May of 1980 after the collapse of the first milit...
South Korea, once a broken country filled with broken families, has transformed itself into a fine example of perseverance in a tough situation. South Korea and its neighbor to the north have developed past where they were before the Korean War, but in different ways. The two countries, while certainly dependent on each other, are vastly different. Their conflicting styles of government and their differing cultures speak for themselves in this case. South Korea has, over the years, changed dramatically from the crippled country of the Korean War into a blossoming beacon of Asian cultural and economic changes. The combination of its recent economic importance, its heavy cultural influence, and its constant danger of participating in a war makes South Korea one of the most influential countries in the world.
Kim, Yongho and Yi, Yurim “Security Dilemmas and Signaling during the North Korean Nuclear Standoff”, Asian Perspective, Vol. 29, No. 3, 2005, pp. 73-97