DE-MYSTIFYING NORTH KOREA !

North Korea (officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea(DPRK) is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula.Its one country on the map that has never ceased to intrigue me especially as it is a one party only, communist Country .North korea is an isolated country sharing boundaries with China and South Korea.

Leadership

North Korea is a single-party state and is lead by Kim Jong-il,Son of the Eternal president kim-il-sung and since they have no opposition,there Communist ways have long been criticized by the outside world. Critics maintain this Kim Jong-il personality cult was inherited from his father, Kim Il-sung. Kim Jong-il is often the center of attention throughout ordinary life in the DPRK. His birthday is one of the most important public holidays in the country. On his 60th birthday (based on his official date of birth), mass celebrations occurred throughout the country.

Life of The common Man

People of North korea still cannot acess global internet , only a Nationwide internet that too mostly censored to foreign websites.Although the North korea constitution allows freedom in speech to people and press but in practice it is not the case.only the News that is in favour of the rulers is allowed and that is what you would expect if all the media houses and press are government owned or run.The government has done all that it could to curb any dissent or public dissaproval. Recently The Indian british crossover film “Bend it like Bekham” was the first out world english film that was shown on a public Tv channel and was viewed by record no.'s of N.korean's.There is even widespread belief that Kim Il-sung "created the world", and Kim Jong-il can "control the weather"

Past

Born from a split in the Korean peninsula in the 1950s it was led by kim-il-sung who is entitled eternal president of DPRK .A large chunk of the population is enrolled in military because that’s their prime focus and that's why it has the 4^th largest army in the world even though it's a small nation.Socialism which is actually the central policy of the Goverment is a sham , only to mislead the world .

Controversies and N.Korea

·         North korea’s never Ending battle with their rival Sibling South Korea has intensified to many proportions since 2010 and thereby Bringing the 2 most powerful Nations U.S and China against each other with US taking South Koreas's side while China has always been a long term partner of North.The experts believe that squaring of Us and China in the name of this Korean War has the power to Embroil all the nations into it and thereby causing a potential threat of World war 3 and mass destruction due to Nuclear weapons.

·         Due to the government's secretive nature and its reluctance to allow in foreigners, North Korea is today considered the world's most isolated country .also it has the worst human rights records of any country.

·         The leader kim-jong-il of the country is proud enough to refuse food aid from most of UN countries to help recover the poverty-stricken population.South korea on the other hand is the mirror image of North with a developed economy much due to a strong foothold in the technology sector.

·         The capital of North korea –Pyongyang is no less intriguing ,known to be a mere showcase city to hoodwink world media and hide the underlying poverty.Various account by visting journalists have described the disparity that exists between Pyongyang and the rural part of the country where earning three meals in a day is hard enough.

·         But the Controversial North with China keeping it's back has offlate been in news for many reasons which are largely infamous namely firing artillery shells and tropedos on a south Korean island and allegdedly sinking a war ship of south korea respectively which has severly angered the South korean resulting into military deployment by South on it's borders and an extensive military warfare training with US to show North that They are not going to sit Idle either .

Future

As things stand presently there are two very drastic possibilities in the future:

1.THE POWER STRUGGLE : After kim-jong-il retires as there has been much speculation about his health.There are also rumours in south korea that il's youngest son Kim-jong-un might become the next leader .If someone else tries to contest for the job ,a struggle may ensue bringing further instability.

2. A KOREAN WAR: It wont be wrong to say that SOUTH has had enough of the ways of the NORTH.South korea is currently on a Powershow with US with mock drills being carried out both by army and among the people living near DMZ(De-militarized zone).If that happens CHINA is likely to face the aftereffects as more n more people will flee to their land .A bigger threat is the employment of nuclear arms in the war ,consequences of which will affect the world on the whole.

Written By  :

Dilbagh Singh (Special Guest Writer)

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Prabhjit Singh Walia