Democratic People's Republic of Korea

Democratic People's Republic of Korea 조선민주주의인민공화국
Flag Emblem
Territories of Korea presently occupied by the United States are shown in light green.
Capital and largest city	Pyongyang
Government	Socialist state guided by the Juche idea
• General Secretary of the Workers' Party	Kim Jong-un
• President of the Presidium	Choe Ryong-hae
• Prime Minister	Pak Pong-ju
• First Vice Chairman of the State Affairs Commission	Choe Ryong-hae
• Premier of the Cabinet	Kim Tok-hun
• Chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly	Pak Thae-song
History
• Founding of the DPRK	9 September 1948
• Start of partial US occupation	8 September 1945
Population
• 2020 estimate	25,845,400 (77,048,000 including Koreans under neocolonial occupation)

People's Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a socialist country in East Asia. Korea is one nation, but the southern half of Korea is occupied by the US-backed anti-communist Republic of Korea.

The DPRK is led by the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK). According to its constitution, the DPRK is an "independent socialist state", guided by the ideology of Juche which is a derivative of Marxism-Leninism originally codified by Kim Il-Sung.

While the DPRK distanced itself from USSR's ideological leadership in the 1960s, some authors still consider it a Marxist-Leninist socialist state.

In 2017, DPRK's Minister of Foreign affairs, Ri Yong Ho, stated at the United Nations General Assembly that "The U.S. had put sanctions against our country from the very first day of its foundation, and the over 70-year long history of the DPRK can be said in a sense a history of struggle, persevering along the road of self-development under the harshest sanctions in the world." Ri also stated that the essence of the situation of the Korean peninsula is a confrontation between the DPRK and the US, where the DPRK tries to defend its national dignity and sovereignty against the hostile policy and nuclear threats of the US, and points out that it was the US who first introduced nuclear weapons to the Korean peninsula. Ri stated that "The very reason the DPRK had to possess nuclear weapons is because of the U.S., and it had to strengthen and develop its nuclear force onto the current level to cope with the U.S. [...] Our national nuclear force is, to all intents and purposes, a war deterrent for putting an end to nuclear threat of the U.S. and for preventing its military invasion".

Minister Ri also clarified DPRK's nuclear policy by quoting Kim Jong-un as saying that international justice can only be achieved when the anti-imperialist independent countries are strong enough, and that possession of nuclear deterrence by the DPRK is a righteous self-defensive measure taken as an ultimate option, pursuant to this principle, and further clarified that the DPRK "do[es] not have any intention at all to use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against the countries that do not join in the U.S. military actions against the DPRK."

DPRK representative Kim Song stated at the 2021 UN General Assembly, "If the U.S. wants to see the Korean war, the most prolonged and long-lasting war in the world, come to an end, and if it is really desirous of peace and reconciliation on the Korean peninsula, it should take the first step towards giving up its hostile policy against the DPRK by stopping permanently the joint military exercises and the deployment of all kinds of strategic weapons which are levelled at the DPRK in and around the Korean peninsula."

In 1965 Che Guevara said that the DPRK "was a model to which revolutionary Cuba should aspire".

History

Post-Japanese Colonization

Following the defeat of Japan and the end of the Second World War, Japan lost control of its colonies, including what was formerly the Korean Empire. As a result of negotiations between the Soviet Union and the United States, the Korean Peninsula was divided into occupation zones along the 38th Parallel North. Although there was an attempt at establishing the People's Republic of Korea, the nascent state was outlawed by American forces.

Pre-Fatherland Liberation War

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea was founded the 9th of September, 1948. The illegitimate government of the occupied portion of Korea (often referred to as South Korea, or Republic of Korea) was also established the same year, when dictator Syngman Rhee came to power due to American influence. Kim Il-Sung became the first Premier of the DPRK, a position he would hold until 1972.

The Occupied Korean government was hostile to socialism and to the DPRK. Even though Western media accuses the DPRK of initiating the Fatherland Liberation War (often referred to as the Korean War), numerous acts of violence were perpetrated by the illegitimate southern government that were tantamount to war -- namely the massacre on Jeju Island that targeted communists. The death toll was composed of civilians, many of whom were not affiliated with the Workers' Party of South Korea or communism at all. Paramilitary groups from the Republic of Korea illegally crossed the border into the DPRK on multiple occasions.

Fatherland Liberation War

see main article: Fatherland Liberation War

During the Fatherland Liberation War, DPRK forces almost repelled the illegal occupation army; however, additional forces were sent by the United Nations and the United States to fight DPRK troops. Western forces pushed DPRK forces all the way to the border of the newly formed People's Republic of China, which had itself repelled reactionary Kuomintang forces from the mainland. PRC forces intervened to protect Korean sovereignty, repelling Western troops once more as part of the War to Resist the U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea campaign. The majority of the fighting during the rest of the Fatherland Liberation War took place near the 38th Parallel North, with only minor border changes occurring after a ceasefire was signed. The DPRK technically remains at war with its illegitimate southern neighbour as no truce has been signed between the two.

Post-Fatherland Liberation War

Talks between General secretary Kim Jong-un and Former U.S. President Donald Trump began on June of 2019 to discuss disarmament and potential reunification with the Republic of Korea.

Economy

The DPRK has maintained one of the most centralized economies in the world since the 1940s. For several decades, it followed the Soviet pattern of five-year plans with the ultimate goal of achieving self-sufficiency.

The economy is heavily nationalized. Food and housing are extensively subsidized by the state, education and healthcare are free, and the payment of taxes was officially abolished in 1974.

Foreign trade surpassed pre-crisis levels in 2005 and continues to expand. The DPRK has a number of special economic zones (SEZs) and Special Administrative Regions where foreign companies can operate with tax and tariff incentives while DPRK establishments gain access to improved technology.

The United States has targeted the DPRK with severe sanctions due to its nuclear weapons program. However, 49 countries, including Cuba, Iran, and Syria have violated these sanctions and traded with the DPRK anyways.

The DPRK follows policy of Byungjin, meaning it simultaneously develops its nuclear weapons program and the economy.

Foreign relations

The DPRK's revolutionary government has supported other liberation struggles around the world, including in Africa. During the 1980's, the DPRK sent free weapons to Cuba.

DPRK Minister of Foreign Affairs Ri Yong Ho's 2017 UN General Assembly statements of solidarity with Cuba, Venezuela, and Syria and condemning Israel:

My delegation takes this opportunity to extend strong support to and solidarity with the Cuban government and people who are fighting to defend national sovereignty and realize international justice against the high-handedness, arbitrariness and unilateral embargo of the U.S.

We also express strong support to and solidarity with the government and people of Venezuela who are fighting to defend the national sovereignty and the cause of socialism.

The unjust and contemptible acts such as turning a blind eye to the heinous acts of Israel while condemning in every manner only the Syrian government fighting to protect its national sovereignty and security should not be tolerated any longer.

The DPRK government will certainly defend peace and security of the country with its powerful nuclear deterrence and also contribute to safeguarding world peace and security.

The DPRK representative Kim Song at the 2021 UN General Assembly spoke on the DPRK delegation extending "its full support and encouragement to the Cuban government and people who continue to move forward holding aloft the banner of socialism in the face of the U.S. moves to impose illegal sanctions and blockade and to undermine Cuba from within" and expressed "constant support to and solidarity with the independent countries including Syria and Palestine and their peoples in their unyielding struggle to defend the national dignity, sovereignty and territorial integrity."

DPRK-US relations

In a 2021 speech to the United Nations General Assembly, the DPRK's representative Kim Song stated, "In the course of the DPRK-U.S. showdown spanning over half a century, we have been very much accustomed to the U.S. military threats, and we know well how to deal with the U.S., the most hostile country. We have learned the mode of existence to cope with the U.S. hostile policy and accumulated rich experience." The representative further characterized the DPRK-US relationship in the following way:

From the first day of the foundation of the DPRK, the U.S. has not recognized our sovereignty, treating us as an enemy state, and openly showed its hostility towards the socialist system chosen by our people. The U.S. designated the DPRK as a "communist state" and a "state of non-market economy", and it completely blocked, both institutionally and legislatively, the establishment of relations between the DPRK and the U.S. in the fields of politics, economy and trade, under the unreasonable pretexts of "human rights issue", "proliferation of the WMD", "sponsoring of terrorism", "oppression of religion", "money laundering" and etc.

If it is not a hostile policy, should it be called a "friendly policy"?

The U.S. hostile policy against the DPRK finds its clearest expression in its military threats against us. Not a single foreign troop, not a single foreign military base exists in the territory of the DPRK. But in south Korea, almost 30,000 U.S. troops are stationing at numerous military bases, maintaining a war posture to take military action against the DPRK at any moment. The DPRK has no record of having conducted a military exercise even a single time around the U.S., but the U.S. has annually staged all sorts of war drills on and around the Korean peninsula and in the Korean waters for the last several decades, by mobilizing army, naval and air forces across the world including the U.S. troops in south Korea, and it has threatened us through military demonstrations of intimidating nature while deploying numerous armaments to south Korea from time to time.

The representative also noted that the possible outbreak of a new war on the Korean peninsula is contained "not because of the U.S.’s mercy on the DPRK" but because the DPRK "is growing reliable deterrent that can control the hostile forces in their attempts for military invasion".

See also

• DPRK Study guide

Further readings

• http://www.korean-books.com.kp/en/