Propaganda in North Korea

Propaganda is displayed in many ways, some include:

• Posters
• Films (cartoons especially)
• Music
• Art

North Korea uses propaganda to develop hatred against other countries, so if war breaks out no questions will be asked and generations of people will be against America and its allies. North Korea creates cartoons full of propaganda. Cartoons and other animated films carry political and military messages aimed at the young people of North Korea. The posters focus on military might, Utopian society and devotion to the state and the leader’s. The Kim’s have had hymns written for them and are repeatedly played throughout the country. Art is often used to depict military influence and is used to popularise the army.

Nightmares for the Children

North Koreans have been consistently wrapped in lies about korea’s foreign relations, concocted by state lead newspapers, for so many years that when defectors come out of North Korea they are greatly struck by the reality. America are seen as devils, so much so that young North Korean children have nightmares about them.

Read more:

http://www.nknews.org/2013/03/i-used-to-have-nightmares-about-americans/

The Death of a Dictator

A dictatorship is defined as an autocratic or authoritarrian form of government in which a government is ruled by either an individual.

 Kim Jong-Il (16 February 1941 – 17 December 2011) was the Supreme Leader The Democratic People's of North Korea from 1994 to 2011. He succeeded his father and founder of the DPRK, Kim Il-Sung, following the elder Kim's death in 1994. Kim Jong-Il was the General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), Chairman of the National Defense Commission of North Korea, and the Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army, the fourth-largest standing army in the world.

In April 2009, North Korea's constitution was amended to refer to him as the "supreme leader". In 2010, he was ranked 31st in Forbes Magazine's List of ‘The World's Most Powerful People’. The North Korean government announced his death on 19 December 2011.

It was reported that Kim Jong-Il had died of a suspected heart attack on 17 December 2011 at 08:30 while travelling by train to an area outside Pyongyang. He was succeeded by his youngest son Kim Jong-un, who was hailed by the Korean Central News Agency as the "Great Successor”. The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) report that during his death, a fierce snowstorm paused and the sky glowed red above the sacred Mount Paektu. The ice on a famous lake also cracked so loud, it seemed to shake the Heavens and the Earth.

Kim Jong-Il's funeral took place on 28 December in Pyongyang, with a mourning period lasting until the following day. South Korea's military was immediately put on alert after the announcement and its National Security Council convened for an emergency meeting, out of concern that political jockeying in North Korea could destabilize the region. Asian stock markets fell soon after the announcement, due to similar concerns.

On 12 January 2012, North Korea called Kim Jong-Il the "eternal leader" and announced that his body will be preserved and displayed at Pyongyang's Kumsusan Memorial Palace. Officials will also install statues, portraits, and "towers to his immortality" across the country. His birthday of 16 February has been declared "the greatest auspicious holiday of the nation", and has been named the Day of the Shining Star.

The Relationship with the USA (North Korea)

The relationship between the U.S and North Korea started within the Korean War which was fought in the 1950s. However the relationship between the two countries was not positive; considering the U.S supported the United Nations forces in the south of Korea. The war stopped on the 27th July 1953 with a ceasefire agreement; the peninsula is divided by a demilitarised zone dividing the north and south of Korea ( the Republic of Korea). Although an agreement has been made between the two sides, a formal peace agreement ending the war has not yet been signed. Throughout the late 20th century friction between the U.S and North Korea was potently clear. In 1968 the DPRK( Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) capture an American intelligence ship gathering information, although, the crew was released, North Korea still hold captive the ship (USS Pueblo). A year later an American reconnaissance plane was shot down by North Korea, resulting in thirty-one Americans being killed. In 2002 president of the United States, George Bush labelled North Korea as an 'Axis of Evil'. Within the same year the United States also stopped oil shipments to North Korea because of a dispute over North Korea’s secret nuclear weapons program. After the U.S stopped oil shipments to North Korea they removed international nuclear inspectors. The next year North Korea then went on to withdrawing the nuclear nonproliferation treaty. In 2005 Condoleezza Rice labeled North Korea as an " Outposts of Tyranny" North korea is one of the few countries listed under this title. In 2006 North Korea tested missiles and then later moved on to testing an explosive nuclear device. Furthermore in 2007 North Korea shut down their nuclear weapons program. Moreover, within the same year speculations had been made that the U.S had removed North Korea from their list of state sponsors of terrorism and, discussions occurred to also end the Korean War. President Bush also tried a personal attempted towards North Korea by writing a letter to them. In 2008 president Bush formally removes North Korea from their terror watch list.

YouTube Videos about North Korea

Real footage of the Yodok Prison Camp
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhO_A75NKQ8

Inside North Korea BBC Panorama News Programme

This documentary highlights the problems in North Korea. Throughout, the journalist presents us with rhetorical questions. Does the idea of a war against America pose as a way to hide information from the public? Why are the hospitals empty? What is the poverty side of North Korea really like? Has the rationing improved or is there still malnutrition? There is so much we don’t know about North Korea, although the journalist is under surveillance he still manages to portray part of the untold story in North Korea. I would Highly recommend this documentary as it is very informative and it provides a lot of the background of North Korea also.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zDYrFE985g

CNN news report on propaganda in North Korea. CNN's Christiane Amanpour shows how North Korea's dictator forces his people to hate the outside world and adore him.
http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=F3F6ScecrM0&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DF3F6ScecrM0

Religion in North Korea

Before the Kim’s took over the country, the country’s religion mainly consisted of Buddhism and Confucianism and Korean shamanism. However with the new government, the country became an atheist country. North Korea sees organized religious activity as a potential challenge to the leadership. There is no religious freedom and those who oppose the country are punished.

The Kim’s are seen as Gods to the North Koreans, they are worshipped and Kim-Jong-Sung is seen as the eternal president and is still considered the highest authority today. North Korea actively discourages the practice of religion, including Buddhism. Currently, the country claims to have about 10,000 active adherents of Buddhism. As with other religions in the country, Buddhism came under the close scrutiny of the country's government.

In January 2013, Christian nonprofit organization Open Doors announced that for the 11th year in a row, North Korea was the #1 country where persecution of Christians for religious reasons is the worst.

Civil War in North Korea

The Original divide of Korea

Korea was originally a part of the Japanese empire however after the end of the second world war the allies took it from Japan and split it between the U.S.A and the U.S.S.R. They split it across the 38th parallel (shown below).

Lead up to the War

 Many question if the Korean war was really between North Korea and South Korea or the U.S.S.R and the U.S. However in March 1949 Kim Ill Sung asked for Stalin’s permission to invade South Korea and he said no several times, as he saw it as not ‘advisable’. He finally approved it in January 1950. Showing that although Stalin wanted to spread communism he was able to see that South Korea may have a lot of military support and wasn’t willing to risk North Korea for a united Korea. However Kim ill sung was more single minded, Never once taking back his proposal over the course of almost a year; the first example of his overconfidence and lack of experience.

In addition to this it is highly unlikely that Kim Ill Sung would’ve let himself become Stalin’s puppet for two main reasons. Firstly in order for the public to feel threatened by him in the future he has to of appeared forceful at all times. Secondly, it simply isn’t in a dictator’s nature to let himself be controlled.

Despite this once the war started the U.S.S.R and the U.S saw it not only as an opportunity to help South Korea and North Korea but to cause the other to lose money and soldiers. The U.S.S.R and the U.S.As interests 

The War

The war began in June 1950 when North Korea invaded the south. The U.S then called on the U.N to brand the North Koreans as aggressors. The U.N did this, and for the first time, sent in military assistance. This however is probably more an indication of the U.N feeling threatened by Stalin rather than Kim Il Sung, because even though Kim Il sung wasn’t a puppet he was seen as one.

China intervened in mid-september. China had many reasons to want to intervene:

• They worried that the U.N forces would cross the border to china whilst still fighting the North Koreans.
• They worried that if they took North Korea it made it easier for them to invade China at any point in the future.

The thing that triggered Chinas attack was General McArthur marching his troops further than he had agreed with China.

The war then went on for a year until they reached a stalemate in 1951.They then went on to discuss the future state of the civil war however they only agreed on an armistice, a temporary truce.This leaves South Korea and North Korea technically still at war however whilst South Korea will avoid war at all costs North Korea would do anything they could to gain more power.

The point at which they decided to split the country on was the 38th parallel, coincidently the place it was originally split on after WW2.