BEYOND THOSE YEARS

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Emergence of North Korea


In the aftermath of the Japanese occupation of Korea, which ended with Japan's defeat in World War II in 1945; the Soviet Union took the surrender of Japanese forces and controlled the area north of the 38th parallel and the United States likewise the area south of the parallel. Virtually all Koreans welcomed liberation from Japanese imperial rule, yet objected to re-imposition of foreign rule upon the peninsula. The Soviets and Americans disagreed on the implementation of Joint Trusteeship over Korea, with each establishing its socio-economic and political system upon its jurisdiction, leading, in 1948, to the establishment of ideologically opposed governments.[5] The United States and the Soviet Union then withdrew their forces from Korea. Growing tensions and border skirmishes between north and south led to the civil war called the Korean War.

On June 25, 1950, the (North) Korean People's Army crossed the 38th Parallel in a war of peninsular reunification under their political system. The war continued until July 27, 1953, when the United Nations Command, the Korean People's Army, and the Chinese People's Volunteer Army signed the Korean War Armistice Agreement.[6] Since that time the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) has separated the North and South.


Economic evolution


In the aftermath of the Korean War and throughout the 1960s and '70s, the country's state-controlled economy grew at a significant rate and, until the late 1970s, was considered to be stronger than that of the South[citation needed]. The apparent wealth, however, was hardly distributed to the majority of the general population[citation needed]. The country struggled throughout the 1990s, primarily due to the loss of strategic trade arrangements with the USSR[7] and strained relations with China following China's normalization with South Korea in 1992.[8] In addition, North Korea experienced record-breaking floods (1995 and 1996) followed by several years of equally severe drought beginning in 1997.[9] This, compounded with only 18 percent arable land[10] and an inability to import the goods necessary to sustain industry,[11] led to an immense famine and left North Korea in economic shambles. Large numbers of North Koreans illegally entered the People's Republic of China in search of food. Faced with a country in decay, Kim Jong-il adopted a "Military-First" policy to strengthen the country and reinforce the regime.[12]