EverydayKorea.com

A Country Study: North Korea

North Korea Foreword Acknowledgements Preface Country Profile Country Geography Society Economy Transportation and Telecommunications Government and Politics National Security Introduction Chapter 1 - Historical Setting (Bruce G. Cumings) Historical Setting The Origins of the Korean Nation The Period of the Three Kingdoms Korea under Silla Unification by Kory The Chosn Dynasty: Florescence Dynastic Decline Korea in the 19th Century World Order The Legacy of Japanese Colonialism The Rise of Korean Nationalism and Communism The National Division and the Origins of the DPRK The Korean War The Post-War Economy and Patterns of Industrialization Corporatism and the Chuch'e Idea International Relations Chapter 2 - The Society and its Environment (Donald M. Seekins) The Physical Environment Topography and Drainage Climate Environmental Protection Population Size and Growth Rate Population Structure and Projections Settlement Patterns and Urbanization Koreans Living Overseas Social Structure and Values Confucian and Neo-Confucian Values Chosn Dynasty Social Structure The Traditional Family and Kinship The Colonial Transformation of Korean Society Tradition and Modernity in North Korea Chuch'e and Contemporary Social Values Classes and Social Strata Urban Life Village Life Family Life The Role of Women The Role of Religion Ethnicity, Culture, and Language in Contemporary Society Contemporary Cultural Expression Literature, Music and Film Architecture and City Planning The Korean Language Education Educational Themes and Methods Primary and Secondary Education Social Education Higher Education Adult Education Public Health Chapter 3 - The Economy (Joseph S. Chung) Economic Setting Korea under the Japanese Occupation Developmental Strategy Economic Development and Structural Change Record of Economic Performance Postwar Economic Planning Budget and Finance Organization and Management of the Economy Planning The Ch'ongsan-ni Method The Taean Work System Mass Production Campaigns Industry Development in Major Sectors Mining and Metal Processing Manufacturing Services and Marketing Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries Resource Development Production and Distribution of Crops and Livestock Organization and Management Forestry Fisheries Infrastructure Transportation and Communications Railroads Maritime Transportation Civil Aviation Roads Telecommunications Energy and Power Foreign Economic Relations Economic Assistance Foreign Trade Foreign Investment and Joint Ventures Inter-Korean Economic Cooperation Economic Outlook Chapter 4 - Government and Politics (Pan Suk Kim) Relationship Between the Government and the Party The Korean Workers' Party Constitutional Framework Organization of the Government The Supreme People's Assembly The Executive Branch The President and Vice Presidents The Central People's Committee The State Administration Council The Judiciary Local Government Political Ideology: The Role of Chuch'e Party Leadership and Elite Recruitment Party Members Party Cadres The Ruling Elite Leadership Succession Mass Organizations The Media Foreign Policy Inter-Korean Affairs China and the Soviet Union Japan The United States Prospects Chapter 5 - National Security (Guy R. Arrigoni) Military Heritage The Armed Forces National Command Authority Formulation of National Security Policy The Army Organization and Disposition Weapons and Equipment Special Operations Forces Military Capability, Readiness, Training, and Recent Trends The Navy Organization and Disposition Weapons and Equipment Military Capability and Coastal Defense The Air Force Organization and Disposition Weapons and Equipment Trends, Training, Readiness, and Military Capability Air Defense Civil Aviation Officer Corps: Recruitment and Education Military Conscription and Terms of Service Reserves and Paramilitary Forces Role in National Life Relations Between the Military and the Korean Workers' Party Military Doctrine and Strategy The Evolution of North Korean Military Thought Emergence of the New Doctrine Operational Practice in the 1980s and 1990s Employment in Offensive Scenario Defense Industry and Infrastructure Military Industry Special Weapons Chemical Weapons Missile Developments The Nuclear Option Foreign Military Relations Relations with China and the Soviet Union Relations with the Third World Incidents and Infiltrations: Targeting South Korea Geopolitical Changes: New World Order and North Korean Security Internal Security Social Control The Public Security Apparatus The Judicial System Historical Influences The Judiciary Punishment and the Penal System Prospects Appendix. Tables Bibliography

Korea under Silla

Silla and Paekche had sought to use Chinese power against Koguryo, inaugurating another tradition of involving foreign powers in internal Korean disputes. But Silla's reliance on Tang forces to consolidate its control had its price. Because Silla had to resist encroaching Tang forces, its sway was limited to the area south of the Taedong River. Nevertheless, Silla's military power, bolstered by an ideal of the youthful warrior (hwarang), was formidable. It seized Tang-occupied Paekche territories by 671, pushed Koguryo still further northward, and drove the Tang commanderies off the peninsula by 676, thereby guaranteeing that the Korean people would develop independently, without outside influences.

The broad territories of Koguryo, however, were not conquered, and in 698 a Koguryo general named Tae Cho-yng established a successor state called Parhae above and below the Yalu and Tumen boundaries. Parhae forced Silla to build a northern wall in 721, and kept Silla forces below a line running from present-day P'yongyang to Wonsan. By the eighth century, Parhae controlled the northern part of Korea, all of northeastern Manchuria, and the Liaodong Peninsula. Both Silla and Parhae continued to be heavily influenced by Tang Chinese civilization.

Silla and Tang China had a great deal of contact inasmuch as large numbers of students, officials, and monks traveled to China for study and observation. In 682 Silla set up a national Confucian academy to train high officials and later instituted a civil-service examination system modeled on that of the Tang. Parhae modeled its central government even more directly on Tang systems than did Silla and sent many students to Tang schools. Parhae's culture melded indigenous and Tang influences, and its level of civilization was high enough to merit the Chinese designation "flourishing land in the East."

Silla in particular, however, developed a flourishing indigenous civilization that was among the most advanced in the world. Its capital at Kyngju in present-day South Korea was renowned as the "city of gold," where the aristocracy pursued a high culture and extravagant pleasures. Tang dynasty historians wrote that elite officials possessed thousands of slaves, with like numbers of horses, cattle, and pigs. Officials' wives wore gold tiaras and earrings of delicate and intricate filigree. Scholars studied the Confucian and Buddhist classics, built up state administration, and developed advanced methods for astronomy and calendrical science. The Dharani sutra, recovered in Kyngju, dates as far back as 751 and is the oldest example of woodblock printing yet found in the world. Pure Land Buddhism (Buddhism for the Masses) united the common people, who could become adherents through the repetition of simple chants. The crowning glories of this "city of gold" continue to be the Pulguksa temple in the city and the nearby Skkuram Grotto, both built around 750. Both are home to some of the finest Buddhist sculpture in the world. The grotto, atop a coastal bluff near Kyongju, houses the historic great stone Sakyamuni Buddha in its inner sanctum; the figure is situated so that the rising sun over the Sea of Japan strikes it in the middle of the forehead.

Ethnic differences between Kogury and the Malgal people native to Manchuria weakened Parhae by the early tenth century, just as Silla's power had begun to dissipate a century earlier when regional castle lords splintered central power and rebellions shook Silla's foundations. Parhae, coming under severe pressure from the Kitan warriors who ruled parts of northern China, Manchuria, and Mongolia, eventually fell in 926. Silla's decline encouraged a restorationist named Kynhwn to found Later Paekche at Chnju in 892 and another restorationist, named Kungye, to found Later Koguryo at Kaesng in central Korea. Wang Kun, the son of Kungye who succeeded to the throne in 918, shortened the dynastic name to Koryo and became the founder of a new dynasty by that name, from which came the modern term Korea.

Data as of June 1993

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