Democratic People's Republic of Korea

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), colloquially referred to as North Korea, is a socialist state in the northern part of the Korean nation. The southern half of the nation is occupied by a US-backed anti-communist regime known as the Republic of Korea or South Korea.

Despite crushing sanctions against the country, its culture is still able to flourish based on an autarkic economic system. On top of this, they also obtain an impressive healthcare system which proved to be efficient during the COVID-19 Pandemic, a life expectancy akin to that of richer Asian countries such as the Russian Federation, Malnutrition levels lower than that of low-income pacific countries, and other feats that show it has been largely resilient to the sanctions it faces.

History

The DPRK was founded in the aftermath of the Second World War (WW2) by korean nationalists, socialists, and communists, under the leadership of Kim Il Sung, a korean communist guerrilla leader who had earned a big following and reputation for his resistance against japanese imperialism.

Japanese Occupation

With its geographical location very close to 3 major powers (Russia, China, and Japan), Korea had always been a battleground for the influence of these major feudal empires. For most of the Modern Era (from 1400s onward), Korea had been a protectorate (tributary/suzerain state) of the Chinese Empire. However, this relation had been purely economical and geopolitical, with Korea being free to exercise its own culture and traditions independent of China despite its status as a protectorate. This all changed with the introduction of capitalism and imperialism into East Asia.

The turning point of this was the First Sino Japanese War (1894-1895) and the Russo Japanese War (1904-1905), in which the rising Empire of Japan, which had just adopted capitalism after the Meiji Restoration and built itself up into an imperialist superpower through state directed industrialization, defeated the Chinese Empire and the Russian Empire. At the end of these 2 wars, China and Russia renounced any control over Korea and ceded it to Japan as a protectorate in 1905. Barely a few years later, in 1910, Korea was formally annexed into the Empire of Japan.

However, this new protectorate status was very different from the previous one with China, and was pretty much identical to european style colonialism. All government matters were decided by japanese officials, and koreans became second class citizens. Soon, a planned effort began to eradicate all korean culture and assimilate koreans into japanese. The korean language was banned and all koreans were forced to change their names to japanese ones. Despite the promises made by Japan that annexation would bring in modernity and capitalism, and with it prosperity, the feudal economy and social structure that existed in Korea remained mostly unchanged, with the exception that the parasitical landlord class was now loyal to Japan. Eventually, Korea became a stepping stone for Japan's further imperialist expeditions into China and the Pacific. Korean men and children were used as slaves in Japan's mines and military industry to further the war effort, while korean women were forced into sex slavery to satisfy the japanese soldiers sexual urges.

Naturally, this brutal imperialist aggression sprung up resistance. This resistance was led by republicans and nationalists, which had developed in the late 1800s. Kim Il Sung was born precisely into a family of korean nationalists who opposed Japan.

Infrared’s position on the DPRK

Infrared basically supports anything the DPRK does domestically, militarily, and internationally.

See also

• DPRK study guide