The Ticking Time Bomb

N Korea 'is building more bombs'

2005-06-09T07:12:00.000-07:00

North Korea is boosting its arsenal of nuclear weapons, the communist state's Vice-Foreign Minister, Kim Gye-gwan, has told the US ABC News network.

He said North Korea had enough atomic bombs to protect itself against attack by the US and was building more.
He refused to say whether North Korean missiles could reach the US.

US President George Bush has meanwhile said Pyongyang must show it is ready to give up its nuclear weapons programme in a "serious and substantive" way.

The BBC's Seoul correspondent, Charles Scanlon, says Mr Kim's statement reveals how deeply North Korea and the US disagree over its weapons ambitions.

Six-nation negotiations aimed at getting North Korea to give up its weapons programme have been stalled for over a year.

On Wednesday, the Chinese envoy to the UN said Pyongyang might "soon" return to the negotiating table, following talks between US and North Korean officials on Monday.

Source
Read the full article at - BBC World - N Korea 'is building more bombs'

Juche Ideology

2005-06-08T13:49:00.000-07:00

Backround

To get a basic understanding of the political structure and the way North Korea as a country is operated, we must first look at an underlying theme seen throughout all parts of life in North Korea. Since 1972 the "Juche" philosophy has been central to North Korea's development and control. Juche philosophy has often been described by westerners as a theme of self-reliance but in reality it goes deeper than just self reliance. A quote from Kim Il Sung best describes NK's political philosophy.

"Establishing Juche means, in a nutshell, being the master of revolution and reconstruction in one's own country. This means holding fast to an independent position, rejecting dependence on others, using one's own brains, believing in one's own strength, displaying the revolutionary spirit of self-reliance, and thus solving one's own problems for oneself on one's own responsibility under all circumstances".

As one can see, Juche goes in-fact far deeper than just self reliance and even goes as far as becoming the "Master of Revolution & Reconstruction of ones country". In other words the master of change and rebuilding ones country. Therefore this quote also signifies not only self reliance but also complete control over change. NK states that Juche is Kim Il Sung's application of Marxist-Leninist principles to modern day NK. Unfortunately Kim Ii Sung and Kim Jong Il have both used this philosophy to justify policies of self reliance and self denial in the face of famine and other human rights issues.

Application

Kim Il Sung envisioned three specific applications to the Juche Philosophy:

1. Political and Ideological Independence (Chaju)

2. Economic Independence (Charip)

3. Military Independence (Chawi)

These points were taken directly from a speech made by Kim Il Sung on December 16, 1967 to the Supremes Peoples Assembly.

"The Government of the Republic will implement with all consistency the line of independence, self-sustenance, and self-defense to consolidate the political independence of the country (chaju), build up more solidly the foundations of an independent national economy capable of insuring the complete unification, independence, and prosperity of our nation (charip) and increasing the country???s defense capabilities, so as to safeguard the security of the fatherland reliably by our own force (chawi), by splendidly embodying our Party???s idea of juche in all fields".

So how did this ideological mindset get so entrenched in North Korean politics and the minds of the people?

Propaganda

The Juche ideology stresses equality and mutual respect among all nations. It continues further to state that all nations have the right to govern their own people independently. These two ideas of independence and and equality would have appealed to the rather small and weaker nation of North Korea who values respect and security so highly.

This is in part why North Korea has become truly a "hermit kingdom". The Juche has placed such a stigma on cooperation with other nations and outside contact that there is little desire to communicate with the outside world. North Korea maintains the stand point that complying to foreign pressure or intervention weakens the nation and threatens the nations ability to defend the interests of its people.

How did Kim Il Sung take this philosophy and put it into practice?

As with many political changes the Juche mindset was promoted through different mediums of propaganda. The main approach of indoctrination was through the promotion of the attitude that the Korean people could solve their problems themselves. This propaganda filling the people with national pride filtered through all parts of cultural life in North Korea, such as music and other entertainment. Kim Il Sung related Juche to the inner-workings of the human body to best describe the philosophy to the people.

"The Great Leader is the brain that makes decisions and issues orders, the Party is the nervous system that channels information, and the people are the bone and muscle that physically executes the orders".

This belief system is instilled into children at a very young age, has stayed with them throughout life and has kept the people loyal to both Kim Il Sung & Kim Jong Il, even during times of crisis such as famines and the energy crisis.

Sources
For further reading and a far more in depth look at the history and philosophy behind the Juche please read The Political Philosophy of Juche by Grace Lee, Stanford University.

North Korea - Quick Overview

2005-06-07T15:24:00.000-07:00

Basic Information

North Korea officially known as the "Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea" has always had a place of political importance. North Korea is located in eastern Asia, covering the northern half of the peninsula of Korea. To the south it borders South Korea with which it formed a single nation until 1948. Its northern border is predominantly with the Peoples Republic of China, and a small section with Russia.

Ideologies

North Korea practices an inward looking philosophy known as the Juche ideology or and ideology of national reliance. Outside contact is limited as much as possible in both economical and political situations. Following this ideology NK has on the surface rejected international trade but in reality relies on other socialist states for goods and support. Since the fall of the Russian Communist Bloc, shortages in fuel, food and basic supplies have increased but still the Juche is the underlying ideology the state. With these shortages increasing and no relief insight the NK Government are faced with the dilemma of expanding international trade to help revive the economy without upsetting political stability within its own borders.

North Korea limits transportation and tightly restricts the circumstances foreigners may enter the country. Telecommunications including internet, phone and fax services are few and far between and all communications are monitored within the country. The few North Koreans that have access to the internet, are actually on a separate private network (an Intranet) in which the NK government can screen all material online.

So how can a country survive with no foreign direct investment and a withering economy?

Through Military Power

The idea that the military comes first in NK has always been an underlying point in the NK regime. It provides NK deterrence, defense, a massive offense and leverage in international talks. In North Korea the military much more than just an army, it is the largest employer, purchaser, and consumer.

Over the next few weeks I plan to take a closer look at the North Korean regime to find out answers to important political, social, economic and human rights questions often overlooked in the global media.

Sources:
Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Korea#History
Global Security - http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/dprk/intro.htm