How did North Korea become the world’s most isolated country?
74 years of family rule, 3 dictators, a war, and several nuclear threats later, North Korea today is the world’s most isolated country. Kim Il Sung’s promise of Juche (self-reliance) has been lost, Pyongyang does not have money, food, or electricity. How did North Korea end up so miserable?
Let’s start from the beginning,
What comes to your mind when I say North Korea? This man or his nuclear weapons?
Do you know North Korea is called the hermit kingdom? It is the world’s most isolated country, the world’s most secretive country.
North Korea is pitch dark if you look at it from space, it is short of electricity, short of food and money.
You aren’t allowed to use the internet or keep a pet, travel outside the country, make international calls, wear blue denim, take a hot shower at home, or even use contraception.
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is anything but a democracy- it’s a confusing mix of Confucianism, communism, dictatorship, tyranny, dynasty, and lost promises.
How did North Korea end up this way?
Let’s rewind to 1945.
The second world war had just come to an end after decades of Japanese protectionism. The fate of the Korean peninsula was left at the mercy of the Soviets and the Americans. They divided Korea into two zones- the north and the south. Along the 38th parallel, the south was pro-united states; the north was influenced by the soviet union.
They installed a communist guerrilla leader named Kim Il-sung as the premier of North Korea.
He is the first of the four Kims about whom we will discuss.
Kim Il-sung was born in Korea trained in China, had fought the Japanese, reportedly also lived in Russia. He was now back in Korea with a new name Kim Il-sung meaning Kim become the son although what he actually became was a dictator.
Three years after assuming power Kim Il-sung invaded the south. War broke out, it lasted three years.
In July 1953, an armistice was signed. After the war, Kim il-sung declared the ideology of JUCHE meaning self-reliance. The state assumed all controls over property and economy.
North Korea invested heavily in mining; built its military the country’s economy boomed but it soon hit stagnation North Koreans began slipping into poverty.
Cut to 1994, Kim Il-sung died of a heart attack, and with him died the promise of Juche or self-reliance.
Enter the second Kim: Kim Jong-Il
Kim Jong-Il is the son of Kim Il-Sung he instituted a new policy SONGUN CHONG’CHI meaning military first.
The ordinary citizens became all the more neglected and isolated in the mid-1990s North Korea was struck by a famine.
At least two and a half to three million people died. The country desperately needed international aid but Kim Jong-Il's policies were bent on closing all doors
Despite signing the nuclear non-proliferation treaty Kim jong-il marched towards his nuclear dreams; in the year 2006 North Korea carried out its first underground nuclear test
Five years later Kim jong-il died, he too of a heart attack.
Enter the third Kim: Kim Jong-Un
Kim Jong-Un was just 27 when he secured his position by executing his uncle and poisoning his half-brother at a Malaysian airport.
Also silencing at least 300 odd top military leaders in his country.
Kim wasted no time in accelerating North Korea’s nuclear program. Between 2016 and 2017 he conducted three nuclear tests including a hydrogen bomb and 30 short and long missile launches including an intercontinental missile launch.
Three dictators and 74 years of rule by the Kim dynasty later,
this is where North Korea stands: internationally isolated.
North Korea has been sanctioned by the united nations, the United States, South Korea, the European Union, Japan, and Australia.
This country is starving, it has a population of 25 million; at least 10 million of these people are malnourished. This is according to the UN world food program.
Most families in North Korea can manage only two meals a day, many live on corn. The pandemic has worsened the situation, North Korea relies on China for almost all of its external trade.
In January 2020 Pyongyang sealed its borders, between June and September the country was hit by a severe flood. By August, North Korea reduced imports from china by almost 75%.
In October, North Korea said the coronavirus can spread through migratory birds, animals, snow, and even the yellow dust blowing into the country from China.
Korea does not have enough food to feed its people. Kim Jong-un has banned all emergency aid.
No one dares to contest Kim's policies. North Korea hero-worships its supreme leader. People shed tears at the glimpse of Kim Jong-un.
The sycophancy has paved the way for some really absurd policies.
North Koreans were recently forced to give up their pet dogs. So that they can be used for restaurant meat North Koreans have been told to produce 200 pounds of human manure a day to fertilize the soil and revitalize the country’s economy and I’m not joking.
In 2020 Kim jong-un issued a ban on pet ownership he called it a ‘tainted trend’ by bourgeoisie ideology.
There is a world of difference between the life of an ordinary North Korean and the exorbitant lifestyle of its dictator.
Kim spent thirty-three thousand dollars on American alcohol and more than ninety-five thousand dollars in german wine in 2016.
The caviar he eats is imported from Iran, his coffee is flown in from Brazil while his people starve to death, Kim eats steaks of Kobe beef. Buys Christian Diors for his wife. Spends upwards of three and a half million dollars on lingerie for his pleasure squad owns an 8 million yacht a fleet of over 100 cars — I wonder where he drives them.
North Korea has 25,554 kilometers of roads but only 724 kilometers are paved. Parents are banned from naming their children Kim Jong-un. Only 14 hairstyles have been approved for north Korean women, men are not allowed to grow their hair longer than 5 centimeters.
This country has no parallels in today’s world a lot.
What North Korea is today has to do with its obsession with the USA. Do you know North Koreans refer to Americans as big noses? Kim jong-il wanted to avenge the Korean war. The Kim dynasty believes the only way to ensure history does not repeat itself is by building fear- hence the nuclear program.
The Nukes
Nuclear weapons give North Korea the leverage which it otherwise would never have.
Nukes are also Pyongyang’s way of negotiating with the world. The recent examples include the Singapore and Vietnam summit between Kim Jong-Un and former US President Donald Trump.
The US wanted the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula Pyongyang asked for sanctions to be lifted.
For once the world thought this was the beginning of a thaw and then in May 2019 North Korea resumed its short-range ballistic missile test.
In June 2020 North Korea marked the second anniversary of the Singapore summit by declaring that it is bolstering its nuclear deterrence.
There was no looking back, on the 21st of March 2021 North Korea fired off two cruise missiles, four days later it fired two short-range ballistic missiles, a type that violates UN security council sanctions.
But for how long can North Korea continue this way?
The pandemic was a golden opportunity for Pyongyang to reconnect with the world. All it had to do was accept humanitarian shipments but Kim Jong-Un had other plans.
Do you know before taking every important decision Kim rides a white horse to mount Paektu, this is north Korea’s tallest peak, also an active volcano. Mount Paektu is believed to be the birthplace of Kim Jong-il. The mountain also served as a military base for the first Kim.
So every time you see a photo like this:
…you should know there’s something cooking.
North Korea is caught in a time warp but the world doesn’t really know what this country looks like.
The factory output in North Korea has fallen to its lowest level since Kim took power in 2011. The price of staples like sugar has quadrupled.
The future looks worse.
This is Kim Yo Jong, the fourth Kim of our story.
She is Kim Jong-un’s sister. She was once called the Ivanka of North Korea this is after she led the North Korean delegation to the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.
Turns out she’s more unpredictable than her brother. After returning from South Korea she began issuing threats to Seoul.
She recently warned US president Joe Biden to ‘not cause a stink’ if it wants to sleep in peace for the coming four years it had better refrain from causing a stink at its first step- that’s what she said of the us
She also called a south Korean leader a parrot. Kim Yo Jong became the new face of the Kim dynasty when rumors of Kim Jong-un’s illness/death emerged. Is she the future dictator of the hermit kingdom?
In all probability, the fourth Kim too seems bent on driving North Korea further away from civilization and globalization.
