Political Situation in North Korea
Wiesława Brandys
Klaudia Dziki
Political situation in
North Korea
INTRODUCTION
HICTORICAL BACKROUND Initially the state of North Korea was created as a result of the Cold War conflict between communism and capitalism.1 In August 1945, two young aides at the State Department divided the Korean peninsula in half along the 38th parallel. The Russians occupied the area north of the line and the United States occupied the area to its south. 2 It was, and in one way remains, a classic Cold War state, driven by the demands of the long-standing conflict with the Republic of Korea and the United States and its allies. It also emerged in the heyday of Stalinism, which as is widely known influenced North Korea's decision to give priority to heavy industry in its economic program. Nevertheless North Korea was a country forged in warfare: by a civil struggle fought at the beginning of the regime and by a vicious fratricidal war fought while the system was still in infancy. All these influences combined to produce a hardened leadership that knew how to hold onto power. But North Korea also evolved as a rare synthesis between foreign models and native influences; the political system was deeply rooted in native soil, drawing on Korea's of unitary existence on a small peninsula surrounded by greater powers.3 Whether in response to United States initiatives or because most Koreans despised the trusteeship agreement that had been negotiated at the end of 1945, separate institutions began to emerge in North Korea in early 1946. In February 1946, an Interim People's Committee led by Kim Il Sung became the first central government. In August 1946, a powerful political party, the North Korean Workers' Party, dominated politics as a result of a merger with the Korean Communist Party; in the fall the rudiments of a northern army appeared. Central agencies nationalized major industries that previously had been mostly owned by the Japanese and began a
Klaudia Dziki
Political situation in
North Korea
INTRODUCTION
HICTORICAL BACKROUND Initially the state of North Korea was created as a result of the Cold War conflict between communism and capitalism.1 In August 1945, two young aides at the State Department divided the Korean peninsula in half along the 38th parallel. The Russians occupied the area north of the line and the United States occupied the area to its south. 2 It was, and in one way remains, a classic Cold War state, driven by the demands of the long-standing conflict with the Republic of Korea and the United States and its allies. It also emerged in the heyday of Stalinism, which as is widely known influenced North Korea's decision to give priority to heavy industry in its economic program. Nevertheless North Korea was a country forged in warfare: by a civil struggle fought at the beginning of the regime and by a vicious fratricidal war fought while the system was still in infancy. All these influences combined to produce a hardened leadership that knew how to hold onto power. But North Korea also evolved as a rare synthesis between foreign models and native influences; the political system was deeply rooted in native soil, drawing on Korea's of unitary existence on a small peninsula surrounded by greater powers.3 Whether in response to United States initiatives or because most Koreans despised the trusteeship agreement that had been negotiated at the end of 1945, separate institutions began to emerge in North Korea in early 1946. In February 1946, an Interim People's Committee led by Kim Il Sung became the first central government. In August 1946, a powerful political party, the North Korean Workers' Party, dominated politics as a result of a merger with the Korean Communist Party; in the fall the rudiments of a northern army appeared. Central agencies nationalized major industries that previously had been mostly owned by the Japanese and began a