by Megan Soyars

Created on: January 04, 2010   Last Updated: January 06, 2010

North Korea is one country that has fascinated, horrified, confused, and awed modern countries around the world. Created on September 9, 1948, after the division of the country and deceptively named the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, North Korea is one of the most powerful Asian countries today.

It is a communist dictatorship currently ruled by Kim Jong-il. It is also considered to be a nuclear threat by capitalist democracies such as the United States. But while the U.S. is singularly interested in North Korea as a member of the so-called ‘Axis of Evil,’ the country actually has a fascinating past and culture that deserves to be studied.

Although it is generally thought that North Korea developed as a Soviet satellite, it in fact did not. Unlike countries such as Czechoslovakia and Poland, the Soviet Union was not extremely interested in Korea. Therefore, Korea’s brand of communism, although borrowed from the Soviet Union’s, took its own unique course.

Most importantly, the government’s current structure is deeply influenced by Korea’s cultural history. First, North Korean communism is actually a continuation of traditional Confucianism, which may be why it is succeeding so well today.

This brand of communism is based on the family structure that is so revered in Korea, with Kim Jong-il as the “father” and the Democratic People’s Republic as the “mother.” The current communist dictatorship also has a great deal in common with Korea’s previous monarchy.

The dictatorship employs the same unified, hierarchal structure that allows for little social mobility. Three different ‘classes’ also exist in the Democratic People’s Republic, (despite the fact that communism calls for a classless society) the intellectuals, the workers, and the peasants.

Similarly, three distinct classes also existed in ancient Korea, the yangban, the merchants, and the peasants. Another current communist ideal that has been affected by Korean tradition is Chuch’e. Chuch’e is a word that means self-reliance and independence.

Chuch’e calls for the Korean people to stand on their own and remain free from other countries’ influences. Obviously, this is a harkening back to Korea’s traditional status as a ‘Hermit Kingdom.’ North Korea takes great pride in its Chuch’e, but this same ideal leaves them extremely isolated from the rest of the world.

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