I'm Back! (A.K.A. The Story of "Best Korea")

           

Well, I'm back! After 2 years, I return once more to educate and entertain the masses (and by masses I mean the 4 family members, 2 friends and thr random hobos who read my blog). Anyway, from now on, I will do my best to put up a new post every week. That's right! You can now read about historical shenanigans EVERY WEEK! Alright, now that I have you all wiggling in your chairs in excitement like this guy...

                                    "That's a BINGO!"                                         Link

   

Let's get started! Today, I will be talking about the country of North Korea, Now, we obviously have heard a lot about them in the news recently, as they have been constantly threatening South Korea, Japan, the United States, and basically anyone they think is their enemy. They've ramped this up in recent weeks, threatening nuclear war, total destruction of the United States (especially Colorado Springs ). This rash of warmongering stupidity has even angered North Koreas long time ally, China, who basically told them to quit dicking around or they'd take matters into their own hands. In essence,  the leaders in North Korea are doing a better job of running their country into the ground than Adolf Hitler did.

                                     Hitler:...Anne Frankly, I am offended."                 Link

In this post, I will explain how North Korea went from a once peaceful land to a violent dictatorship the likes of which we should not have to deal with in this modern day and age.

First, I'll go back to Korea right before the end of World War II. Japanese forces had annexed Korea in 1910, taking the region by force. This brought much pain and suffering to the Korean people, as the Japanese believed themselves racially superior (this is something some Koreans hold a grudge for to this very day). As the war drew to a close, the two superpowers, the Soviet Union and the United States, couldn't come to an agreement on how Korea should be governed, so it split it into two halves, the Soviet occupied north and the American occupied south. While both superpowers left the region, they nurtured governments that were sympathetic to their political ideologies, with North Korea becoming staunch Communists and South Korea becoming democratic.  So was born the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), which is a very misleading name, as there is nothing at all democratic about the country.

The man who would become known as the "Eternal President of the Republic" was a man named Kim Il Sung. He was a rebel who fought the Japanese forces and evnetually forced himself into exile prior to World War II. After the war had ended, Sung returned, and was given the position of being head of the Provisional Peoples Committee. While not as powerful as the Soviet party was, it still held power. A few years later, Sungs party merged with the Soviet party, forming one large government body with Kim as prime minister.

In 1950, Kim Il Sung decided to make his move. He chose to invade South Korea and bring unification by force. Soviet intelligence believed he would have little issues, as they believed the United States would not intervene.  This was a major miscalculation on their part.

                                                 You Dun Goofed                                     Link

The North Korean military was supplied with soviet weapons and vehicles, but no soldiers from either China or other Soviet territories, as they did not wish to risk the threat of nuclear war. The North Korean military quickly pushed downward, capturing the South Korean capital of Seoul and almost taking the entire region, except for a small area called the Pusan Perimeter. This small region held out, allowing U.S. troops to lead a counter attacking pushing the North Koreans back, out of South Korea and towards China. This counter attack involved troops from the U.N., South Korea and the U.S. This reversal of fortune would not go on long, however, as the Chinese, who border North Korea, saw the loss of North Korea to the U.S. as a threat and sent in tens of thousands of troops to support North Korea. In the end, the 3 year long war would kill over 1.2 million people, and basically do nothing more then mark an "armistice line" between North and South Korea (a line that was basically in the same place as it was before the war). While both Chinese and U.N. forces backed off, neither Korea really called an end to the war, which has been brought up over and over again by the North as a sort of threat to restart the conflict. Using terror and violence, as well as propaganda against the United States (such as telling people that the United States intentionally spread diseases to the Koreans), Kim Il Sung managed to secure power for himself and go from Prime Minister to President, giving him total power over the region. During the later years of his reign, Sung moved a majority of his economy towards building North Korea's military and armaments, while the agriculture slowly wilted and people starved. On July 8, 1994, Sung died of a heart attack. There was a national mourning period, where he was hailed as a hero and father of the people and all that fancy political mumbo jumbo. In the 30 years he held supreme power, Sung had built a legend around himself and used it to use the people of North Korea as his servants.

                      Way to go, you smug faced jackhole                     Link

Next up for leadership of North Korea was Kim Jong Il, who we mostly know for continuing North Korea's downward spiral into madness.

                                                   Come on guys, he's just a ritter ronery!        Video (Warning: Language)                   Link 

Kim Jong Il came to power after his fathers death in 1994 though it took over three years to secure his power base. He spread the idea of being almost god-like, his birth being "foretold by a swallow, a double rainbow and a new star in the sky". Yeah, this guy was cracked. As his father was called the "Great Leader" before him, Jong Il went by the "Dear Leader". He built around him a cult of personality that many could not help but get swept up in. He consolidated his power even more than his father had, seeing the slightest disagreement from his advisers as disobedience and treachery, At the same time, North Korea's economy was going down the toilet. Due to flooding and other issues, North Korea had only 18% land that could be used for farming. This hurt the already stagnated economy and brought about starvation of the population. John Il also held hundreds of thousands of people in concentration camps as enemies of the state and political prisoners. This has drawn much criticism from groups such as the U.N. (though they have yet to act upon it).

Jong Il was known for his love of movies (of which he had over 20,00) as well as basketball. He lived an extravagant lifestyle (for instance, he would have fresh lobsters airlifted to his armored train before departing on trips). This clashes heavily with the lives of his people, many of whom are starving. On December 17, 2011, Kim Jong Il reportedly died of a heart attack on his armored train. His death seemed pretty normal, but according to North Korean propaganda, when he died "a fierce snowstorm paused and the sky glowed red above the sacred Mount Paektu. The ice on a famous lake also cracked so loud, it seemed to shake the Heavens and the Earth." I think South Korea dealt with it a little differently...

                                                 Deal With It                                              Link

We now arrive at the current leader, Kim Jong Un, who has followed quite well in his fathers footsteps of warmongering and violating human rights. At first it was though that as someone who had seen different parts of the world (Jong Un studied abroad in Europe), he might be better then his father. As it turns out, he isn't. Or else, he is, and the military of North Korea is totally ignoring him and just going crazy. Either way, the threats that used to come a few times a year have ramped up to multiple per week, as well as moving missiles about. Many people are frightened of the possibility of war with North Korea, or from a missile attack from them, but as their past missile launches have shown, they aren't very good at it.

              "Call ACME Immediately! This is UNACCEPTABLE!"                  Link

  While many people worry about the possibilities of a war with North Korea, many South Koreans say its just another day. They have dealt with this craziness for over 60 years and this, to them, is just another crazed attempt to get attention and aid. Most don't even treat it as a true news worthy event.

                                      "Just another Sunday over here!"                       Link

So that, in a tiny nutshell, is the history of the Kim family and its handiwork of turning North Korea into what adds up to a real life version of Fallout, without nuclear radiation (for the time being). Hopefully the situation there can be dealt with in a peaceful manner, possibly even in a manner that helps the common people get food, water, and all the other things they need. Only time will tell, however, so now all we can do is sit back and watch it unfold.

Until next time!