North Korea Blog Post

When Japan lost World War II in 1945, it also lost Korea. The United Nation divided administration of the peninsula between two of the victorious Allied powers. The USSR fostered a pro-Soviet communist government based in Pyongyang, then withdrew in 1948. North Korea's military leader was Kim II-sung. He wanted to invade South Korea at the point and unite the country under a communist banner but Joseph Stalin refused. The regional situation changed in 1950. China won the civil war, and Mao Zedong agreed to send military support to North Korea.

On June 25, 1950, North Korea launched artillery barrage across the border into South Korea. The North Koreans immediately began moving south. After the war began, US President Truman ordered American armed forces to come to the aid of the South Korean military. The Security Council of the United Nation approved member-state assistance to the South. Twelve more nations joined the US and South Korea in the U.N. coalition. At first, the war was going very well for the North. The communist forces almost captured nearly the entire peninsula within the first two months of fighting. The North Korean army wasn't able to break the Busan Perimeter after a month of battle. 

In September and October of 1950, South Korean and U.N forces pushed the Morth Koreans all of the way back along the 38th Parallel, and north to the Chinese border. Mao ordered his troops in to battle on North Korea's side. In three years of battle, 4 million soldiers and civilians were killed, the Korean War finally ended in a stalemate with the cease-fire agreement. They never signed a peace treaty but they remain separated by a 2.5-mile wide demilitarized zone. After the war, North Korea's government decided to focus on industrialization. North Korea would become strong by producing all of its own resources. During the 1960's North Korea got caught in the middle of the Sino-Soviet split. Kim II-sung wanted to remain neutral but the Soviets concluded that he favored the Chinese so they cut off all resources to North Korea. During the 1970's, North Korea's economy began to fail. North Korea has no oil reserves, and they were put into debt because of the price of oil. Kim II-sung died in 1994 and was replaced by his son Kim Jong-II. Between the years 1996 and 1999 the country suffered from a famine that killed between 600,000 and 900,000 people. Today, North Korea relies upon food aid. North Korea tested its first nuvlear weapon on October 9, 2006. Kim Jong-II died on December 17, 2011 and was then replaced by his third son, Kim Jong-un.