About the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea)
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK, commonly referred to as North Korea) is one of the world's military flashpoints. Although a small country with a population of only 20-22 million people, North Korea is of vital strategic importance because of its geographic location in an area of the world where the interests of China, Russia, Japan, and the United States collide. Making the situation even more complex and volatile, these interests are carried out on a politically divided peninsula, with the northern half dominated by the DPRK government, and the southern half dominated by the government of the Republic of Korea (ROK, commonly known as South Korea). Globally, North Korea is of critical significance because of its potential to export weapons of mass destruction, its ballistic missile capacity, and the nuclear capability it has developed.
- NORTH KOREA
- FOREWORD
- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
- PREFACE
- INTRODUCTION
- HISTORICAL SETTING
- THE ORIGINS OF THE KOREAN NATION
- The Period of the Three Kingdoms
- Korea under Silla
- Unification by Kory
- The Chosn Dynasty: Florescence
- Dynastic Decline
- KOREA IN THE NINETEENTH-CENTURY WORLD ORDER
- THE LEGACY OF JAPANESE COLONIALISM
- THE RISE OF KOREAN NATIONALISM AND COMMUNISM
- THE NATIONAL DIVISION AND THE ORIGINS OF THE DPRK
- THE KOREAN WAR
- THE POST-WAR ECONOMY AND PATTERNS OF INDUSTRIALIZATION
- CORPORATISM AND THE CHUCH'E IDEA
- INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
- THE PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT
- POPULATION
- Size and Growth Rate
- Population Structure and Projections
- Settlement Patterns and Urbanization
- Koreans Living Overseas
- SOCIAL STRUCTURE AND VALUES
- Confucian and Neo-Confucian Values
- Chosn Dynasty Social Structure
- The Traditional Family and Kinship
- The Colonial Transformation of Korean Society
- Tradition and Modernity in North Korea
- Chuch'e and Contemporary Social Values
- Classes and Social Strata
- Urban Life
- Village Life
- Family Life
- The Role of Women
- The Role of Religion
- ETHNICITY, CULTURE, AND LANGUAGE IN CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY
- Contemporary Cultural Expression
- Literature, Music, and Film
- Architecture and City Planning
- The Korean Language
- EDUCATION
- Educational Themes and Methods
- Primary and Secondary Education
- Social Education
- Higher Education
- Adult Education
- PUBLIC HEALTH
- ECONOMIC SETTING
- ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND STRUCTURAL CHANGE
- BUDGET AND FINANCE
- INDUSTRY
- AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY, AND FISHERIES
- Resource Development
- Production and Distribution of Crops and Livestock
- Organization and Management
- Forestry
- Fisheries
- INFRASTRUCTURE
- FOREIGN ECONOMIC RELATIONS
- Economic Assistance
- Foreign Trade
- Foreign Investment and Joint Ventures
- Inter-Korean Economic Cooperation
- ECONOMIC OUTLOOK
- RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT AND THE PARTY
- THE KOREAN WORKERS' PARTY
- CONSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK
- ORGANIZATION OF THE GOVERNMENT
- The Supreme People's Assembly
- The Executive Branch
- The State Administration Council
- The Judiciary
- Local Government
- POLITICAL IDEOLOGY: THE ROLE OF CHUCH'E
- PARTY LEADERSHIP AND ELITE RECRUITMENT
- LEADERSHIP SUCCESSION
- MASS ORGANIZATIONS
- THE MEDIA
- FOREIGN POLICY
- PROSPECTS
- MILITARY HERITAGE
- THE ARMED FORCES
- National Command Authority
- Formulation of National Security Policy
- The Army
- Organization and Disposition
- Weapons and Equipment
- Special Operations Forces
- Military Capability, Readiness, Training, and Recent Trends
- The Navy
- The Air Force
- Organization and Disposition
- Weapons and Equipment
- Trends, Training, Readiness, and Military Capability
- Air Defense
- Civil Aviation
- Officer Corps: Recruitment and Education
- Military Conscription and Terms of Service
- Reserves and Paramilitary Forces
- Role in National Life
- Relations Between the Military and the Korean Workers' Party
- MILITARY DOCTRINE AND STRATEGY
- The Evolution of North Korean Military Thought
- Emergence of the New Doctrine
- Operational Practice in the 1980s and 1990s
- Employment in Offensive Scenario
- DEFENSE INDUSTRY AND INFRASTRUCTURE
- FOREIGN MILITARY RELATIONS
- Relations with China and the Soviet Union
- Relations with the Third World
- Incidents and Infiltrations: Targeting South Korea
- GEOPOLITICAL CHANGES: NEW WORLD ORDER AND NORTH KOREAN SECURITY
- INTERNAL SECURITY
- THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM
- PROSPECTS
- Appendix. Tables
- Bibliography
- Glossary
