Culture is all dependent on the type of society that surrounds it; as the world and society constantly change, so does the culture within. One thing that is clear, is that North Korea has had one of the most impactful cultures in the world, whether it be in a positive or negative fashion. Very little information is clear about North Korea in the United States, even for most of the world. Besides the common alarming headlines in the news about its international terrorism and the nuclear threats of recent years, everything else about North Korea lies in the gray area. This is a direct result of a strict closed country policy and being entirely isolated from anything beyond their borders since before the Korean War. Regardless of perspectives and opinions, the North Korean people still exist and deserve a peaceful cultural life.
Located in East Asia, scaling over forty-seven thousand square miles which takes up more than half of the Korean peninsula as a whole lies controversial North Korea. Even with the vast amount of mountain ranges and valleys, along with long cold winters and the enormous amount of rainfall they receive from the popular monsoon seasons; surprisingly it is still occupied with over twenty-five million in population. Within those twenty-five million, almost every single one of them belongs to the Korean ethnic group, with less than one percent of the country being Chinese. The spoken language predominately is Korean, also known as Choson muntcha in North Korea, which is what the South Koreans refer to as Hangul (Hahn, Lee, C., Lee, J. H., Lew, & Yoo, 2018).
In 1910, this diminutive Asian country was not ruled by the ones who claimed it as their home. In fact, the Japanese had absolute control of the peninsula for thirty-five years with their military structure. Shortly after Japan was defeated in World War II, the United States deployed soldiers to the south and members of the USSR aligned with North Korea to claim the north. Now that they were being backed by Russia and their leader Joseph Stalin, it was only a matter of time that before they adopted a similar communist way of life. In 1948, Kim-II-Sung became the first premier of the Democratic Republic of Korea and reigned for nearly fifty years. In 1950, the Korean War had begun; lasting three years and resulting in over 2.5 million deaths until the two came to an agreement with the 1953 Armistice. Even though the war was over, Kim-II-Sung continued his reigning legacy and so did his family’s; being the only ones in history to live in North Korea since its very existence. Now with North Korea under the control of Kim Jong-Un, after the passing of his father Kim Jong-Il, his sporadic attitude has led to multiple variations of bold statements and attacks, but none have been very substantial (Pruitt, 2017).
One of the most perceptive topics North Korea is known for is their lack of respect for human rights for the citizens that reside in their country. Throughout the lands, there are numerous amounts of prisons from concentration camps to political imprisonment camps to ordinary imprisonment camps. It is said that nearly 120,000 prisoners are still captive within these camps. With these types of installations controlling their people; we can only envision how they were being treated behind the walls. The United Nations (UN) had compiled a report estimating four hundred pages intended for the international criminal court in order to take action against North Korea. These victims would suffer from a wide variety of harmful acts such as chemicals or beatings. The most talked about abuse was the lack of food. Even though natural disasters caused a huge uprise of famine in the 90s, the politically powerful used food to control the less powerful population. All of these disturbing actions of human rights abuse were all used to put fear in the eyes and minds of the population (Walker, 2014).
Even though we cannot completely confirm the things that take place, the leadership of North Korea has to understand the perception they give off when it comes to the relationship with their own people. The United Nations constantly keeps their eyes on North Korea and has collected multiple reports and evidence of torture, execution, imprisonment and deliberate starvation. Kim Jung Un, who is the current leader of North Korea, consistently speaks about his love and pride for his country and his people. When confronted by a letter written by the UN Commissioner stating that he could face trial at the international criminal court, he simply denied any and all accusations (Walker, 2014).
The culture of North Korea cannot be wholesome without discussing the military life. The fact that a country like that is has been in the pursuit of some of the world’s most powerful and dangerous weapons known to man did not sit well with the United States. In 1991, President George W. Bush withdrew all nuclear weapons from the South. Therefore, North Korea and South Korea then signed the Joint Declaration on the Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, whereby both sides promised they would “not test, manufacture, produce, receive, possess, store, deploy or use nuclear weapons.” (Ashraf, 2018). Shortly after the agreement, North Korea declared that they had possession of such weapon systems and had now broken the Agreed Framework and that they were withdrawing from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. Immediately following, they were bombarded with numerous UN inspections but, North Koreas did not allow access in the country to the UN officials, pleading that all statements were fabricated. Between the years of 2001 and 2011, there have been countless hostile and threatening acts from North Korea with their nuclear weapons and missile tests. In March 2010, North Korea torpedoed a South Korean ship killing forty-six sailors, and in November of the same year, it shelled Yeonpyeong Island, killing four South Koreans, two which were military and two civilians (Wertz & Gannon, 2015). This was an extremely hectic time for South Korean citizens and the American Soldiers stationed there, as they were put on a full alert status and one hundred percent lockdown.
What once was a full peninsula of joyful citizens and good order is now split by 2.5 miles of constant high alert. On April 27th, 2018, that all changed with a sign leading to what could potentially put an end to all the chaos. Kim Jon Un who is the current leader of North Korea, stepped right through the middle of the DMZ to meet with the South Korean President Moon Jae-in. This was the first time anyone from the North Korean border has ever stepped foot in South Korea since the end of the Korean War in 1953. This meeting was scheduled to ultimately heal the Korean relationships and potentially lead to peace between the two (Kim Jon Un walks across the border to meet South Korean President, 2018). Soon after the meeting, the United States released multiple statements in regards to hoping both countries for the best possible outcome. On June 12th, 2018, Kin Jong Un and our current president Donald Trump took part in a signing ceremony while meeting in Singapore. This was an important first step towards denuclearization and a powerful sign for future peace (Ashraf, 2018).
This country and its citizens have gone through a roller coaster like effect of cultural change. From being one peaceful and complete country, full of life and prosperity, to an all-out war involving multiple countries and the sacrifice of countless lives. Even though no one knows the true meaning of living within the borders of North Korea, the entire world has been given a small depiction of all the conflicts and controversies shown throughout the media. With a gesture as simple as walking across the border to meet the other half, we can all see a slight glimpse of what the future has in store for the world. Hopefully, the two can reach a peace treaty of some sort, so that the people of both North and South Korea can once again live in peace with completeness.