Korea

Korean Peninsula • Facts

– About the size of Minnesota

– Began as a colony of Japan 1910

– Linguistically and ethnically different from China and Japan

– Powerful neighbors who often fight over the area (China, Japan, Russia)

Korean Peninsula• Mountains upper half• Speak Korean• Language and culture closely related to Japanese

• All of Korea had very similar heritage, culture, resources until Korean War

Post-war outcomes

• Battle ended near it started • Stalemate: cease-fire at 38th

parallel – Still to this day no formal peace

treaty

• DMZ (demilitarized zone): Border between North and South Korea – Also known as ‘no mans land’ – Mines, barbed wire, traps,

tunnels

North v. South

South Korea

• Capitalist economy with close ties to the U.S.

• Included as an ‘economic tiger’ with Taiwan and Singapore

• Major industrialization

• Major electronics industry and culture

North Korea • Very strict Communist government

– Kim il Sung (founder)– Kim Jong il (recently deceased leader)

– Kim Jong Un (current leader)

• Included in the “axis of evil”

• One of worlds strongest militaries

• Poverty, malnutrition, hunger, poor to no health care – 90’s famine killed nearly 3 million

• Extreme opposition to foreigners

North Korea

• Juche: self-reliance, little economic exchange, pride in own country, little care or communication with outsiders

• Major threat for Nuclear weapons

• Recently expelled aid workers and U.N. nuclear inspectors

Kim Jong Un

While you watch…

• How did North Korea become the country of North Korea?– What roles do that play in North Koreas legacy

and North Korea today?

• List 3 examples of ‘juche’Consider this: • what are the strengths of Kim Jong il’s

leadership style?• What are his weaknesses?