September 9 – National Independence Day in North Korea

nPostednon September 9, 2014

Todaynis the anniversary of the founding of the Democratic People’snRepublic of Korea in 1948.

nLikenso many other patriotic “holidays,” this day commemoratesndivision as well as union, war rather than peace; and it is annoccasion for sadness for some people. n

nBecausenthe division of Korea into North and South Korea really didnpermanently divide some friendships and families.

nHowndid the division happen?

nJapannruled Korea from 1910 to the end of World War II. When Japan was beatnby the Allied forces, the Soviet Union occupied the northern portionnof Korea, to the 38^th parallel, and soon U.S. forcesnoccupied the portion of Korea south of that parallel. By 1948, twonseparate governments had been set up.

nButneach government felt that IT was the one true government of Korea.n“That other government isn’t the legitimate government,” eachnside claimed—“WE are!”

nAndivision that had been imposed on a land and a people by outsidennations—even if those nations had just liberated the land ofninvaders—should not have been permanent, and the North and SouthnKoreans didn’t hold the division as permanent. n

nButnof course they disagreed about what to do about this artificialndivision. n

nNorthnKorea was set up as a communist nation, with backing from China andnthe USSR. South Korea, on the other hand, was set up as a democraticnrepublic modeled on U.S. and European capitalist nations. n

nSoonnafter the creation of the separate governments, North Korean forcesnattacked South Korea and tried to take back the “bottom half” ofnits nation. The Korean War lasted three years and killed more thannhalf a million troops (plus wounding more than a million troops, plusnkilling and wounding around 2.5 million civilians, plus damaging andndestroying buildings and property plus/plus/plus!) – and when thenwar was over, the exact same situation resumed:

Korea remainedndivided into two separate nations, along the 38^thnparallel.

nMorenbad news…

Younprobably already know that North Korea is a dictatorship, and thenpeople there do not have the access to information and freedoms thatnmost of the rest of us enjoy. They don’t even have access to as muchnFOOD as the rest of us, and on average North Korean people are one tonthree inches shorter than South Korean people because of chronic foodnshortages. North Korea has one of the largest armed forces in thenworld, with 1.1 million soldiers on active duty. Its reserve forcesnof 8 million reserves is THE largest in the world (even though thennation is only the 48^th most populous nation in thenworld!).

nThenpeople of North Korea struggle economically, and the infrastructuren(such as power supply lines and transportation routes) is in manyncases old and in disrepair. But the ruling family spends a lot ofnmoney on their own lifestyle…like 32 homes, including palaces andnmansions. n

nIsnthere anything nice to say?

Thenroads may be marred by potholes and other rough patches that neednrepair – but at least they aren’t congested with traffic! (Photo by Bjorn Bergman)

nTherenare universities, and public swimming pools… (Photo by David Guttenfelder)

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n…andna pretty amazing water park… (Reuters / RCNA)

…andnof course much of the countryside is beautiful.

nNorth Korea would also be a pretty awesome place for star-gazing and other astronomical pursuits – because it has a LOT less nighttime lighting than its neighbors South Korea, Japan, and China. (The almost entirely dark part is North Korea!)

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