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?
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