Related Categories:
City Symbols
World Flags and Symbols
USA State Symbols
Flag of North Korea
Three horizontal bands of blue (top), red (triple width),
and blue; the red band is edged in white; on the hoist side of the
red band is a white disk with a red five-pointed star.
|
An independent kingdom for much of its long history, Korea was occupied
by Japan in 1905 following the Russo-Japanese War. Five years later,
Japan formally annexed the entire peninsula. Following World War II,
Korea was split with the northern half coming under Soviet-sponsored
Communist domination.
After failing in the Korean War (1950-53) to conquer the US-backed
Republic of Korea (ROK) in the southern portion by force, North Korea
(DPRK), under its founder President KIM Il-so'ng, adopted a policy of
ostensible diplomatic and economic "self-reliance" as a check against
excessive Soviet or Communist Chinese influence. The DPRK demonized the
US as the ultimate threat to its social system through state-funded propaganda,
and molded political, economic, and military policies around the core ideological
objective of eventual unification of Korea under Pyongyang's control.
KIM's son, the current ruler KIM Jong Il, was officially designated as his
father's successor in 1980, assuming a growing political and managerial
role until the elder KIM's death in 1994. After decades of economic mismanagement
and resource misallocation, the DPRK since the mid-1990s has relied heavily
on international aid to feed its population while continuing to expend
resources to maintain an army of 1 million. North Korea's long-range missile
development, as well as its nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons
programs and massive conventional armed forces, are of major concern
to the international community. In December 2002, following revelations
that the DPRK was pursuing a nuclear weapons program based on enriched
uranium in violation of a 1994 agreement with the US to freeze and
ultimately dismantle its existing plutonium-based program, North Korea
expelled monitors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
In January 2003, it declared its withdrawal from the international
Non-Proliferation Treaty. In mid-2003 Pyongyang announced it had
completed the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel rods
(to extract weapons-grade plutonium) and was developing a "nuclear deterrent."
Since August 2003, North Korea has participated in the
Six-Party Talks with China, Japan, Russia, South Korea, and the US designed
to resolve the stalemate over its nuclear programs.
The fourth round of Six-Party Talks were held in Beijing during
July-September 2005. All parties agreed to a Joint Statement of Principles
in which, among other things, the six parties unanimously reaffirmed
the goal of verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in
a peaceful manner. In the Joint Statement, the DPRK committed to
"abandoning all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs and
returning, at an early date, to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation
of Nuclear Weapons and to IAEA safeguards."
The Joint Statement also commits the US and other parties to
certain actions as the DPRK denuclearizes. The US offered a
security assurance, specifying that it had no nuclear weapons on ROK
territory and no intention to attack or invade the DPRK with nuclear
or other weapons. The US and DPRK will take steps to normalize relations,
subject to the DPRK's implementing its denuclearization pledge and
resolving other longstanding concerns. While the Joint Statement provides
a vision of the end-point of the Six-Party process, much work lies
ahead to implement the elements of the agreement.
- CIA World Factbook.
North Korea - Fotw
White has been the traditional colour of the Korean nation and figures in the flag
of North Korea as a symbol of purity, strength and dignity.
www.fotw.us/flags/kp.html
North Korea - wikipedia.org
North Korea is officially described as a Juche (self-reliance) State.
Government is organized as a dictatorship. Kim Il-sung,
the founder of North Korea, was the country's first and only president.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Korea
|
|
