KOREA, NORTH, FLAG OF

national flag consisting of two horizontal stripes of blue separated from a wide red central stripe by thinner stripes of white; off-centre toward the hoist is a white disk bearing a red star. The flag has a width-to-length ratio of 1 to 2. The northern part of Korea saw the establishment of a communist government following Soviet occupation of the country in 1945. The local communist leader, Kim Il-sung, was able to impose his will on the North Koreans during 46 years of rule. Not surprisingly, the flag, developed for his state, is unlike those of both communist and noncommunist countries in Asia. Its red stripe and star are symbols of the country's commitment to communism, while blue is said to stand for a commitment to peace. The white stripes stand for purity, strength, and dignity. The flag was introduced on July 10, 1948, two months before the Democratic People's Republic of Korea was proclaimed. Previously, however, the traditional Korean t'aegukflagof white with a central red-blue disk and four sets of black bars was official in North Korea. Like many other countries, North Korea has utilized its flag as an instrument of foreign policy; a huge version flies outside the small building at P'anmunjom where armistice negotiations were held. Whitney Smith History Following is a treatment of North Korea since the Korean War. For a discussion of the earlier history of the peninsula, see Korea, history of. In 1948, when the Democratic People's Republic of Korea was established, Kim Il-sung became the first premier of the North Korean communist regime. In 1949 he became chairman of the KWP, created from communist parties founded earlier. Until his death in July 1994, Kim ruled the country with an iron hand by promoting a personality cult centred on himself as the Great Leader of the Korean people. The 1950s and '60s In the aftermath of the Korean War, Kim purged the so-called domestic factionan indigenous communist group that had remained in Korea during the colonial periodamid much scapegoating for the disastrous war. After 1956, as the Sino-Soviet conflict intensified, Kim shifted his positions vis--vis Moscow and Peking no fewer than three times: from pro-Soviet to neutral, to pro-Chinese, and finally to independent. During 195658, he carried out a purge against the pro-Chinese group known as the Yenan faction and eliminated a pro-Soviet faction from the KWP Central Committee. In 1966, after a visit to P'yongyang by the Soviet prime minister, Aleksey N. Kosygin, Kim announced what became known as the independent party line in North Korea, which stressed the principles of complete equality, sovereignty, mutual respect, and noninterference among the communist and workers' parties. From this party line, KWP theoreticians evolved four self-reliance (juche) principles: autonomy in ideology, independence in politics, self-sufficiency in economy, and self-reliance in defense. In the late 1960s the regime implemented a program for strengthening the armed forces. As part of the effort to fortify the entire country, more military airfields were constructed and large underground aircraft hangars were built. In addition, a large standing army and a strong militia were maintained. North Korea's emphasis on strengthening its military forces proceeded hand in hand with its continued stress on the development of a self-reliant economy. With aid from the Soviet Union, China, and the countries of eastern Europe, North Korea implemented a series of economic development plans and made significant gains. But as external aid declined sharplyfirst from the Soviet Union beginning in the late 1950s and then from China at the start of the Cultural Revolutionthe seven-year plan of 196167 was seriously affected, as indicated by the extension of the plan for another three years. Bae-ho Hahn Young Ick Lew The economy North Korea has a command (centralized) economy. The means of production are controlled by the state, and priorities and emphases in economic development are set by the government. Since 1954, economic policy has been promulgated through a series of national economic plans. The early plans gave high priority to reconstruction and the development of heavy industries, especially chemicals and metals. Subsequent plans focused on resource exploitation and improving technology, mechanization, and infrastructure. Little attention was given to agriculture until the 1970s, and it was not until the late 1980s that much effort was made to improve the quality and quantity of consumer goods. Reliable information on the performance of the North Korean economy usually has been lacking. Outside observers have concluded, however, that the country has consistently failed to meet its stated goals and that production statistics quoted by the government often have been inflated. The economy grew rapidly in the first decade after the Korean War but then tended to stagnate or to grow only slowly; by the early 1990s North Korea was experiencing years of economic decline, in large part the result of the demise of the Soviet Union and the communist nations of Europe that had been the country's largest trading partners. Overall, North Korea has changed from an agricultural to an industrial nation since World War II. Economic goals have been linked to the general government policy of self-reliance (juche, or chuch'e). The country has shunned foreign investment, although it has accepted considerable economic aid from the former Soviet Union, China, and eastern European countries. Despite its stated policy of self-reliance, North Korea has found it necessary to import such essential commodities as fuels, machinery, and, on occasion, grains. By the early 1990s, the poor performance of the economy had induced the government to begin opening up the economy to limited foreign investment and increased trade. Efforts have been made to increase low labour productivity. In the late 1950s the state adopted a mass-mobilization measure called the Ch'ollima (Flying Horse) Movement that was patterned on China's Great Leap Forward. Subsequently, in the early 1960s programs were instituted in agricultural and industrial management called, respectively, the Ch'ongsan-ni Method and Taean Work System. Mining North Korea contains the great bulk of all known mineral deposits on the peninsula. It is estimated that some 200 minerals are of economic value. Most important are iron ore and coal, although greater emphasis is being given to the extraction of such minerals as gold, magnesite (magnesium carbonate), lead, and zinc. Other abundant minerals include tungsten, graphite, barite (barium sulfate), and molybdenum (a metallic element used in hardening steel). Large, high-grade iron ore reserves are mined in North and South Hwanghae, South P'yongan, and South Hamgyong provinces, while deposits at Musan, North Hamgyong province, mined extensively for decades, are of lower quality. Rich deposits of anthracite (hard coal) occur along the Taedong Rivernotably at Anju, north of P'yongyangand near Paegam in Yanggang province. There also are lesser amounts of lignite (brown coal) in the far northeast and at Anju. North Korea's magnesite deposits, the largest in the world, are centred on Tanch'on, in South Hamgyong province. The land Relief Crater lake at the summit of Mount Paektu, northern Yanggang province, North Korea. Mountains and valleys characterize most of the country. The Kaema Highlands in the northeast have an average elevation of 3,300 feet (1,000 metres) above sea level and form the topographic roof of the entire Korean peninsula. Mount Paektu (9,022 feet [2,750 metres]; see photograph), the highest mountain in North Korea and on the peninsula, rises at the northern edge of this plateau; it is an extinct volcano topped by a large crater lake. The Nangnim Mountains run from north to south through the middle of the country, forming a divide between the eastern and western slopes of the peninsula. The Kangnam and Myohyang ranges and Mounts Onjin and Myorak, all structural extensions of the Nangnim Mountains, extend parallel to each other toward the southwest. Large river-valley plains have developed between the western mountains; they merge along the narrow, irregular coastal plain on the west coast. The Hamgyong Mountains, extending from the Nangnim Mountains to the northeast, form a steep slope between the Kaema Highlands and the Sea of Japan. The T'aebaek Mountains extend from southeastern North Korea into South Korea along the eastern coast; one peak, Mount Kumgang (5,374 feet), is renowned for its scenic beauty. The people Ethnic and linguistic composition The Korean peninsula is one of the most ethnically homogeneous regions in the world. The North Korean population, which has been largely isolated since 1945, is almost entirely Korean; a tiny number of Chinese constitute the only other significant ethnic group. All Koreans speak the Korean language, which is related to Japanese and contains Chinese loanwords. The Korean script, known in North Korea as Choson muntcha and in South Korea as Hangul (han'gul), is composed of phonetic symbols for the 10 vowels and 14 consonants. In North Korea a systematic effort has been made to eliminate Chinese and Western loanwords, as well as any vestiges of the Japanese imposed during the colonial period, and Choson muntcha has been used exclusively without Chinese characters in newspapers and other publications since 1945. Religion The way of life and the value system of Koreans are based fundamentally on Confucian thought. To a lesser extent, Buddhism is also important. Roman Catholic and Protestant missionaries arrived in the 18th and 19th centuries, respectively; Sunch'on and P'yongyang were major centres of Christian activities. The Japanese occupation brought increasing repression of Christianity, and by the end of World War II there were no foreign missionaries left in the country. The monotheistic religion of Ch'ondogyo (Teaching of the Heavenly Way), originally known as Tonghak (Eastern Learning), was founded by the Confucian teacher Ch'oe Che-u in 1860. A combination largely of Buddhism, Confucianism, and Christianity, Ch'ondogyo played a leading role in the March 1st Movement of 1919. Shamanismthe religious belief in gods, demons, and ancestral spirits responsive to a priest, or shamanexisted in Korea before the introduction of Buddhism and Confucianism; its practice has nearly died out in North Korea. The communist regime has constitutionally confirmed freedom of religion but does not practice it. Ch'ondogyo, however, has been used for propaganda purposes, and since the late 1980s Christianity has been used as a means for contact with South Korea and the West. After the Korean War, churches and Buddhist temples were confiscated and looted, and many were converted to other purposes. Religious activity generally has remained under state control, although since the late 1980s there has been some increase in independent practices.