"Aegukka", officially translated as "Patriotic Song", is the national anthem of North Korea. It was composed in 1945 as a patriotic song celebrating independence from Japanese occupation and was adopted as the state anthem in 1947.
The national flag of the Republic of Korea, also known as the Taegeukgi, has three parts: a white rectangular background, a red and blue taegeuk in its center, accompanied by four black trigrams, one in each corner. Flags similar to the current Taegeukgi were used as the national flag of Korea by the Joseon dynasty, the Korean Empire, as well as the Korean government-in-exile during Japanese rule. South Korea adopted Taegeukgi for its national flag in 1948.
Wonsu is the highest military rank in the armed forces of North Korea and South Korea.
The Democratic Front for the Reunification of Korea (DFRK), also known as the Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland (DFRF) or the Fatherland Front, was a North Korean popular front formed on 25 June 1949 and led by the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK). It was initially called the Fatherland United Democratic Front.
The National Emblem of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is one of the national symbols of North Korea. Prominent features on the emblem are a red star, a hydroelectric plant and Mount Paektu. The design bears similarities to the emblem of the Soviet Union and other emblems done in the socialist heraldic style. The emblem was designed by Kim Chu-gyŏng, a painter and a principal of the Pyongyang Art College who also designed the national flag.
Pak Hon-yong was a Korean independence activist, politician, philosopher, communist activist and one of the main leaders of the Korean communist movement during Japan's colonial rule (1910–1945). His nickname was Ijong (이정) and Ichun (이춘), his courtesy name being Togyong (덕영).
Pak Song-chol or Park Sung-chul was a North Korean politician who served as Premier of North Korea from 1976 to 1977. He succeeded Kim Il. He also served as foreign minister from 1959 to 1970.
The Communist movement in Korea emerged as a political movement in the early 20th century. Although the movement had a minor role in pre-war politics, the division between the communist North Korea and the anti-communist South Korea came to dominate Korean political life in the post-World War II era. North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, continues to be a Jucheist state under the rule of the Workers' Party of Korea. In South Korea, the National Security Law has been used to criminalize advocacy of communism and groups suspected of alignment with North Korea. Due to the end of economic aid from the Soviet Union after its dissolution in 1991, the impractical ideological application of Stalinist policies in North Korea over years of economic slowdown in the 1980s, and the recession and famine during the 1990s, North Korea has replaced Marxism-Leninism with the Juche idea despite nominally upholding Communism. References to Communism were removed in the North Korean 1992 and 1998 constitutional revisions to make way for the personality cult of Kim's family dictatorship and the North Korean market economy reform. The Workers' Party of Korea under the leadership of Kim Jong Un later reconfirmed commitment to the establishment of a communist society, but orthodox Marxism has since been largely tabled in favor of "Socialism in our style". Officially, the DPRK still retains a command economy with complete state control of industry and agriculture. North Korea maintains collectivized farms and state-funded education and healthcare.
Kim Il Sung was a North Korean politician, revolutionary, and military leader. He founded the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, commonly known as North Korea, which he led as Supreme Leader from its establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994. Afterwards, he was succeeded by his son Kim Jong Il and was declared Eternal President.
The Ministry of Social Security commonly known as BoAn or the Ministry of People's Security is the interior ministry and principal law enforcement agency within North Korea. The ministry serves as the official public and internal security force, responsibile for maintaining public order and protecting key facilities including railways and other forms of transport. It also maintains a large paramilitary internal force, known as the Social Security Forces.
The award system of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea was initially created less than one month after the foundation of the Republic. During the years of Japanese occupation of Korea, many of the future leaders fled to the Soviet Union. During World War II many if not close to all party leaders and Korean People's Army commanders served in the Soviet Army and as such adopted many of the Soviet awards criteria for their own. During the late 1940s and until the Sino-Soviet Split in late 1958, orders and titles were made in the Soviet Money Mints in Moscow or Leningrad. Soviet made awards were modeled after Soviet orders and made of sterling silver. Initially the orders were attached to clothing with a screw-plate, but after Soviet production stopped, production was moved to North Korea. The screwback was replaced with a pin and the silver content was replaced with cheap tin. With the exception of a few examples of modern orders, Soviet and Czech KPA awards are the most sought after in current militaria markets.
Nam Il was a Russian-born North Korean military officer and co-signer of the Korean Armistice Agreement.
The August faction incident, officially called the "Second Arduous March", was an attempted removal of Kim Il Sung from power by leading North Korean figures from the Soviet-Korean faction and the Yan'an faction, with support from the Soviet Union and China, at the 2nd Plenary Session of the 3rd Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) in 1956. The attempt to remove Kim failed and the participants were arrested and later executed. Through this political struggle, Kim Il Sung quashed all opposition to him within the central party leadership.
The history of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) encompasses the period from 1949 onwards.
Upon its liberation in 1945 and subsequent foundation in 1948, North Korea adopted national symbols distinct from the national symbols of South Korea. The traditional flag of Korea, the Taegukgi, and the symbol Taeguk, were swapped for socialist symbols.
The Order of the National Flag is the second highest order of North Korea, after the Order of Kim Il Sung and the Order of Kim Jong Il.
The Day of Songun is a public holiday in North Korea celebrated on 25 August annually to commemorate the beginning of Kim Jong Il's Songun (military-first) leadership in 1960.
Day of the Foundation of the Republic is the Republic Day and National day of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, held on 9 September.
The Kapsan faction incident was an unsuccessful attempt to undermine the power of Kim Il Sung, the leader of North Korea, around the year 1967. The "Kapsan faction" was a group of veterans of the anti-Japanese struggle of the 1930s and 1940s that was initially close to Kim Il Sung. In the wake of the 2nd Conference of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) in 1966, the faction sought to introduce economic reforms, challenge Kim Il-sung's cult of personality, and appoint its ringleader Pak Kum-chol as his successor.
Pang Hak-se was a politician from North Korea. After the formal establishment of North Korea, he held various position in the North Korean government, including member of the Supreme People's Assembly, the country's unicameral parliament, the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea and later served as the President of the Central Court. He was general manager of the South Koreans abducted during the Korean War.