The politics of North Korea takes place within the framework of the official state philosophy, Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism. Juche, which is a part of Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism, is the belief that only through self-reliance and a strong independent state, can true socialism be achieved.
Kim Jong Il was a North Korean politician who was the second supreme leader of North Korea. He led North Korea from the death of his father Kim Il Sung in 1994 until his death in 2011, when he was succeeded by his son, Kim Jong Un. Afterwards, Kim Jong Il was declared Eternal General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK).
The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) (Korean: 조선중앙통신) is the state news agency of North Korea. The agency portrays the views of the North Korean government for both domestic and foreign consumption. It was established on December 5, 1946, and now features online coverage.
The Soviet Union was the first to recognize North Korea on October 12, 1948, shortly after the proclamation, as the sole legitimate authority in all of Korea. The Soviet Union supported North Korea during the Korean War. North Korea was founded as part of the Communist bloc, and received major Soviet military and political support. The comprehensive personality cult around North Korea's ruling family was heavily influenced by Stalinism. China and the Soviet Union competed for influence in North Korea during the Sino-Soviet split in the 1960s, as North Korea tried to maintain good relations with both countries.
Jang Song-thaek was a North Korean politician. He was married to Kim Kyong-hui, the only daughter of North Korean premier Kim Il Sung and his first wife Kim Jong Suk, and only sister of North Korean general secretary Kim Jong Il. He was therefore the uncle of the current leader of North Korea, Kim Jong Un.
The Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), also called the Korean Workers' Party (KWP), is the sole ruling party of North Korea. Founded in 1949 from a merger between the Workers' Party of North Korea and the Workers' Party of South Korea, the WPK is the oldest active party in Korea. It also controls the Korean People's Army, North Korea's armed forces. The WPK is the largest party represented in the Supreme People's Assembly and coexists with two other legal parties that are completely subservient to the WPK and must accept the WPK's "leading role" as a condition of their existence. The WPK is banned in South Korea under the National Security Act and is sanctioned by the United Nations, the European Union, Australia, and the United States.
On March 17, 2009, North Korean soldiers detained two American journalists, Euna Lee and Laura Ling, who were working for the U.S.-based independent television station Current TV, after they crossed into North Korea from China without a visa. They were found guilty of illegal entry and sentenced to twelve years' hard labor in June 2009. The North Korean leader Kim Jong Il pardoned the two on August 5, 2009, the day after the former U.S. president Bill Clinton arrived in the country on a publicly unannounced visit.
The supreme leader of North Korea is the de facto hereditary leadership of the Workers' Party of Korea, the state and the Korean People's Army. Each individual North Korean leader have assumed different offices and positions, and different titles were used in North Korean propaganda that could be translated from Korean as "Great Leader", "Dear Leader", or "Supreme Leader".
The death of Kim Jong Il was reported by North Korean state television news on 19 December 2011. The presenter Ri Chun-hee announced that he had died on 17 December at 8:30 am of a massive heart attack while traveling by train to an area outside Pyongyang. Reportedly, he had received medical treatment for cardiac and cerebrovascular diseases, and during the trip, Kim was said to have had an "advanced acute myocardial infarction, complicated with a serious heart shock".
Kim Il Sung died of a heart attack in the early morning of 8 July 1994 at age 82. North Korea's government did not report the death for more than 34 hours after it occurred. An official mourning period was declared from 8–17 July, during which the national flag was flown at half mast throughout the country, and all forms of amusement and dancing were prohibited.
Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3 was a North Korean Earth observation satellite which, according to the DPRK, was for weather forecast purposes, and whose launch was widely portrayed in the West to be a veiled ballistic missile test. The satellite was launched on 13 April 2012 at 07:39 KST aboard the Unha-3 carrier rocket from Sohae Satellite Launching Station. The rocket exploded 90 seconds after launch near the end of the firing of the first stage of the rocket. The launch was planned to mark the centenary of the birth of Kim Il Sung, the founder of the republic. On 1 December 2012 North Korea announced that a replacement satellite would be launched between 10 and 22 December 2012. After a delay and extending the launch window to 29 December, the rocket was launched on 12 December 2012.
Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3 Unit 2 or Gwangmyeongseong-3 ho 2-hogi was the first satellite successfully launched from North Korea, an Earth observation spacecraft that was launched on 12 December 2012, 00:49 UTC, in order to replace the original Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3, which failed to reach orbit on 13 April 2012. The United Nations Security Council condemned the satellite launch, regarding it as a violation of the ban on North Korean ballistic missile tests, as the rocket technology is the same.
The North Korean cult of personality surrounding the Kim family has existed in North Korea for decades and can be found in many examples of North Korean culture. Although not acknowledged by the North Korean government, many defectors and Western visitors state there are often stiff penalties for those who criticize or do not show "proper" respect for the former leaders of the country, Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, officially referred to as "eternal leaders of Korea". The personality cult began soon after Kim Il Sung took power in 1948, and was greatly expanded after his death in 1994.
Indonesia–North Korea relations refers to bilateral relations between Indonesia and North Korea. The two countries established diplomatic relations on 16 April 1964. Indonesia is one of the very few countries that still tries to maintain cordial relations with North Korea, despite the widespread international sanctions and resulting isolation imposed on North Korea, compounded with the negative reputation of its human rights, nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs and Indonesia's publicly more robust engagement and partnership with South Korea.
The history of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) encompasses the period from 1949 onwards.
Cuba–North Korea relations are the bilateral relations between Cuba and North Korea.
Egypt–North Korea relations refer to the bilateral relations between Egypt and North Korea. Egypt has an embassy in Pyongyang whilst North Korea has an embassy in Cairo.
The leaders of some countries or their representatives or spokespersons released public statements about the 2018 North Korea–United States summit. The summit received a mixed international reaction, with many countries expressing praise or hope for achieving a peace deal from the summit.
The Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is the diplomatic mission of the People's Republic of China in North Korea. The embassy is located in Kinmaul-dong, the Moranbong District of Pyongyang. The embassy currently provides a number of consular services, namely passport and visa related.
Diplomatic relations between Albania and North Korea were established on November 28, 1948, over one and a half months after the DPRK was proclaimed. The communist governments of Enver Hoxha and Kim Il Sung were often compared for their similarities in their diplomatic isolation and Stalinist-style regimes.
