North Korea
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (조선 민주주의 인민 공화국) is a communist state under the one-man leadership of Kim Jong Il, chairman of the National Defense Commission—the nation’s “highest administrative authority,” supreme commander of the Korean People’s Army (KPA), and general secretary of the Korean Workers’ Party (KWP).[1]
Geography
North Korea is located in the northern half of the Korean Peninsula, which extends southward from the northeastern part of the Asian continent and is surrounded on three sides by water. North Korea is bordered by the Republic of Korea (South Korea) to the south, China to the north and northwest, and Russia to the northeast. North Korea occupies about 55 percent of the total land area of the Korean Peninsula, or approximately 120,410 square kilometer of land area and 130 square kilometers of water area.[2]
Demographics
Society
Population: North Korea’s population was estimated in July 2006 at 23,113,019. The annual population growth rate for the same year was 0.8 percent. United Nations (UN) estimates for 2007 indicate that North Korea’s population density stands at 188 persons per square kilometer; 40 percent of the population lives in rural and 60 percent in urban areas. There is no legal migration from North Korea, and after the Korean War (1950–53) only 5,000 North Koreans successfully reached South Korea until the turn of the century. However, in 2003 and 2004 unprecedented numbers of North Koreans—estimates range between 140,000 and 300,000—fled to China with hopes of reaching South Korea. Only a relative few did reach South Korea but, according to the South Korean Ministry of Unification, as of February 2007, more than 10,000 North Koreans were living in the South. This number contrasts with only nine living there in 1990, 41 in 1995, and 312 in 2000.[3]
Religion
Traditionally, Koreans have practiced Buddhism and observed the tenets of Confucianism. Besides a small number of practicing Buddhists (about 10,000, under the auspices of the official Korean Buddhist Federation), North Korea also has some Christians (about 10,000 Protestants and 4,000 Roman Catholics, under the auspices of the Korean Christian Federation) and some 2.7 million indigenous Ch’ondogyo (Heavenly Way) adherents. However, religious activities are almost nonexistent. Three hundred Buddhist temples exist, but they are considered cultural relics rather than active places of worship. There are several schools for religious education, including three-year religious colleges for training Protestant and Buddhist clergy.
In 1989 Kim Il Sung University established a religious studies program, but its graduates usually go on to work in the foreign trade sector. Although the constitution provides for freedom of religious belief, in practice the government severely discourages organized religious activity except as supervised by the aforementioned officially recognized groups. Constitutional changes made in 1992 allow authorized religious gatherings and the construction of buildings for religious use and deleted a clause about freedom of antireligious propaganda. The constitution also stipulates that religion “should not be used for purposes of dragging in foreign powers or endangering public security.”[4]
See Also
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