Political Science

North and South Korea
Definition of terms.
Parallel structure - The term parallel structure is commonly used by writers in describing similar ideas which have been presented or expressed in similar ways.

Workers Party of Korea  The Workers Party of Korea which is also referred to as Korean Workers party normally abbreviated as (KWP) is the leading ruling party in the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea. Since its foundation it has been the only ruling party in DPRK.

Songun -  Otherwise spelled as Son gun  is a term used to refer to the North Koreas  policy Known as the  Military First Policy which generally gives the Koreans Peoples Army the very first priority in state affairs and especially in the allocation of  various national resources to the army.

Chuche- is an ideology perceived as the basic cornerstone for any party construction, government operations and party works. Chuche is also perceived as a the monolithic or rather the unitary ideology of the party. The chuche ideology was for the very first time proclaimed in December 1955 as a move to inspire national identity, pride and in order to mold consciousness basically into a potentially strong powerful focus, specifically for internal solidarity centered towards KWP.

Command economy  This is type of an economy in which forces of supply and price of commodities and services is regulated from a central point by the government rather than the existence of market forces. In this case government planners and policy makers sit down to decide what services or products are produced and how do they get distributed.

Commissar  Is a term used to describe a person who has the ability and heshe tries to control public opinion. It is a term commonly used in the communist party to refer to an official in charge political enforcement of party loyalty and indoctrination.

National Defense commission- The National Defense Commission of North Korea otherwise abbreviated as (NDC) is the very highest managing and guiding organ of military matters as defined by the 1998 constitution. NDCs chairman is the chief controller of all the armed forces especially in states where the military predominates. This is the most powerful influential position in the country currently chaired by Kim Jong guiding  II.

Kaesong  Was the former capital city of Korea during the reign of Koryo Dynasty and situated in the North Hwangghae province inclined on the southern hemisphere of North Korea.

Panmunjom  This is a village in Gyeonggi province which lies between the southern and northern border of Korea, where the armistice which halted the Korean War, way back in the year 1953 was signed.

One  among  the most basic  factors which contributed to North Koreans economic downfall was the great reliance on a command economy which lead to inward- looking development which was demonstrated all over in policies of foreign trade, domestic industrial development, foreign capital and in other different forms of international economic development and cooperation (Kyung- Won, 2005). The system of governance characterized by command on economy was too rigid on its policies based on supply of products and services and more so setting of prices.  Rigidity in setting up solid economic policies to favor economic eruption and growth both internationally and domestically was one of the most crucial factors which saw North Koreans economic downfall.

Consequently, such government policies based on establishing and creating economic self sufficiency in North Korea led to its increased isolation and alienation from the rest of the world. As a result its industrial structure and development did not achieve to reflect its international competitiveness, which also shielded the domestic firms from international markets as well as reducing domestic competition (Kyung- Won, 2005). All these factors culminated to chronic inefficiency, limited product diversity, and poor quality production and under utilization of plants. Such kind of protectionist reduced the market space for Korean producers which prevented  limited local producers from achieving the advantage of economies of scale. 

There is significant similarities  between North Koreans economic down fall to that of South Korea vis a- vis that  of Asia. The experience of South Korea was similarly like that of North Korea. Both Experiences in the two hemispheres were characterized by changes in regime across the Korean peninsula thus, replacing the colonial governments which led to changes in policies and leadership (Kyung- Won, 2005). In the southern hemisphere the U.S military took leadership while communist Russia took leadership on the other end. In southern Korea the government established stimulative economic policies which accelerated and promoted growth of indigenous firms while at the same time, it erected stiff tariffs and prohibitions on manufacturing imports. These policies were designed to protect the domestic firms and offer them a change to improve their productivity (Kyung- Won, 2005). These policies formed the background for the collapse of the every first Republican in South Korea in April 1960.

In Asia consequently, despite  its financial crisis in 1997, it was stuck by a similar experience like that of  northern Korea Characterized by change in regime when Thai government floated the baht at the same time pegging down the United States Dollar , after a long period of exhaustive support during severe financial overextension by United States . This change in need characterized the Asians economic meltdown.

After a long period of economic downfall North Korea began gaining stability and sustainability after the postcolonial decades leading to rapid economic proliferation and integration. This again came with rapid economic growth and nuclear weapon innovations which popularized the country to the world super powers, and stimulated United State interests towards establishing diplomatic alliances with the country (Lee, 2007).

Having sprout up with strong nuclear proliferations, United States perceives the Republic of Korea and the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (North Korea) as a threat to its security. In order to reduce this tension it should engage in diplomatic arrangements with Korea in order to take control over the massive nuclear production for the benefits of its security. Additionally, basing ideas on the notion that the DPRK is a centralist state characterized by specific goals of self- reliance and independence known as Juche U.S continues to feel that giving North Korea chance to run its affairs independently with the advent of nuclear power would be creating room for its self destruction (Jasper, 2005). Thus, to counter down any unprecedented occurrences United States should channel its efforts towards establishing sound diplomatic retaliations with North Korea.