North Korea
Learn about North Korea — the isolated, nuclear-armed state born from Cold War division that remains one of the world's most secretive and authoritarian regimes.
North Korea — officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea — is the product of Cold War division. When Japan's surrender ended World War II, the Korean peninsula was divided at the 38th parallel between a Soviet-backed north and an American-backed south. Kim Il-sung, installed by the Soviets, launched the Korean War in 1950 to reunify the peninsula by force. The war ended in 1953 with an armistice but no peace treaty, leaving the two Koreas technically at war.
Kim Il-sung built one of the world's most totalitarian states, centered on the ideology of Juche (self-reliance) and an all-encompassing personality cult. When he died in 1994, power passed to his son Kim Jong-il, and then to his grandson Kim Jong-un in 2011 — the only communist dynasty in history. The regime maintains control through propaganda, surveillance, political prison camps, and the complete isolation of its population from the outside world.
North Korea's development of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles has made it a persistent security concern. The country's estimated 40-60 nuclear warheads and its willingness to threaten their use have defied decades of diplomatic efforts. Meanwhile, its people endure poverty, periodic famine, and one of the world's worst human rights records — a stark contrast to the prosperity of South Korea, which shares its language, history, and culture.