North Korea is located on the Korean Peninsula in eastern Asia. North Korea is bordered by China, Russia, and South Korea. Not far to the East lies Japan, the former occupier of the entire peninsula (CIA). The location between these countries is one of the most important keys to the formation of North Korea. The exclusive nature, high-urbanization, and governmental policies are leaving the Korean population in a tug-of-war between natural reductions and governing desires to expand.
In the seventeenth, eighteenth, and early nineteenth centuries, most of the East Asia countries had strict limitations on contact with other countries. Korea knew that the possibility of invasion was high and had even …show more content…
The 2015 estimate according to the CIA FactBook was 24,983,205 people (CIA). North Korea’s population is roughly half of South Korea’s population. A great deal of North Korea’s population, 60%, reside in an urban environment, which is odd for a less developed country. The high urbanization is most likely due to the rough geography of the country, which is much more mountainous than its southern counterpart. Due to the mountainous terrain there is little arable land for farming; the lack of arable land has caused several famines over the past sixty years because the agriculture could not support the growing population. Worden argues that these famines could have been avoided if North Korea had “…[made] plausible policy adjustments, an earlier call for international assistance, and less interference with the humanitarian aid organizations” (Worden 69). Along with famines, disease has been a continuing problem. North Korea has provided health care, claiming to have at least one clinic per village, but a shortage of physicians and medical equipment make this difficult. North Korea mandates that every North Korean must have an annual check-up for health and cleanliness. If they have a condition, the North Korean does not have the right to refuse treatment. The country has systems in place for country-wide vaccination against infectious disease, but often …show more content…
The invasion began the Korean War which lasted until an armistice was signed on July 27th, 1953 (Hickey). The United Nations, primarily the United States, quickly intervened in then-occupied U.S. South Korea. The North Korea’s hatred for the United States can be traced back to the Russo-Japanese war; The United States awarded Japan control of the Korean Peninsula, instead of allowing the Korean people to continue ruling themselves. While the number of casualties from the United Nation allies have been