Amtliche Kurzform: Korea, Demokratische Volksrepublik
Name in Landessprache: 조선 (Hangul) 
Kurzform: Chosŏn  
Vollform: Choson Minjujuui Inmin Konghwaguk
 
Name in Englisch: Korea, North
Ehemaliger Name: 

Staatsgebiet: Der ostasiatische Staat Nordkorea umfasst den nördlichen Teil der koreanischen Halbinsel. Nordkorea besitzt Grenzen zu drei Nachbarstaaten. Im Süden wird es durch die demilitarisierte Zone von Südkorea getrennt, mit dem es bis zum Ende des zweiten Weltkriegs einen gemeinsamen Staat bildete. Im Norden grenzt es zum größten Teil an die Volksrepublik China, hinzu kommt ein ca. 19 km langer Grenzstreifen zu Russland entlang des Tumen Flusses. Nordkoreas Westküste liegt an der Bucht von Korea, einem Teil des Gelben Meers. Im Osten befindet sich das Japanische Meer, das von den Koreanern als Ostmeer bezeichnet wird
 

CIA Background-Info An independent kingdom for much of its long history, Korea was occupied by Japan in 1905 following the Russo-Japanese War. Five years later, Japan formally annexed the entire peninsula. Following World War II, Korea was split with the northern half coming under Soviet-sponsored Communist domination. After failing in the Korean War (1950-53) to conquer the US-backed Republic of Korea (ROK) in the southern portion by force, North Korea (DPRK), under its founder President KIM Il-so'ng, adopted a policy of ostensible diplomatic and economic "self-reliance" as a check against excessive Soviet or Communist Chinese influence. The DPRK demonized the US as the ultimate threat to its social system through state-funded propaganda, and molded political, economic, and military policies around the core ideological objective of eventual unification of Korea under Pyongyang's control. KIM's son, the current ruler KIM Jong Il, was officially designated as his father's successor in 1980, assuming a growing political and managerial role until the elder KIM's death in 1994. After decades of economic mismanagement and resource misallocation, the DPRK since the mid-1990s has relied heavily on international aid to feed its population while continuing to expend resources to maintain an army of 1 million. North Korea's long-range missile development, as well as its nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons programs and massive conventional armed forces, are of major concern to the international community. In December 2002, following revelations that the DPRK was pursuing a nuclear weapons program based on enriched uranium in violation of a 1994 agreement with the US to freeze and ultimately dismantle its existing plutonium-based program, North Korea expelled monitors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). In January 2003, it declared its withdrawal from the international Non-Proliferation Treaty. In mid-2003 Pyongyang announced it had completed the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel rods (to extract weapons-grade plutonium) and was developing a "nuclear deterrent." Beginning in August 2003, North Korea, China, Japan, Russia, South Korea, and the US have participated in the Six-Party Talks aimed at resolving the stalemate over the DPRK's nuclear programs. North Korea pulled out of the talks in November 2005. It test-fired ballistic missiles in July 2006 and tested a nuclear weapon in October 2006. In October 2006, the DRPK announced that it would return to the Six-Party Talks. The Talks reconvened in December 2006.