Page 61 - All About History 55 - 2017 UK

The House of Kim

Written by Paul French
he Democratic People’s Republic Instead, the peninsula was divided in half by Kim Jong-un, has ruled the rogue state since
of Korea (DPRK), or simply North a 250-kilometre (160-mile) long Demilitarised 2016. The extended Kim family controls most
Korea, was founded in 1948 as a Zone (DMZ). Despite its name, both sides of the aspects of life in the North with top jobs in
communist state and sponsored by DMZ are heavily fortified and the no-man’s-land the ruling Korean Workers’ Party, running the
Tthe Soviet Union, who controlled the is laden with landmines. economy and leading the army. Now that North
northern portion of the Korean peninsula after Since then, the North has retreated into Korea claims it has developed nuclear weapons, it
World War II. The American-controlled south total isolation. It’s prewar premier, Kim will undoubtedly be a Kim who has their finger
saw the formation of the Republic of Korea. Il-sung, developed a cult of personality as he on the button.
The North, seeking to unify Korea under consolidated his power for both himself and Though the official propaganda may portray
a one-party Marxist-Leninist government, his family, effectively establishing what has the family and its three Supreme Leaders in
invaded the South in June 1950. A brutal become the world’s only communist monarchy. a glowing light, the Kim dynasty and its two
fratricidal war between the North and South Officially, Kim Il-sung is the eternal president of successions have been built on rumours and
waged for three years until an eventual the country, but when he died nearly a quarter lies, while their consolidations have seen bitter
armistice was achieved, though the war of a century ago, the crown passed to his son, and deadly battles erupt, leaving a trail of
between the Koreas never officially ended. Kim ‘Dear Leader’ Jong-il. In turn, Jong-il’s son, bodies that continues to this day.

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