Facts and History of North Korea

The Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, commonly known as North Korea, is one of the most talked-about yet least understood nations on Earth. It is a reclusive country, cut off even from its nearest neighbors by ideological differences and the paranoia of its top leadership. It developed  nuclear weapons  in 2006. Severed from the southern half of the peninsula more than six decades ago, North Korea has evolved into a strange Stalinist state. The ruling Kim family exercises control through fear and personality cults. Can the two halves of Korea ever be put back together again? Only time will tell. Capital and Major Cities Capital: Pyongyang, population 3,255,000Hamhung, population 769,000Chongjin, population 668,000Nampo, population 367,000Wonsan, population 363,000 North Koreas Government North Korea, or the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, is a highly centralized communist country under the leadership of Kim Jong-Un. His official title is Chairman of the National Defense Commission. The President of the Supreme Peoples Assembly Presidium is Kim Yong Nam. The 687-seat Supreme Peoples Assembly is the legislative branch. All members belong to the Korean Workers Party. The judicial branch consists of a Central Court, as well as provincial, county, city and military courts. All citizens are free to vote for the Korean Workers Party at the age of 17. The Population of North Korea North Korea has an estimated 24 million citizens as of the 2011 census. About 63% of North Koreans live in urban centers. Nearly all of the population is ethnically Korean, with very small minorities of ethnic Chinese and Japanese. Language The official language of North Korea is Korean. Written Korean has its own alphabet, called Hangul. Over the past several decades, the government of North Korea has attempted to purge borrowed vocabulary from the lexicon. Meanwhile, South Koreans have adopted words such as PC for personal computer, handufone for mobile phone, etc. While the northern and southern dialects are still mutually intelligible, they are diverging from one another after 60 years of separation. Religion in North Korea As a communist nation, North Korea is officially non-religious. Prior to the partition of Korea, however, Koreans in the north were Buddhist, Shamanist, Cheondogyo, Christian, and Confucianist. To what extent these belief systems persist today is difficult to judge from outside the country. North Korean Geography North Korea occupies the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. It shares a long north-western border with China, a short border with Russia, and a highly-fortified border with South Korea (the DMZ or demilitarized zone). The country covers an area of 120,538 km sq. North Korea is a mountainous land; about 80% of the country is made up of steep mountains and narrow valleys. The remainder is arable plains, but these are small in size and distributed across the country. The highest point is Baektusan, at 2,744 meters. The lowest point is sea level. The Climate of North Korea North Koreas climate is influenced both by the monsoon cycle and by continental air masses from Siberia. Thus, it was extremely cold with dry winters and hot, rainy summers. North Korea suffers from frequent droughts and massive summer flooding, as well as the occasional typhoon. Economy North Koreas GDP (PPP) for 2014 is estimated at $40 billion US. The GDP (official exchange rate) is $28 billion (2013 estimate). The per capita GDP is $1,800. Official exports include military products, minerals, clothing, wood products, vegetables, and metals. Suspected unofficial exports include missiles, narcotics, and trafficked persons. North Korea imports minerals, petroleum, machinery, food, chemicals, and plastics. History of North Korea When Japan lost World War II in 1945, it also lost Korea, annexed to the Japanese Empire in 1910. The U.N. divided administration of the peninsula between two of the victorious Allied powers. Above the 38th parallel, the USSR took control, while the US moved in to administer the southern half. The USSR fostered a pro-Soviet communist government based in Pyongyang, then withdrew in 1948. North Koreas military leader, Kim Il-sung, wanted to invade South Korea at that point and unite the country under a communist banner, but Joseph Stalin refused to support the idea. By 1950, the regional situation had changed. Chinas civil war had ended with a victory for Mao Zedongs Red Army, and Mao agreed to send military support to North Korea if it invaded the capitalist South. The Soviets gave Kim Il-sung a green light for invasion. The Korean War On June 25, 1950, North Korea launched a ferocious artillery barrage across the border into South Korea, followed hours later by some 230,000 troops. The North Koreans quickly took the southern capital at Seoul and began to push southwards. Two days after the war began, US President Truman ordered American armed forces to come to the aid of the South Korean military. The U.N. Security Council approved member-state assistance to the South over the objection of the Soviet representative; in the end, twelve more nations joined the US and South Korea in the U.N. coalition. Despite this aid to the South, the war went very well for the North at first. In fact, the communist forces captured nearly the entire peninsula within the first two months of fighting; by August, the defenders were hemmed in at the city of Busan, on the southeastern tip of South Korea. The North Korean army was not able to break through the Busan Perimeter, however, even after a solid month of battle. Slowly, the tide began to turn against the North. In September and October of 1950, South Korean and U.N. forces pushed the North Koreans all of the way back across the 38th Parallel, and north to the Chinese border. This was too much for Mao, who ordered his troops into battle on North Koreas side. After three years of bitter fighting, and some 4 million soldiers and civilians killed, the Korean War ended in a stalemate with the July 27, 1953, cease-fire agreement. The two sides have never signed a peace treaty; they remain separated by a 2.5-mile wide demilitarized zone (DMZ). The Post-War North After the war, North Koreas government focused on industrialization as it rebuilt the battle-torn country. As president, Kim Il-sung preached the idea of Juche, or self-reliance. North Korea would become strong by producing all of its own food, technology, and domestic needs, rather than importing goods from abroad. During the 1960s, North Korea was caught in the middle of the Sino-Soviet split. Although Kim Il-sung hoped to remain neutral and play the two larger powers off of one another, the Soviets concluded that he favored the Chinese. They cut off help to North Korea. During the 1970s, North Koreas economy began to fail. It has no oil reserves, and the spiking price of oil left it massively in debt. North Korea defaulted on its debt in 1980. Kim Il-sung died in 1994 and was succeeded by his son Kim Jong-il. Between 1996 and 1999, the country suffered from a famine that killed between 600,000 and 900,000 people. Today, North Korea relied on international food aid through 2009, even as it poured scarce resources into the military. The agricultural output has improved since 2009 but malnutrition and poor living conditions continue. North Korea evidently tested its first nuclear weapon on October 9, 2006. It continues to develop its nuclear arsenal and conducted tests in 2013 and 2016.   On December 17, 2011, Kim Jong-il died and was succeeded by his third son, Kim Jong-un.

Repetition and Metaphor in the Short Story, Eleven by...

Use of Repetition and Metaphor in Sandra Cisneros Short Story, Eleven In the short story Eleven by Sandra Cisneros, a young girl named Rachel is characterized. Through a specific incident, Cisneros shows how Rachel does not act as old as eleven ideally should. Through repetition and metaphor, Cisneros alludes to Rachel?s personality and childish views. This story basically tells of a girl?s pride being hurt. It was Rachel?s birthday and her teacher embarrassed her by stating a raggedy old sweater was hers. The metaphors Rachel uses to describe this article of clothing and her age throughout the story are indicators that she is still a child and that she lives a simple life. For example, Rachel said ?Because the way you grow old†¦show more content†¦(lines 19-22) By using dolls and trees to explain the concept of age, it can be inferred that these are objects Rachel is often surrounded with. Another reference to her youth is her statement rattling inside me like pennies in a tin Band-Aid box. (line 30) The extremity that Rachel took the issue of the sweater to shows Rachels level of maturity. She pushed it to the very top corner of her desk so it was hanging all over the edge like a waterfall. (line 83) She acted as if the ugly sweater had a disease and would harm her if she was near it. Cisneros also uses repetition to show that Rachel still has the characteristics of her younger years. ?I am eleven, ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, and one.? Rachel claims that sometimes you cry like if youre three (line 16) or say something stupid, and that?s the part of you thats still ten. (lines 11-12) Cisneros is pointing out that Rachel is eleven but still envelops many characteristics of her younger years. Another example of repetition ifs this statement ?Mama is making a cake for me for tonight, and when Papa comes home everybody will sing Happy Birthday.? This makes Rachels childish excitement about her birthday evident. Also, by repeating this, it shows how important this day is to Rachel and how she thinks it isn?t fair she is ridiculed on such a special day. Through metaphor and repetition, Sandra Cisneros characterizes Rachel as a young girl stuck in her childish ways. SheShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of Eleven By Sandra Cisneros1246 Words   |  5 Pages In the short story, â€Å"Eleven† by Sandra Cisneros, a young child named Rachel experienced her eleventh birthday in a classroom. As the story progresses there is a change in the tone- from nonchalant to sadness to anger. Cisneros uses various forms of figurative language throughout â€Å"Eleven†, such as repetition, metaphors and similes, and symbolism. Cisneros immediately starts off with the phrase she will use throughout the duration of the story, â€Å"[...] when you’re eleven, you’re also ten, and nine

Do Not Go Gently Into That Good Night Free Essays

Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night â€Å"Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night† is a villanelle style poem written by Dylan Thomas, and is the poem he is best known for. It was left untitled by the poet therefore the first line of the poem became the title. The speaker in the poem begins by telling the reader to â€Å"not go gentle into that good night† line 1 using night as a metaphor for death. We will write a custom essay sample on Do Not Go Gently Into That Good Night or any similar topic only for you Order Now The theme of death is repeated at the end of line 2 with â€Å"close of day† and in line 3 with â€Å"dying of the light. By the end of the first stanza it is obvious this poem is speaking of death and stating that old men should not accept it peacefully but to should â€Å"burn† and â€Å"rave† against it with great intensity. In the second stanza of the poem the speaker tells us that â€Å"wise men at their end know dark is right,† line 4 the speaker is telling us that death is inevitable. To every beginning there is an end and we will all face death at some point, a wise man knows and accepts this fate. This stanza also tells us that as we are nearing the end of our lives we tend to reflect back to the impact we made on the world. Since â€Å"there words had forked no lightening† line 5 the speaker suggest that they had made little impact on the world in which they had lived and could not simply give into death without a fight. In the third stanza the speaker proposes that â€Å"good men† fight the inevitable with all their might. Thomas uses the image of a wave â€Å"last wave by, crying how bright† line 7 about to crash into the shore or, die. As men approach the shore of life they cry out how much more fulfilling life could have been if they had been allowed to live longer. Their lives would be so much richer if they were allowed to dance in the â€Å"green bay. † The green bay representing life because it is full of living things such as algae and seaweed. However their future actions â€Å"frail deeds† will not be able to come to fruition because they must die. Stanza four speaks of â€Å"wild men† those who grab life by the horns and live it to the fullest â€Å"wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight† line 10 only to discover that the life they lived so charismatically is slowly oming to and end as they wither with age. The â€Å"sun† in line 10 represents the beauty that exists in the world, and â€Å"flight† as in across the sky symbolizes the life span that moves quickly to the sunset of our days. In opening with â€Å"Grave men, near death, who see with blinding light† line 13 in stanza five Thomas uses the pun â€Å"grave† to speak of the seriousness of a dying man. As men grow olde r they begin to lose the sense of sight, however the speaker states they will â€Å"see with blinding light. line 13 Even though they may be suffering from loss of physical sight they can see with perfect clarity that end is near and while they may not be in control of the timing of their death they certainly choose the manner in which they handle it. The speaker suggests they â€Å"blaze like meteors† line 14 and go out with a bang instead of giving into to death without a fight. Finally in the last stanza of the poem we get to the heart of the matter. The speaker is addressing his father who is on the verge of death. The father’s death is devastating and the speaker implores him to fight passionately against it and leave this life heroically. The poem ends with the two lines that were repeated throughout the entire poem â€Å"Do not go gentle into that good night, Rage Rage against the dying of the light† lines 18 and 19 the speaker is begging his father to not submit to death but to fight it every step of the way. Works Cited Dylan Thomas. â€Å"Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night† Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing. Ed. Edgar V. Roberts and Robert Zweig. 10th Ed. New York: Pearson Longman, 2012. 959 – 960. Print How to cite Do Not Go Gently Into That Good Night, Essay examples

After

After-School Care Essay Posner and Vandells article, Low-Income Childrens After-School Care:Are There Beneficial Effects of After-School Programs provides valuableresearch to support the need for quality after-school programs for low-incomechildren. Low-income children need after-school programs like UCLinks becausepoverty affects children directly because it limits the material resourcesavailable to them and indirectly because of the psychological distress itengenders in parents, which in turn negatively influences parentalbehavior.(1) The time a child spends after-school is also important totheir academic and social development. The quality and type of after-school carea child receives directly correlates to their performance in school and growthin academic abilities. The UCLinks program was created to offer low-incomechildren a quality, academic after-school program. In the UCLinks program, theyhave children develop their academic skills in language arts, readingcomprehension, off-computer activities, an d mathematics. The UCLinksafter-school program works on bringing the children up to grade level orfurthering their development. It does not serve as a homework center forchildren. Instead, the UCLinks program concentrates on fostering their academictalent in an organized environment. In Posner and Vandells article, theydocument research that promotes organized, academic after-school care,Childrens academic and conduct grades were positively related to timespent in one-to-one academic work, with an adult, whereas academic and conductgrades were negatively correlated with the amount of time spent in outdoorunorganized activities. (454) The children of the UCLinks program workwith a mentor in 1-1 or 1-2 setting, where mentors specifically focus onacademic areas they need to improve or help them develop their abilities to thefullest. 1B. The UCLinks program understands how important reading skills are tochildrens success in school. If children do not learn to read at grade level,they ha ve a greater risk of falling behind in class work and eventually droppingout. The UCLinks program uses a combined approach to reading instruction withwhole language and specific skills development. In each mentoring session of theUCLinks program, the mentors practice whole language instruction. Children havethe opportunity to read one on one with their mentor. Bill Honig advocates thisinteraction with the children, Teachers classroom routine should includereading good literature to students and discussing it with them, especially byasking questions that stretch childrens minds beyond the literal meaning ofthe text.(3) The active participation the children engage in while readingto their mentors is productive because the children are able to practicedecoding, automatic recognition of words, and improve their readingcomprehension. Mentors ask their students relevant questions about the book thatpertain to the plot, main points and theme of the story. The UCLinks programalso practices the specific skills development with their students. Specificskills development focuses on phonemic awareness, phonics, print awareness, wordstructure, and word-attack and self-monitoring skills. Honig recommends specificskills development, Students should be taught these skills in an active,problem-solving manner that offers plenty of opportunities to practice theskills in actual reading and writing situations.(13) Children work oncomputer software like Kid Phonics to develop these specific skills which willultimately help them read better. The children of the UCLinks program can alsospend off-computer time writing stories and poems which immerses them in printawareness and word structure. 1C. In Children, Mathematics, andComputers by D. H Clements, he writes It appears the dominant focusof school mathematics instruction in the last decade has been on computationalskills(which students are learning fairly well), but that the development ofproblem-solving skills and conceptual under standing has beeninadequate.(1) The focus on computational skills rather than theproblem-solving and conceptual understanding hinder the mathematical abilitiesof students. As math becomes more abstract, they do not have the required mindstate to solve problems with higher level concepts. The UCLinks program supportsthe teaching of relational mathematics, according to Skewer, knowing what to doand why, over rote learning with their students. The solid mental foundationrelational mathematics builds will increase the mathematical abilities of thechildren and help them problem-solve as math becomes more complex and abstract. .ubd6da30ea27383eb49aa201a11e1b06c , .ubd6da30ea27383eb49aa201a11e1b06c .postImageUrl , .ubd6da30ea27383eb49aa201a11e1b06c .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .ubd6da30ea27383eb49aa201a11e1b06c , .ubd6da30ea27383eb49aa201a11e1b06c:hover , .ubd6da30ea27383eb49aa201a11e1b06c:visited , .ubd6da30ea27383eb49aa201a11e1b06c:active { border:0!important; } .ubd6da30ea27383eb49aa201a11e1b06c .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .ubd6da30ea27383eb49aa201a11e1b06c { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .ubd6da30ea27383eb49aa201a11e1b06c:active , .ubd6da30ea27383eb49aa201a11e1b06c:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .ubd6da30ea27383eb49aa201a11e1b06c .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .ubd6da30ea27383eb49aa201a11e1b06c .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .ubd6da30ea27383eb49aa201a11e1b06c .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .ubd6da30ea27383eb49aa201a11e1b06c .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .ubd6da30ea27383eb49aa201a11e1b06c:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .ubd6da30ea27383eb49aa201a11e1b06c .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .ubd6da30ea27383eb49aa201a11e1b06c .ubd6da30ea27383eb49aa201a11e1b06c-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .ubd6da30ea27383eb49aa201a11e1b06c:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Hotel Occupancy Rates Essay The teaching of relational mathematics in the UCLinks program can be observedwith the use of pencil and paper, manipulatives, and computers to help childrenunderstand mathematical concepts and problem-solving. These practices arefurther supported in Clements article, National Council of Teachers inMathematics recommends that students be actively involved in learning,experimenting with, exploring, and communicating about mathematics.(4) Thedevelopment of childrens mathematical abilities increases when they actuallylearn the concepts behind the math problems and how to solve them on their own. The interaction children have with pencil and