Editing History of North Korea (section)

== Before the division ==
From 1910 to the end of [[World War II]] in 1945, Korea was [[Korea under Japanese rule|under Japanese rule]]. Most Koreans were peasants engaged in [[Subsistence agriculture|subsistence farming]].<ref>{{cite book | title = Korea's Place in the Sun: A Modern History| last = Cumings| first = Bruce| author-link = Bruce Cumings| year = 2005| publisher = [[W. W. Norton & Company]]| location = New York| isbn = 978-0-393-32702-1 |page=182}}</ref> In the 1930s, Japan developed mines, hydro-electric dams, steel mills, and manufacturing plants in northern Korea and neighboring [[Manchuria]].<ref>{{cite book | title = Korea's Place in the Sun: A Modern History| last = Cumings| first = Bruce| author-link = Bruce Cumings| year = 2005| publisher = [[W. W. Norton & Company]]| location = New York| isbn = 978-0-393-32702-1 |pages=174–175, 407}}</ref> The Korean industrial working class expanded rapidly, and many Koreans went to work in Manchuria.<ref>{{cite book | title = Korea's Twentieth-Century Odyssey | url = https://archive.org/details/koreastwentieth00robi/page/84 | url-access = registration | last = Robinson | first = Michael E | year = 2007 | publisher = University of Hawaii Press | location = Honolulu | isbn = 978-0-8248-3174-5 | pages = [https://archive.org/details/koreastwentieth00robi/page/84 84–86] }}</ref> As a result, 65% of Korea's heavy industry was located in the north, but, due to the rugged terrain, only 37% of its agriculture.<ref>{{cite book | title = Korea since 1850 | last1 = Lone |  first1 = Stewart| last2 = McCormack | first2 = Gavan | author-link2 = Gavan McCormack | publisher = Longman Cheshire | location = Melbourne | year = 1993 | pages=184–185 }}</ref>

Northern Korea had little exposure to modern, Western ideas.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Lone|first1=Stewart|title=Korea since 1850|last2=McCormack|first2=Gavan|publisher=Longman Cheshire|year=1993|location=Melbourne|page=175|author-link2=Gavan McCormack}}</ref> One partial exception was the penetration of religion. Since the arrival of missionaries in the late nineteenth century, the northwest of Korea, and [[Pyongyang]] in particular, had been a stronghold of Christianity.<ref>{{cite book|last=Robinson|first=Michael E|url=https://archive.org/details/koreastwentieth00robi|title=Korea's Twentieth-Century Odyssey|publisher=University of Hawaii Press|year=2007|isbn=978-0-8248-3174-5|location=Honolulu|page=[https://archive.org/details/koreastwentieth00robi/page/113 113]|url-access=registration}}</ref> As a result, Pyongyang was called the "Jerusalem of the East".<ref>{{cite web|last=Lankov|first=Andrei| author-link = Andrei Lankov|date=16 March 2005|title=North Korea's missionary position|url=http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/GC16Dg03.html|url-status=unfit|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050318052905/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/GC16Dg03.html|archive-date=18 March 2005|work=Asia Times Online}}</ref>

A Korean guerrilla movement emerged in the mountainous interior and in Manchuria, harassing the Japanese imperial authorities. One of the most prominent guerrilla leaders was the Communist [[Kim Il Sung]].<ref>{{cite book | title = Korea's Twentieth-Century Odyssey | url = https://archive.org/details/koreastwentieth00robi/page/85 | url-access = registration | last = Robinson | first = Michael E | year = 2007 | publisher = University of Hawaii Press | location = Honolulu | isbn = 978-0-8248-3174-5 | pages = [https://archive.org/details/koreastwentieth00robi/page/85 85–87, 155] }}</ref>