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History of North Korea
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== Era of Kim Jong Il (1994β2011) == [[File:Demilitarized Zone of Korea 05.JPG|thumb|Portraits of Kim Il Sung and his son and successor [[Kim Jong Il]]]] Kim Il Sung died from a sudden heart attack on 8 July 1994. The politics in the last years of Kim Il Sung closely resemble those of the beginning of the Kim Jong Il era.<ref name="Lankov2015">{{cite book|last=Lankov|first=Andrei| author-link = Andrei Lankov|title=The Real North Korea: Life and Politics in the Failed Stalinist Utopia|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2015|isbn=978-0-19-939003-8|location=Oxford|page=78}}</ref> Beginning as early as 1990, the economy began a steep decline. From 1990 to 1995, foreign trade was cut in half, with the loss of subsidized Soviet oil being particularly keenly felt. The crisis came to a head in 1995 with widespread flooding that destroyed crops and infrastructure, leading to [[North Korean famine|a famine]] that lasted until 1998.<ref>{{cite book|last=Buzo|first=Adrian|title=The Making of Modern Korea|publisher=Routledge|year=2002|isbn=978-0-415-23749-9|location=London|pages=175β176}}</ref> At the same time, there appeared to be little significant internal opposition to the regime. A great many of the North Koreans fleeing to China because of famine still showed significant support for the government as well as pride in their homeland. Many of these people reportedly returned to North Korea after earning sufficient money.<ref>Kim Hong-min, "I'm not brave. I'm only pretending to be brave in coming here." Outsider, no. 15, September 2003. {{ISBN|89-90720-04-4}}</ref> In September 1998, Kim Il Sung was proclaimed "[[Eternal leaders of North Korea|eternal President of the Republic]]" with the office of the presidency being abolished. According to Ashley J. Tellis and Michael Wills, this amendment was an indication of the unique North Korean characteristic of being a [[Theocracy|theocratic state]] based on the [[North Korean cult of personality#Kim Il Sung|personality cult surrounding Kim Il Sung]], granting leaders titles with "legal" power after their deaths.<ref>Ashley J. Tellis; Michael Wills (30 September 2007). ''Domestic Political Change and Grand Strategy''. NBR. p. 128. ISBN 978-0-9713938-8-2.</ref> The functions and powers previously belonging to the President were divided between three officials: the [[head of government]], the [[Premier of North Korea]]; the [[Chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly]], the [[head of state]], [[President of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly]]; and the head of the military, the [[National Defence Commission of North Korea|Chairman of the National Defence Commission]] and [[Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army]]. Exercising his power through his militaristic posts, which he essentially controlled even whilst his father was still alive, with his elevation to the Supreme Commander of the KPA and Chairman of the NDC in the early 90s, Kim Jong Il placed emphasis on the military to boast and elevate his power. In addition to this, after the collapse of global Communism in the early 1990s and the economic crisis and mass famine that continued, North Korea found itself in a very precarious international position.<ref>Bruce Cumings, ''North Korea: Another Country'' (New York: The New Press, 2004): 102.</ref> In this sense, Songun is perceived as an aggressive, threatening move to increase the strength of the North Korean military at the expense of other parts of society.<ref>Alexander V. Vorontsov, 'North Korean Military-first policy: A curse or a blessing?' ''Brookings Institution'', 26 May 2006, <http://www.brookings.edu/research/opinions/2006/05/26northkorea-vorontsov> 26 March 2007.</ref> In 1998, the government announced a new policy called "[[Songun]]", or "Military First". In essence, Songun politics gives great priority to military affairs and ensuring the Korean People's Army (KPA) as the main force in construction and development.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Naenara|title=SONGUN POLITICS|url=http://naenara.com.kp/en/great/state_pol.php|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140709165815/http://naenara.com.kp/en/great/state_pol.php|archive-date=9 July 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> After his election in 1998, President [[Kim Dae-jung]] of South Korea actively attempted to reduce tensions between the two Koreas under the [[Sunshine Policy]]. After the election of [[George W. Bush]] as the President of the United States in 2000, North Korea faced renewed pressure over its nuclear program. On 9 October 2006, North Korea announced that it had successfully detonated a nuclear bomb underground.<ref>[https://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061009/ap_on_re_as/koreas_nuclear Associated Press] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061009092339/http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061009/ap_on_re_as/koreas_nuclear|date=9 October 2006}}</ref> Additionally, North Korea was developing [[ICBM]]s.<ref>{{cite book|last=Minnich|first=James M.|title=North Korea: A Country Study|date=2008|publisher=Government Printing Office|isbn=978-0-16-088278-4|editor-last=Worden|editor-first=Robert L.|edition=Fifth|location=Washington|pages=257β260|chapter=National Security|lccn=2008028547}}</ref> On 13 February 2007, North Korea signed into an agreement with South Korea, the United States, Russia, China, and Japan, which stipulated North Korea would shut down its [[Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center|Yongbyon nuclear reactor]] in exchange for economic and energy assistance.<ref>{{cite book|title=North Korea: A Country Study|date=2008|publisher=Government Printing Office|isbn=978-0-16-088278-4|editor-last=Worden|editor-first=Robert L.|edition=Fifth|location=Washington|pages=xviii, xxxv|chapter=Introduction|lccn=2008028547}}</ref> However, in 2009 the North [[2009 North Korean nuclear test|continued its nuclear test program]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Seth |first1=Michael J. |title=A History of Korea: From Antiquity to the Present |title-link=A History of Korea: From Antiquity to the Present |date=16 October 2010 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers |isbn=9780742567177 |publication-date=2010 |page=457}}</ref> [[ROKS Cheonan sinking|In 2010, the sinking of a South Korean naval ship, the Cheonan]], allegedly by a North Korean torpedo, and North Korea's [[Bombardment of Yeonpyeong|shelling of Yeonpyeong Island]] escalated tensions between North and South.<ref>{{Cite news|author=Deok-hyun Kim|date=24 November 2010|title=S. Korea to toughen rules of engagement against N. Korean attack|url=http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/national/2010/11/24/86/0301000000AEN20101124012200315F.HTML|url-status=live|access-date=24 November 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101201215252/http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/national/2010/11/24/86/0301000000AEN20101124012200315F.HTML|archive-date=1 December 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|agency=Korean Central News Agency|title=Lee Myung Bak Group Accused of Scuttling Dialogue and Humanitarian Work|url=http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2010/201011/news24/20101124-09ee.html|url-status=dead|access-date=24 November 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101128061222/http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2010/201011/news24/20101124-09ee.html|archive-date=28 November 2010}}</ref>
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