Many people rely on aid agencies, such as the United Nations, to provide food because there is not enough to eat in the country. However, North Koreans who demand more from their government, demand a change in leadership, or those that just try to escape, are brutally punished and sometimes killed. An Amnesty International report estimated that hundreds of thousands of people have been put in prison and labour camps because they have disagreed with the government.
North Koreans seem to cheer and praise their leader at big public events but it's difficult to know the reasons for this because it's not possible to speak freely to people living there.
The North Korean government says it's because Kim Jong-un is very popular with his people. From an early age, North Koreans are taught that their leaders are like all-powerful gods. But others argue that people could be cheering Kim because they are worried that they would get in serious trouble if they didn't. One of the main issues that has seen North Korea make headlines in the news is to do with nuclear missiles. North Korea had been trying to make nuclear missiles - powerful bombs that can cause devastating damage - which one day might be able to hit targets in the US.
It wasn't believed that it was building any missiles that could travel to and strike the UK, which is around 8, kilometres away. US President Donald Trump sent warships and submarines to South Korea, a country which America has supported for a long time, to try to get Kim Jong-un to stop his weapon-building plans. In August , North Korea fired a missile thought to be able to carry weapons, over northern Japan for the first time.
It crashed into the sea. Two weeks later, the country fired a second missile over Japan which flew higher and further than the first one. It also landed in the sea. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called the action a "serious" threat to his country. In November , North Korea said it had successfully tested a new type of missile that could reach the whole of the US. In April , the North Korea leader announced that his country would no longer carry out nuclear weapons tests. He also said a nuclear testing site in the north of the country would be shut down.
President Trump tweeted that the announcement was "good news" for the world. At the start of , Mr Kim ended up in another war of words with President Trump. Mr Kim made his New Year address saying he always has his nuclear launch button on his desk. Mr Trump responded by saying his button was bigger and the weapons he had were bigger and more powerful.
The relationship between the US and North Korea then seemed to improve as the two leaders announced that they planned to meet face to face. It was a big deal because no serving US president has ever sat down for talks with a North Korean leader. But Donald Trump pulled out of the talks. He said it was because of "tremendous anger" in a recent statement from North Korea and a series of "broken promises" from the North Korean capital Pyongyang.
However, Mr Trump said that he was very much looking forward to meeting him "some day". At the same time, efforts were being made by North Korea to start friendlier talks with its neighbour, South Korea. Mr Kim had said he was open to communicating and, in January , a secure phone line was reopened allowing the two governments to talk to one another. It had been almost two years since this phone line was disabled on the orders of Kim Jong-un, so this was an important development.
It came after the North Korean leader spoke of lowering tensions and of melting "frozen North-South relations". He said attending the games was "a good opportunity to show unity of the people" in North Korea. South Korea and North Korea came together during the opening and closing ceremonies of the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, and the athletes were pictured side by side.
Following this, in April , there was an incredibly historic meeting, when the leaders of North and South Korea met at the border between the two countries for the first time in 10 years. Trade is dumbed down to a series of bargaining transactions, and sneers at international standards of behavior. Some argue that North Korea wants nuclear weapons for regime security, an analysis that would suggest that North Korea is simply warning predatory states to stay away or else.
While South Korea and Japan are protected by their alliances with the U. Would the South Korean people believe in a certain U. Would proliferation stop with South Korea and Japan? What about Taiwan? The Non-Proliferation Treaty would quickly be reduced to tatters, and so would the sense of security in the region. And if North Korea fields a deliverable nuclear weapon that could reach the U.
The dangers of a preemptive strike. By Gregory F. More than one American President has been tempted by some form of preemptive attack on North Korea. Since the beginning, the country has hidden key facilities, and as its missiles become more mobile, they are harder to target. And it is hard to imagine Kim Jong Un doing nothing while the U. Seoul lies within artillery range of the North. Kim could retaliate even without using nuclear weapons.
That would mean any attack on nuclear facilities would have to be accompanied by attacks on other installations threatening the South. In other words, the war would widen even before Kim retaliated. The other set of preemptive options, ones designed to overturn the regime, suffer their own set of imponderables.
If Kim were killed, would the regime come apart or rally around the family? War gaming suggests a dangerous stew of violence, refugees and a race to control those nuclear weapons would ensue. In that stew, the gaming suggests, allies, not to mention China, would be as much of a problem as opposition from residual North Korean forces.
So regime change looks more and more attractive. But better that it come from within. So is the chance that an insider will finally get angry enough to take him out, never mind the consequences. Treverton, the former chair of the U. China needs to get serious. By Victor Cha. Without mentioning the latest launches by North Korea, she called its activities routine defensive measures, while saying that inter-Korean ties could break down if Moon continues to "slander" Pyongyang.
She said it is "illogical" and "foolish" to portray South Korean behaviour as a legitimate action to support peace and North Korea's actions as a threat. North Korea's ballistic missile systems have been banned by U. Security Council resolutions. In November , North Korea tested an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching the entire United States and declared it had become a nuclear power. Subscribe for our daily curated newsletter to receive the latest exclusive Reuters coverage delivered to your inbox.
South Korea says it test fired missile from submarine North Korea fires two ballistic missiles into sea U. More from Reuters. Sign up for our newsletter Subscribe for our daily curated newsletter to receive the latest exclusive Reuters coverage delivered to your inbox.
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