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2018 In North Korea
2018 in North Korea was marked by attempts by the government to develop its international relationships, particularly in regards to South Korea. In February, North Korean athletes marched alongside their South Korean counterparts under the Korean Unification Flag at the 2018 Seoul Olympic Games. North Korea's Kim Jong-Un met with South Korea's Moon Jae-in three times during the year. Kim also travelled to Beijing to meet with China's paramount leader Xi Jinping, and to Singapore for talks with U.S. President Donald Trump. Incumbents * Party Chairman and State Chairman: Kim Jong-un * President of the Supreme People's Assembly: Kim Yong-nam * Premier: Pak Pong-ju January * 1 January: Kim Jong-un announces in his New Year's speech that North Korea may participate in the 2018 Winter Olympics. The announcement came after a period of uncertainty caused by the North Korean national Olympic committee's failure to enter the only North Korean athletes that had qualified. * 3 Januar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eastern border is defined by the Sea of Japan. South Korea claims to be the sole legitimate government of the entire peninsula and List of islands of South Korea, adjacent islands. It has a Demographics of South Korea, population of 51.75 million, of which roughly half live in the Seoul Capital Area, the List of metropolitan areas by population, fourth most populous metropolitan area in the world. Other major cities include Incheon, Busan, and Daegu. The Korean Peninsula was inhabited as early as the Lower Paleolithic period. Its Gojoseon, first kingdom was noted in Chinese records in the early 7th century BCE. Following the unification of the Three Kingdoms of Korea into Unified Silla, Silla and Balhae in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Olympic Committee Of The Democratic People's Republic Of Korea
The Olympic Committee of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (; List of IOC country codes, IOC code: PRK) is the National Olympic Committee (NOC) representing North Korea (competing either as DPR Korea or as the country's full official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea). It is a member of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), and of the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC). It is based in Kwangbok Street, Kumsong-dong, Mangyongdae District, Pyongyang. Its chairman is Kim Il-guk, Vice President Chang Ung, and Secretary General Son Kwang-ho. History Before the Korean War, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) recognized a single Korean National Olympic Committee (NOC) representing both the North and South Korea, based in Seoul. After the war, North Korea displayed dissatisfaction with this arrangement, and repeatedly called for the creation of a North Korean NOC. The IOC declined these pleas on the grounds that there could be only one NOC per coun ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Korean People's Army
The Korean People's Army (KPA; ) is the military force of North Korea and the armed wing of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK). Under the ''Songun'' policy, it is the central institution of North Korean society. Currently, WPK General Secretary Kim Jong-un serves as Supreme Commander and the chairman of the WPK Central Military Commission. The KPA consists of five branches: the Ground Force, the Naval Force, the Air and Anti-Air Force, the Strategic Rocket Forces, and the Special Operation Force. The KPA considers its primary adversaries to be the Republic of Korea Armed Forces and United States Forces Korea, across the Korean Demilitarized Zone, as it has since the Armistice Agreement of July 1953. it is the second largest military organisation in the world, with of the North Korean population actively serving, in reserve or in a paramilitary capacity. History Korean People's Revolutionary Army 1932–1948 Kim Il-sung's anti-Japanese guerrilla army, the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
General Political Bureau
The General Political Bureau (GPB) is the internal politburo of the Korean People's Army (KPA), used by the leadership of the North Korean government to exert political control over the military. The GPB is subordinate to the Ministry of Defence and operates under the direction of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea. The GPB controls units of the KPA on all levels down to company level. It primarily exerts control through propaganda, education, and cultural activities. Under directions of the State Affairs Commission of North Korea, it also controls troop movements. During Kim Jong-il's ''Songun'' (military first) era in particular, the GPB remained relatively independent and unchanged for decades. However, after the 2016 7th Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea under Kim Jong-un, the party had regained enough power to exert influence over the GPB. Consequentially, in 2017 the party Central Committee was ordered to carry out an inspection of the GPB, the fir ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hwang Pyong-so
Hwang Pyong-so (born c. 1946 or 1949) is a North Korean general and politician who held the rank of Vice Marshal ( ko, 차수, ''Ch'asu'') in the Korean People's Army (KPA). He was a member of the Presidium of the Workers' Party of Korea and the top-ranking vice-chairman of the State Affairs Commission. Biography Hwang has probably spent most of his career in the Organization and Guidance Department (OGD), gaining reputation as the organization's ''éminence grise''. In September 2010, Hwang was appointed an alternate member of the Party Central Committee, holding the position of deputy head of the OGD since the early 2000s with a military and security portfolio. In March 2014 he was elected to the Supreme People's Assembly during the 2014 SPA election; during the same month, he was identified as the first vice-director of the party organization department. On April 28, 2014 Korean Central News Agency reported that the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
North Korean Media
The mass media in North Korea is amongst the most strictly controlled in the world. The constitution nominally provides for freedom of speech and the press. However, the government routinely disregards these rights, and seeks to mold information at its source. A typical example of this was the death of Kim Jong-il, news of which was not divulged until two days after it occurred. Kim Jong-un, who replaced his father as the leader, has largely followed in the footsteps of both his grandfather, Kim Il-sung, and his father. However, new technologies are being made more freely available in the country. State- run media outlets are setting up websites, while mobile phone ownership in the country has escalated rapidly. “There is no country which monopolizes and controls successfully the internet and information as North Korea does,” said Kang Shin-sam, an expert on North Korean technology and co-head of the International Solidarity for Freedom of Information in North Korea, a nonprof ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kim Yo-jong
Kim Yo-jong (; born 26 September 1987) is a North Korean politician and diplomat serving as the Deputy Department Director of the Publicity and Information Department of the Workers' Party of Korea, or WPK. She also served as an alternate member of the Politburo of the Workers' Party of Korea from 2017 to 2019, and again from 2020 to 2021. Since September 2021, she has also served as a member of State Affairs Commission of North Korea, the only woman on the panel. Yo-jong is the youngest child of North Korea's second Supreme Leader Kim Jong-il and the younger sister of Kim Jong-un, the current supreme leader and WPK general secretary, and is considered by some commentators to be a possible successor. Early life Kim Yo-jong is the youngest child of former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and his consort, Ko Yong-hui. The U.S. Treasury lists her birthdate as 26 September 1989, while South Korean sources place her birth on 26 September 1987. Born in Pyongyang, she spent most ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2018 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony
The opening ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympics was held at the Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium in Pyeongchang, South Korea on 9 February 2018. It began at 20:00 KST and finished at approximately 22:20 KST. The Games were officially opened by President of the Republic of Korea Moon Jae-in. Preparations The site of the opening ceremony, Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium, was built specifically for the Games. The pentagonal stadium seated 35,000. The organizers for the event said the shape was chosen because it is a combination of different shapes, a circle, a square, and a triangle, which represent heaven, earth, and mankind. No Olympic or Paralympic events were be held at the stadium, which was only used for the opening and closing ceremonies. The venue was torn down afterwards. The broadcast of the Opening Ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympic Games was available in more than 200 countries around the world. *Ha Hyun-woo of the band Guckkasten, Ahn Ji-young of the musical duo Bolbbalga ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Military Foundation Day
Military Foundation Day( ko, 조선인민군 창건일) is an annual public holiday in North Korea falling on 25 April. Background North Korean historiography has two competing dates for the founding of the modern Korean People's Army (KPA): 25 April 1932 and 8 February 1948. According to North Korean historiography, the Korean People's Revolutionary Army (KPRA) – the predecessor of the KPA – was founded on 25 April 1932. The KPRA was the name for Korean units of the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army and the regular KPA was not established until 1948, with its date of 8 February becoming a holiday for the formal military's founding until celebrations ceased in 1978, to be replaced by 25 April. The 25 April date had, however, been celebrated in one way or the other since 1962. Initially it was celebrated as the founding of "anti-Japanese guerrilla units" in general, and later as the founding of the KPRA, in particular. It became an official holiday in 1996. The 25 April oc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Day Of The Sun
The Day of the Sun () is an annual public holiday in North Korea on 15 April, the birth anniversary of Kim Il-sung, founder and Eternal President of North Korea. It is the most important national holiday in the country, and is considered to be the North Korean equivalent of Christmas. Kim's birthday, which had been an official holiday since 1968, was renamed Day of the Sun in 1997, three years after his death. The name takes its significance from his name; ''Il-sung'' is . North Koreans commemorate the holiday by visiting locations that have a connection with the leader's life, such as thousands of statues scattered across the country, or Mangyongdae, his birthplace in the capital Pyongyang. The most important observances take place in the capital, including visits to the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, where Kim Il-sung's body lies in rest, and the Mansu Hill Grand Monument, which features a very tall statue of the leader. The state seeks to provide its citizens with more food ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Unification Flag Of Korea
The Korean Unification Flag is a flag designed to represent all of Korea when North Korea, North and South Korea participate as Korea Team, one team in sporting events. History North and South Korea initially planned to compete as one team at the 1990 Asian Games, and conceived the Korean Unification Flag amid logistical difficulties with raising two flags at once. While the unified team effort was not realized, the flag was prominently displayed by an unofficial cheerleading group during the Games. The flag was first officially used in 1991 when the two countries competed together as a single team in the 1991 World Table Tennis Championships, 41st World Table Tennis Championships in Chiba, Chiba, Chiba, Japan. Design The background is white. In the center is a sky blue silhouette of the Korean Peninsula, including Jeju Island to the southwest. The silhouette is a slightly smoothed version of the actual coastline and China–North Korea border, northern border; according to bot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ice Hockey At The 2018 Winter Olympics – Women's Tournament
The women's tournament in ice hockey at the 2018 Winter Olympics was held in Gangneung, South Korea between 10 and 22 February 2018. Eight countries qualified for the tournament; five of them did so automatically by virtue of their ranking by the International Ice Hockey Federation, one, South Korea, automatically qualified as hosts, while the two others took part in a qualification tournament. Under a special agreement with the IOC and the IIHF, twelve North Korean players joined the host team to form a united team. They were allowed to have an expanded roster of 35 where 22 players dress for each game. Three North Korean players were selected for each game by coach Sarah Murray. The United States winning the gold medal game against Canada marks the first time in 20 years that the United States took home a gold medal in women's hockey. They previously won in 1998 in Nagano, Japan, which was also against Canada. Canada's loss ended their winning streak of four consecutive winte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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