Kim Jong Il Died

[Anonymous]

PEOPLE'S DEMOCRATIC DICTATORSHIP- SOUTH KOREA (until the 1980s)

On DECEMBER 11, 1950, the KOREAN WAR began. It was an attempt to unify KOREA which had been divided in 1945; the election was expected to unify all of KOREA.
SYNMAN RHEE ruled SOUTH KOREA for a time and America has no diplomatic ties with North Korea.
MacArthur was the Commander and Chief for the counter-offensive in INCHAN. Americans threatened to use nuclear weapons and there is a two year stalemate between NORTH KOREA and SOUTH KOREA.

KIM SUNG IL- NORTH KOREA
Chinese enter the war when AMERICANS AND SOUTH KOREAN ARMY PUSHed INTO NORTH KOREA - which China warned AMERICA not to do. CHINA FOUGHT BACK TO THE present day "LINE OF DEMARCATION".

Mao knew that a UNITED KOREA WOULD put AMERICA on China's doorstep.

"THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CHINA AND KOREA is LIKE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE LIPS AND THE TEETH"
Meanwhile, present day South KOREA boasts some of the world's leading manufacturing of electronic equipment )e.g., cars, mobile phones, etc.), modern cities, excellent education, and a middle class society, which is in stark contrast to North Korea who accepts food from America as most of its population lives below the poverty line and struggles to eat.

Students can compare and contrast the social, political and economic differences between North and South Korea. They will discuss and then answer the question in a short essay: What are the social, political, and economic effects of the two types of governments in Korea - One nationality, one ethnicity, two governments?
edited by cwatson on 12/29/2011

[Anonymous]

SOUTH KOREA and North Korea
Russian resources are key: millions of Chinese and Koreans work in eastern Russia. There is a plan to bring Russian gas to N. Korea.
S. Korea is afraid that N. Korea will "turn off" the gas pipeline to S. Korea thereby impeding S. Korea's ability to supply gas for S. Korean homes and businesses.
N. Korea has used this S. Korean vulnerability to play S. Korea against RUSSIA.
N. Korea and S. Korea were suppose to unite except for the differences of governance, and due to the fact that neither side acknowledges the legitimacy of the other.
N. Korea remains the world's only communist monarchy.

Most S. Koreans live in SEOUL. Lps Angeles is called "little SEOUL" because it has the largest Korean population outside of S. Korea.
In Los Angeles, 70% of Koreans practice some form of Christianity, while S. Korea population is made up of 25% Koreans who practice some form of Christianity; the rest are Shamanistic.

################################################################################################
Students will brainstorm descriptions of South Korea and NORTH KOREA. from the past and in the present day.

NK - then
menace
malnutrition
NK-now
mobile phones
motor cars
S. Korea built their economic "muscles" in 65 years (since WWII in 1945).
SHOW STUDENTS A SATELLITE PHOTO OF ENERGY USAGE IN NK/SK COMPARED TO JAPAN AND CHINA
Ask them to describe what they see about the amount of energy usage in North Korea as compared with South Korea. Students will compare the energy usage in these two countries with that of the United States.

Students will answer the question:

Which cities in the United States have similar energy usage to cities in North and South Korea?

[Anonymous]

Essential Themes for China
The current economic change in China is one of growth vs. development and its intended and unintended consequences. Development is better than (only) growth.
One one hand, everyone is buying Chinese products and they have outproduced many competing Western companies.

One the other hand, the Chinese Industrial Revolution took five to ten years whereas the American Industrial Revolution took twenty to fifty years.

Students need to understand the advantages and disadvantages of exponential growth of China's economy.

They will compare and contrast with two column graphic organizer and answer the following question:

1) What are some of the unintended consequences of (only) growth without development?

[Anonymous]

One wonders why one of Kim Jong Il's sons would take a "vacation" to Macau while the body of his late father lies in state in North Korea. Some speculate that his "vacation" was an attempted defection to the West. Others blame it on the folly of youth.

I say, grab the crystal ball again, because this is anyone's guess.

[Anonymous]

No one knows the fate of Christians in North Korea after Kim Jong Il's death. Hopefully, the North Korean government will relax its restrictions against this religious minority.

[Anonymous]

When I saw this article online I was reminded of the picture Professor Dube showed us of Mao’s funeral and how the photograph had been altered for political purposes. Well, it seems this is the norm for totalitarian regimes, because a photograph of Kim Jong-Il’s recent funeral was altered when a handful of stragglers spoiled those regimented lines. These stragglers were eliminated from the photograph that was released by the North Korean news agency. How do we know they changed the photograph? Because there is photograph released by Kyodo news that was taken at exactly the same moment and you can see the difference between the two. Even in the death the Dear Leader wants to keep everything in order.Most of the world doesn't care about this, but the North Korean government cannot tolerate any disorder even if it involves the smallest detail. Here is a link to the story.

http://news.yahoo.com/north-korea-restores-order-kim-funeral-photoshop-184908568.html
edited by mcovarrubias on 12/29/2011

[Anonymous]

Kim Jong Il's racial propoganda may be an attempt to brainwash some North Koreans into thinking that life is not so bad there; it may be a way to stave off an "Arab Spring" type of uprising in North Korea or to avoid a North Korean Tiannamen Square.

For years Kim Jong Il told the populace of North Korea that their separation from the West has kept them racially pure. In fact, he stated, North Koreans are the most racially pure people on earth. The late Kim Jong Il added that food sent to North Korea from America is in fact a tribute to North Korea's greatness and a testament to its power over the West.

What the heck?!

[Anonymous]

Kim Jong Il' s death I'm sure has affected North Korea tremendously. His death has definitely caused an uprising and there is talk that his Son will be taking his Father's place as ruler. My concerns are if Kim Jong Il's son has the same principles as his father and if his age is going to affect the rulings of North Korea in a positive or negative way.Because conformity is required what we dont see is the prison camps, starvation ,and malnutrition of the people.

[Anonymous]

I heard on KPPC this morning (1/11/12) an interview with an American government official (Chris Hill). He has apparently visited North Korea. He mentioned that North Korea has been advised by the Chinese to open up their economy. Mr. Hill doubted that would happen any time soon as once the North Koreans saw how the world was outside of their isolated life, it would be difficult to keep a "Korean spring" from happening.

A possible middle school lesson would be to compare the economies of various Asia countries.

Pat Lamkie

[Rob_Hugo@PortNW]

North Korea is certainly an "opaque" country. In this internet age, North Korean government officials have successfully hid Kim Jong Il's death from the world. It is indicative of the extreme censorship of the dissemination of internal North Korean affairs to the outside world, and vise versa.

As his sons are "jockying" for position, there is talk of a military takeover or a possible reconciliation with South Korea. The South Korean government extended their condolences to North Korean government officials upon news of Kim Jong Il's death.

One wonders if the throngs of mourners was a carefully staged event which was timed for the release of the news of Kim Jong Il's death, or was it genuine sorrow from the people of North Korea?

The food crises in North Korea is still tenuous as "middle class" North Koreans focus on scraping enough money together to put food on the table for their families.

There is much speculation about the future of North Korean as it will spend three years in mourning over its leader. Reunification is always a possibility, that is, unless the military or other government officials use this time to consolidate their power.

Western powers such as the United States, Western European governments, and South Korea will undoubtedly try to sway North Korea into talks of reunification of the Korean penninsula.

It is anyone's guess at this point. I say grab a crystal ball, light the candles, meditate, and see what "the universe" tells us.

[Author]

Posts