North Korea

North Korea, officially the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a highly isolated and totalitarian state on the Korean Peninsula. Established in 1948, it is governed by the Workers’ Party of Korea under a dynastic totalitarian dictatorship, with power passed down through the Kim family. The state’s guiding ideology is Juche, a philosophy of self-reliance that heavily influences its political, economic, and cultural policies.

The country operates a centrally planned economy, where the state controls all means of production, and private enterprise is extremely limited. This has led to chronic economic struggles and widespread food shortages. The military holds immense power, with the “military-first” (Songun) policy prioritizing the armed forces in all state affairs. North Korea’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs are a major source of international concern and have resulted in strict global sanctions, further isolating the nation from the rest of the world.