Logo

What caused North Korea to go poor when at first it was rich?

10.06.2025 00:15

What caused North Korea to go poor when at first it was rich?

in the best of times, is hardly capable of being self-sufficient in food production due to its lack

of drugs, fake US currency, sold weapons to international terrorist organization, and

it would provide the economy the self-reliance he treasured so dearly. Heavy industry is

The "Tooth Hurty" Joke Has Its Origins In Ancient, Armored Fish - Defector

a capitalist foothold on their doorstep, flooded half a million soldiers into the Korean Peninsula,

to get you speaking a brand new language in just three weeks.

population. But why did North Korea not change? Today we have witnessed the fall of the Soviet

Why is the world male-dominated?

reforms that China undertook and in response to the Arab spring they have tightened social control

Korea would receive a massive at the time $1.65 Billion dollars worth of patron aid

positions meaning there was a severe lack of experience and no real way to produce

What do you think of the 2 female 18 and 19 year-old German tourists, detained in Honolulu, strip-searched, put in green jumpsuits, placed in a holding cell and the next day deported, for the terrible crime of not pre-booking a hotel for their trip?

economy. But North Korea had a problem. Despite years of political instability, South Korea by

wartime loans and even sent tens of thousands of free workers to rebuild infrastructure

is making drugs with some of the highest quality in the world, and making counterfeit currency that

Arnold Schwarzenegger Confronted Patrick After He Said He Wished He Didn’t Have His Last Name - BuzzFeed

to the various powerful Chinese dynasties that were by far the most important asian powers if

and Korea was not able to hold off any longer. In 1910 It was now an official colony of the

this small nation that was just bombed back into the stone age , was now able to become

Why do older siblings always hate younger siblings?

The next terrible decision emerged again from the ideology of self-reliance in the form of

Union and Eastern bloc, the reformation of the Chinese economic system and the numerous

not global powers. However China started a long and slow decline just as the Europeans

Fed’s Waller sees path to multiple interest-rate cuts this year - MarketWatch

Prioritizing the Military

of further reform just like in the Soviet Union. They do not have the stomach to risk the economic

in the last 2000 years”. For the last 10 centuries Korea served as a tributary state

If our normal body temperature is 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit, why do we perceive weather in the 90s as "hot?"

the environment unable to cope with torrential rains. Coupled with the goat breeding program

By the late 19th century and early 20th It was no longer China but Japan that threatened Korea.

economic shortages” in which the spirit of the revolutionary cause would allow for superhuman

Wedbush Fund Advisers Launches IVES AI Revolution ETF Built on Dan Ives’ Proprietary Research - GlobeNewswire

in the world, this is the story of how North Korea became so incredibly poor.

family patriarch. With a deeply embedded cultural tradition of family and respecting your elders it

Korean History & Japanese Occupation

What one thing makes someone a very mature person?

officer in the Soviet army during the liberation of Korea. He quickly began to build a Socialist

trapped by the ideologies that created it and thus can not reform without risking collapse.

the farmlands were now unproductive, and it was almost impossible to even transport harvests.

Why do I feel like I want to suck a big dick after injecting meth?

reform its educational system and modernized its military, but the Russian empire was dying

Babble makes learning a new language fast, easy and engaging. They have specially formatted

under strain further toward the end of the 1960s as the Cold war heated up. Having a

North Korea stands as a reminder that nations governed by a small elite fixated on retaining

market economy although it would function more or less like a brutal dictatorship until the 1980s.

nations were now open to the idea of lending to North Korea. 80 million dollars was borrowed

Marxist Leninist theories to his own advantage and to work better with traditional Korean beliefs.

cuisine. Making the necessary changes which would have saved his people would have likely meant his

North ramped up terrorist activities, assasination attemps and despite its now stagnate economy,

addressing the fundamental imbalances to the economy, even as the cold war tensions cooled in

the soviets and food, oil and fertilizer from the chinese. From 1950-1960 North

death and the end to his limitless consumption. We can see now why changes never occurred.

of the North, quickly appointed Kim il Sung, a guerilla fighter in the war who later became an

continue to prop up its massive military and hold on power. The second thing keeping the nation from

were able to Push the North all the way back to the Chinese border. China, worried about

keeped on flooding in. North Korea was able to thrive economically because it was constantly

and historic rainfalls meant that floods and mudslides took out the remaining farmlands.

to the regime's ideology of self reliance and thus this never happened. This then made North Korea

For almost all of Korea's existence it was surrounded by much more powerful nations,

projects were way too costly, unneeded and in some cases flawed from their very inception. They were

as an ally. Kim was then able to teeter back and forth between the two when aid was offered and

industrialized nation in modern history. But one idea arose in the high command of the government

efforts. North Korea all a sudden did not have enough farmlands to feed its people. Faced with

and industry was unable to function. In just three years the entire economy contracted

the burgeoning middle class and rapid increases in quality of life that the South was now enjoying.

All farmland and all private property was taken by the state. Markets were outlawed,

to stop running. Transportation was halted, electricity generation stopped completely,

invasion into Manchuria in an effort to snatch up as much land as possible

food producing capabilities of the Nation. But as we discussed prior, we know that North Korea, even

in 1904. The result of the embarrassing defeat was Japan's uninhibited influence in the region

starting in the 70s but ramped up dramatically in the 90s the manufacturing, and distribution

from the French to build a fertilizer plant, 160 million from the United Kingdom to build a cement

traditionally defined as capital intensive large scale manufacturing that requires heavy machinery

to take the risk. It could have sold its vast resources to the world but because industry was

Out of pure necessity it for the first time allowed for markets and minor trading however

is hard to estimate but it has likely brought in billions of dollars to which the regime can then

meaning the United States is still technically at war with North Korea. But Kim Il Sung

It was given hydro electric dams, railroads, irrigation systems and industrial equipment from

The Korean War

thus preferential trade deals, free capital and resources, and access to equipment and technology

eventually pushing the front line close to its original borders. The front line grinded to a halt

To make matters even worse the floods destroyed underground stockpiles of grain. North Korea was

before the capitulation of the Japanese empire. At the same time Hiroshima and Nagasaki were erased

Kim was able to walk into Stalin's office, providing a huge list of economic needs,

In the Aftermath Kim set out to finalize the transition into a complete command economy.

other potential socialist nations that they would be looked after by the communist world. But well

quick 10 minute lessons that teach you real world practical conversations that you will actually

Ironically, and against the notions of self reliance, North Korea's resurgence

The North was blessed with almost all the natural resources, most of the industrial capacity,

Japanese. From then until 1945 Korea was treated with unimaginable exploitation.

ensue. China is supplying energy and food to make sure this does not happen. Since he came to power

15% a year, quickly dwarfing the small agrarian economy of the south. But how is it possible that

But the North Korea you see on the news today with its starving citizens and a leadership hell

use. Using their speech recognition they help you to correct your pronunciation and accent,

the developing world and for a brief moment it was the most industrialized and advanced

willing to imprison your entire family for minor mistakes, it's easy to see how not being okay

and almost all freedoms were curtailed, of course except for those in the ruling class. From then

command economy modeled after and with the help of the Soviet Union. Land was redistributed,

inefficiencies in the command economy. Oftentimes this meant avoiding the implementation of more

foundation in which to control and guide the restoration of the nation and economy. However,

the time commitment and seemingly overwhelming challenge, well then I have the answer for you.

food from international humanitarian efforts until the year 2000 it made outrageous demands,

by far the most industrialized and urbanized country in Asia in the immediate aftermath of

“self reliance”. Kim argued that the true peak of Civilization was contingent upon being freed from

engaging lessons keep me coming back for more. For my audience you can get an exclusive 65%

dictators that fell during the Arab spring. But so did North Korea. They have learned that opening

was wholly dependent on dramatic amounts of help from the other socialist nations.

fully reliant on the untenable aid it received from other socialist nations to feed itself.

Hotel was to become the tallest in the world, cost 2% of its entire economy and like all the other

a terrible decision in a country that arguably has the most mismanaged economy in modern times.

In 1996 North Korea was in the midst of one of the worst famines experienced by any

badly miscalculated his war effort and most of the North's advantage was swept away by the US’s

what is called the “chollima movement”. The North Koreans' lack of sufficient economic data lead to

and 92% off the electrical power generation. In fact for a brief moment in time North Korea was

meant he could carry out rapid industrialization and militarization of the whole country. But North

who sought to rapidly industrialize and modernize its military to be able to fend off the Europeans.

light industry. The Japanese had made the south into the breadbasket to feed its war

everything than South Korea who was then just starting to build their own heavy industry.

hydrothermal power plant, an entire industry surrounding vinylon, a strange material that's

power and gatekeeping the keys to truth are where true human suffering lies. The 20th century gave

The North Korean economy from the end of the war until the 1970s grew at a titanic

cheap labor and a huge demand for commodities by other socilaist nations meant North Korea

mostly from the Soviet Union. Not only that but China and the Soviets forgave North Korea of its

annual massive rainfalls. Now without them, the result was massive mudslides which destroyed

productive but expensive equipment, instead using brute force to address economic shortfalls,

society with the goal of self reliance meant that North Korea would allocate

Soviet & Chinese Aid

All men ages fifteen to forty five and all women aged eighteen to thirty five were

Have you ever wanted to learn a new language for an upcoming trip abroad,

But how and why did North Korea receive so much economic aid?

much of the only arable land for agriculture and the complete flooding of coal mines. In just 4

and most importantly agriculture. Even Stalin who himself overemphasized heavy industry

and it's even been scientifically proven using their award winning technology

plants. Infrastructure throughout the country was improved to ship the much needed materials

Both Koreas that it is a “Shrimp among Whales”, and that the peninsula has been invaded “900 times

and little progress was made over the coming years. In the face of neither side seeing

This video is Sponsored by Babble, the number one language learning app.

throughout the entire economy. The now complete shortage of fuel meant that coal mining ceased,

dramatic amounts of resources to the military. As such and in response to heightened tensions North

While Initially it seemed like Northern Victory was inevitable, United Nations combat forces

and thus had to adapt in the name of self preservation. There is a famous saying in

pulling ahead. This was symbolized in the 1988 olympic games hosted in Seoul. In response the

own influence in the region. With Russia's help, Korea started to industrialize itself,

the Japanese built large scale mine and processing plants, developed a thriving fertilizer industry,

started to carve out as much of the world as possible. This gave rise to a new asian power

one of the fastest growing economies on earth. The resurgence of North Korea was due in large part

in charge. While the Nation starved the next leader Kim Jong Il imported luxury watches,

being stimulated by a socialist competition and Kim's fierce iron grip politically

economic, technological and military superiority over the south. North Korea for a time was so

As Korea could not stand alone It turned to the Russian empire who was looking to expand their

But with the fall of the Soviet Union and subsequent economic calamity how does North

being backed by the largest economy on earth would catch up quickly, Kim il Sung combined

rich in natural resources. According to a Goldman Sachs report, North Korea is sitting

was the perfectly crafted means of Social control over the North Koreas. This provided the perfect

the chains of reliance on other nations. The way to achieve this was by placing all trust in him

3.5 million tons per year to just 45 thousand. This would have a catastrophic ripple effect

family connection, professional development or even just self improvement, but worried about

back to Japan to aid in the war effort. But Japan’s reign of terror came to an abrupt end.

and by carrying out tremendous sacrifice for the state. The Ideology heavily borrowed from Korean

their economy or political structure even just a little would start a never ending tidal wave

exactly the same as in the Soviet Union. But this was even an impossible task for the Soviets

the second world war. Under Japanese occupation North Korea became an industrial powerhouse.

food, coal or any other factor of production they would mobilize the population to work longer and

to do efficiently and even more so for the less technologically advanced North Koreans. To make

champion for the developing Socialist world and thus both could not afford to lose North Korea

be dramatically different. In fact for decades it was the North who maintained a political,

any rational economic leader would try and utilize its vast resources to balance its budget and

built personal palaces, ordered 100 white Mercedes limousines and dined on the finest Italian

the 70s, North Korea started to take out mountains of debt to finance further heavy industry

majority of its budget to the military, It had not made significant attempts to pay off its debt

much better off that it once was pointed too as a shining example of communism in

Korea would undertake a massive military buildup and the militarization of the entire culture.

project off its coast line, an attempted to build the largest dam in the world, a supermassive

But the south had almost all of the prime agricultural land and most of the consumer

by 50%. Food was no longer being given for free from other socialist nations,

partook in human traffiking and slave labour in their prison camps. In fact, because of the unique

productivity that would outpace any other nation. In essence when North Korea was short of steel,

was concerned with North Korea's lopsided economic growth. That's because this heavy industry relied

the incredibly prosperous South Korea who now has over 70 times the economic output, things used to

single aspect of the entire economy there was no hope of it working. How do you know how much steel

totalitarian regime. North Korea was now the worst place to live in the world and millions perished.

his political opponents and ultimately became the supreme authority of the land. He warped the

this was only because the central government had no resources in which to distribute to the

in 2011 Kim Jong- un has largely kept North Korea unchanged and in fact is looking to try and reign

Without fuel the population took to cutting down forests for the winters to stay warm and this made

more water was now needed to irrigate the fields and that meant hydroelectric power plants needed

mega projects, it failed miserably. It has now been uncompleted for over three decades and for a

into North Korea being rejuvenated and strong enough to fend for themselves the aid just kept

plan would use its newfound industrial strength to trade for food products. But this is counter

party communist state was instituted. Later all power was Vested in Kim il Sung who would become

making money that we have not yet discussed is state sponsored illicit activities. North Korea

more of a god then a ruler to the North Koreas. In the South the United states created a democratic

coming. This was due in large part to the souring relations between the Soviet Union and China.

I have always wanted to feel a connection with my ancestors so I have been learning to speak german.

on, all prices, all goods, all funds, and all jobs were to be dictated by the government,

accurate economic statistics. so when a sociliast government was now tasked with deciding every

conditions in which a nation state is actually partaking in these illegal activities, North Korea

For now the People of North Korea suffer and will continue to until the regime inevitably collapses.

collapsing is China. While China now sees North Korea as a nuisance the last thing they want is a

of arable land and harsh climate. This would not be too concerning as any economically rational

made countless reservoirs and pumping stations to irrigate the fields, and constructed modern power

durable and highly heat resistant, and the most emblematic of the time, the Ryugyong hotel. The

harder to make up for the shortfalls. Coupled with a regime that has total social control and is

and no event encapsulated this better than its defeat in the Russo-Japanese War

Despite this, North Korea, to the surprise of the world, would enter its economic Golden age.

power plants went offline, and Chemical fertilizer was no longer able to be produced. As such much

it carried out insane mega projects. A few of these include an 1100 square mile land reclamation

heavy propaganda the image of the state and Kim himself was warped to resemble that of a

Even with my busy schedule, thanks to babble, I can easily find time everyday to practice and the

no longer willing to give oil to North Korea at preferential rates and the supply of it went from

the 80s was undergoing its economic miracle and democratization. This was a huge problem

which angered and threatened China’s leader Mao zedong. From there both competed to be the

then they had dropped on all nations combined throughout the entirety of the second world war.

Life After Collapse

ally. Trade to the Russian Federation collapsed 6 fold, food imports and aid completely stopped

From the very beginning, Kim il sung was obsessed with building heavy industry as in his mind

their new border then became the new front line of the cold war. The Soviet Union, in control

bent on making nuclear weapons, in a desperate last ditch attempt to maintain power is largely

years 5-10% of North Korea's entire population perished. Yet this is just one small example of

,restorate destroyed factories, and revive farmlands . Along with its vast resources,

under the weight of political liberalization and a faltering economy finally collapsed in late 1991,

carpet bombing campaings. In fact the United States dropped more explosives on North Korea

to a unique set of circumstances. At the heart of it all was the religious like to dominance of the

economic plan. North Korea would persistently use the Chollima movement to address the massive

The over reliance of heavy industry and the utilization of massive labor movements would come

with the extra work could put you in a dangerous position. An example of this is the mobilization

In the Very last months of the second world war 1.5 million Soviet troops launched a lightnight

was set for a new much longer spanning conflict. Much like the occupation of Germany after the war,

entire nation by Kim il Sung. He quickly started to rewrite history, banned religion, persecuted

and facilities. This produces Steel, Military equipment, ships, chemicals, construction ect. But

microcosm of the much larger Cold war. The Soviets and Chinese did not want a strong,

asian society. From the quote on quote Ideal socialist state, to the worst place to live

decisions that would lead to it eventually becoming the worst place to live in the world.

Kim allocating 80% of all resources to developing heavy industry came at the cost of consumer goods

Korea plausible deniability when caught. The money generated from these illicit activities

refused to make concessions and ultimately never reformed to fix the structural problems.

Those modern Japanese industries and mines ceased to exist. As Historian Charles K. Armstrong put

by the Americans. Weeks later the largest war in human history was over but immediately the stage

For the first time in their histories the South was now better off than the North and rapidly

In a case such as this it would make sense for a nation to take out loans to weather the rough

By the early 90s North Korea still had a massively lopsided economy, It was allocating a vast

Korea's unprecedented growth hid the abhorrent structural flaws and catastrophic economic

no country would lend to North Korea by 1976. At this point

atop an estimated 10 Trillion dollars worth of mineral deposits, and as such,

Confucianism with concepts of hierarchy as the basis of order and social harmony. Coupled with

if you have no Idea how many hungry mouths there are to feed or how productive your farmlands are.

mandated to serve in the military. This of course dramatically strained the rest of the economy.

an ability to advance further an armistice was signed that is still in effect to this very day,

However some important economic development did take place. Northern Korea is incredibly

off your subscription, just click the link in the description down below.

those Japanese Industries were nationalized, a socialist central bank was created, and a one

you can produce if you don't know how much iron is being made, how much coal is being transported to

significant shortages all the time. Of course Kims answer to this problem was in the form

of mass mobilization in which the nation would rely on quote “revolutionary zeal to make up any

on mobilizing the rural farming population to work in factories but this then diminished the

The Beginning of the End

factories and how many workers you have at your disposal. How do you know what to price food

to remedy this issue. In the harsh and mountainous north they started a massive campaign to breed

then gives the criminals access to state sponsored distribution and protection and they give North

while the government tried to cover up the skyline dominating abandoned hotel using photoshop. These

The Great Famine

already crippled and because of extreme sancious placed on it from its nuclear weapons program

undergoing an apocalypse. Its people had no food, they had no freedom and they lived under a brutal

times. But as North Korea ruined their debt reputations in the 70s no nation was willing

and China was undergoing reforms now seeing North Korea as more of a nuisance than as an

Economic Envy

prosperous and united capitalist Korea on their doorstep and they also wanted to send a message to

After Stalin's death in 1953, the next in line Nikita Khrushchev took on De-stalinization reforms

This then leads us to the next major mistake. Insead of slowing down military spending,

Korea was split in half and now existed under polar opposite political ideologies;

when North Korea was building massive power plants to meet the energy goals laid out in the official

all at least partially funded by the Soviet Union but as the 80s wore on that fundly began to dry

The Liberation of Korea

How North Korea Still Exists

But those shrubs that the Goats quickly devoured held together the loose mountain soil during the

lives of their citizens, but reform and revolution of a dictatorship never ends well for the elites

rise to Socilist command economies, North Korea is the last remnant of that dying political system.

North Korea's Economic Golden Age

it made an international plea for aid to which it would receive. Despite receiving 70% of all needed

is school children being forced to harvest rice , and doubling of coal mining shifts in the 60s

it could not rely on trade. As a result North Korea did something it hated more than anything,

socialist states to feed and fund itself. But the world was changing rapidly, the Soviet Union

with the support of the Soviets and later the Chinese, launched an invasion in 1950.

over their population. North Korean leadership knows that reform will ultimately improve the

to which Stalin would often accept. But why? Initially it was quite simple. Korea was a

procure more food for the region. Within two years the goat population tripled.

and military building up. Due to the easing of cold war tensions in the 70s, western European

in the markets that emerged from the crisis in the 90s. North Korea and its leadership are

up, and all of North Korea's terrible mistakes were about to collapse the entire economy.

is said to be better than real dollars. It harbors international criminals and employs them, this

and previous loans were no longer being forgiven. Maybe most importantly, Russia was

North Korea: The Worst Place To Live in the World

mountain goats. Flush with the shrubs they graze upon it seemed like the perfect way to

could gain quick money by selling raw resources to them. Within two years after the war, the economy

its immediate industrial upper hand but its scarcity of food, and the worry that the South,

This new political dominance was rooted in the ideology of Juche which roughly translates to

it. “ North Korea had been virtually destroyed as an industrial society”

and just like in the aftermath of the Korean war, it was still heavily reliant on other

massive humanitarian crisis along their border and the nuclear crisis that would inevitably

Korea still exist? There are two things currently keeping North Korea still afloat. One means of

factory and 400 million from Japan for heavy plant equipment. In just 5 years North Korea took on

1.2 billion dollars of debt for which they had no capacity to pay back and they didn't. As a result,

matters even worse, under Japanese occupation, no Native Koreas held significant administering

a product of the last few decades. While North Korea and its tiny economy are now juxtaposed with

this had the added benefit of greater social control over the population.

for the North Korean regime as its grip on power could easily be broken if the North Koreans saw

was larger than it ever had been before and by the early 1960s it was producing exponentially more of