Whats Up With North Korea?
North Korea and the United States have been at odds for decades. Just where is this country and what is it all about? North Korea is, as its name suggests, on the northern half of the Korean Peninsula, which juts out into the sea off China. It is across the Pacific Ocean from the US. The country is officially known as The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, but there is nothing democratic about it. The leader, Kim Jong Il, is a brutal dictator who is carrying on many of the oppressive policies of the previous leader, his father Kim Il Sung. North Korea and its rival, South Korea, were once a united country under Japanese control in the early 1900s. After the United States and its allies defeated the Japanese in World War II, the US and Russia (one of its allies in the war) divided Korea temporarily with the idea that it would quickly become a united country again. But immediately after the war, the US and Russia became enemies and could not agree on a plan for Korea. As a result, th
