Cultural Awareness on North Korea - Essay Example

In North Korea, communism has survived despite the fact that there are a significant number of implications. However, the people of North Korea can be defined to be of immeasurable beauty and culture. The paper aims to understand the manner in which North Korea as a nation defines itself as a dynamic world in terms of its cultural awareness.

Culture

Culture has defined the attribute of a particular group of people determined by all aspects including language, lifestyle, food, clothing, fashion, and religion among others. People in different communities have different culture although they also have some similarities. Culture is defined as the identity of a group of individuals who live in a particular geographical region.

Characteristics of a Culture

Culture is learned and neither created nor biological. A significant amount of culture is learned unconsciously. Culture is passed down from families, institutions, peer, as well as media. Culture is learned through a process known as enculturation. Through cross culture, human beings can meet their basic biological needs which include food, sex, and shelter. People undergo through conscious and unconscious periods that translate into beliefs that they deem to be valid.

Culture is shared with different members of the society who can act in ways that are socially acceptable and also foretell the way in which others will behave. Notwithstanding the aspect of culture being shared, it does not necessarily imply that culture is homogenous. There are various cultural worlds in any given society. Different cultures have different ways of life like clothing, food, music, and housing (Fahy, 2015).

Culture is founded on symbols. Different symbols are used to stand for other things. Symbols differ from one culture to another. Such symbols are only meaningful if the people involved in that culture concur on their application. One of the most important symbolic components of a culture is language. Language, money, and art are all symbols. Language is the most important symbolic element of culture. In North Korea, English is accepted as a national language, and everyone is expected to be able to speak.

Culture is integrated, and therefore it is known to be holistic and all inclusive as all its different parts are thoroughly interconnected. The various parts of the culture of North Korea are related to each other. For someone to comprehensively understand the culture, they must be ready to learn about all its parts and not only a few of them.

Culture is dynamic, and therefore it implies that culture change and interacts from time to time. As most of the cultures in North America are in constant interaction with other cultures, there is usually an exchange of symbols and ideas. Culture changes as if it was static there would be many issues in trying to adapt to the ever changing ecosystems. If there is a change in one of the components of culture, the rest of the other parts are also affected, and therefore equilibrium is required.

Common Culture Characteristics of Religion in North Korea

The primary religion in North Korea is Buddhism and Confucianism, but there has been a Christian minority. What is more is that there is no freedom of worship as it is organized and those people who are caught spreading religion in the country are severely punished. The most common culture characteristic of North Korea socialism is leadership that is founded by a cult. Virtuous, moral education in North Korea is allegorically arranged, with Kim II Sung and his ancestry as advocates. However, in North Korea, freedom of religion is rare. In the past, North Korea had many, and big hubs for Christianity as Christianity assumed a significant role in arranging the resistance against Japanese in the colonial period.

In the urban areas of North Korea, the terrain is complex and accompanied by many challenges. The landscape is natural but also has a manmade construction that allows room for military operations (Fahy, 2015). The first infrastructure in the country is the road system which is estimated to be about 30,000 Km. The main effect of the Korean War was that After the country was divided into North and South Korea whereby a communist regime was introduced in North Korea. In 1950, North Korea attacked South Korea with 75,000 soldiers.

Weather Analysis

North Korea is formally described to be a state that is independent socialist. The country boasts of having the highest number of paramilitary and military personnel with more than of 9,495,000 of them. The population of North Korea was estimated to be 25,155,317 in 2015 while the census that was carried out in 2008 indicated that the country had a total of 24,052,231 people.

There has been an increase in agricultural production in the country and by 2013; there was already stability of staple food in the country. Rice is the most important food crop followed by maize and other crops such as sorghum, millet and sugar beet.

The (NKPLF) North Korean Peoples Liberation Front is one of the organizations that tried to overthrow the government of Korea. The team is ever ready to provide to offer support for an insurgency against the regime of North Korea.

The country has been involved in illicit activities such as production and sale of illegal drugs, counterfeit goods such as cigarettes, and trafficking of arms. Moreover, there has been a significant number of human trafficking cases. For example, women and children have been smuggled into the country to be used for sex and forced labor.

Civil Consideration

Civil considerations comprise of six attributes which include areas, structures, capabilities, organizations, people, and events. These ASCOPE characteristics in collaboration with the urban environment offer a meaningful anatomy for intelligence workforce to start to concentrate in the intelligence preparation of the battlefield, (IPB).

The People of North Korea

The people of North Korea do not have freedom of movement as they are not allowed to leave the country without the permission from the regime. In case someone wants to travel to other regions in the country, they ought to have valid reasons (Kihl, 2015). North Koreans do not have freedom and right to information. Moreover, there is no freedom of speech in the country, and there is no free media.

Conclusion

As analyzed in the paper the cultural awareness of North Korea, it is quite explicit that the people of North Korea have a rich culture. As such, the country has various common characteristics of religion with Buddhism as the dominant religion. Also, North Korea has the five attributes of collaboration with its environment which are areas, structures, capabilities, organizations, people, and events.

References

Fahy, S. (2015). Marching through suffering: Loss and survival in North Korea. Columbia University Press. Retrieved from

https://books.google.co.ke/books?hl=en&lr=&id=0IAyBgAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR7&dq=References+Fahy,+S.+%282015%29.+Marching+through+suffering:+Loss+and+survival+in+North+Korea.+Columbia+University+Press.+&ots=8pr5c7Ast3&sig=rCctSggg31hOsnv_-E__3Iaw9tg&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false

Fahy, S. (2015). Marching through suffering: Loss and survival in North Korea. Columbia University Press. Retrieved from https://books.google.co.ke/books?hl=en&lr=&id=0IAyBgAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR7&dq=religion+in+north+korea&ots=8pr5c7Aus0&sig=Zt5UNDHPj3_92oDtRi6NJtTZHW4&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=religion%20in%20north%20korea&f=false

Kihl, Y. W. (2015). Transforming Korean politics: democracy, reform, and culture. Routledge. Retrieved from

https://books.google.co.ke/books?hl=en&lr=&id=IWqsBwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=Kihl,+Y.+W.+%282015%29.+&ots=jRMCHWOLc7&sig=N24EuAkBt60Fdi8irEtHALAMGvc&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false