Military Parade, North Korea

The peninsula was governed by the Korean Empire until it was annexed by Japan following the Russo-Japanese War 1905. It was divided into Soviet and American occupied zones in 1945, following the end World War II. North Korea refused to participate in a United Nations–supervised election held in the south in 1948, which led to the creation separate Korean governments for the two occupation zones. Both North and South Korea claimed sovereignty over the Korean Peninsula as a whole, which led to the Korean War 1950. A 1953 armistice ended the fighting; however, the two countries are ficially still at war with each other, as a peace treaty was never signed. Both states were accepted into the United Nations in 1991. On May 26, 2009, North Korea unilaterally withdrew from the armistice.
North Korea is a single-party state under a united front led by the Korean Workers' Party (KWP). The country's government follows the Juche ideology self-reliance, developed by the country's former President, Kim Il-Sung. After his death, Kim Il-Sung was declared to be the country's Eternal President. Juche became the ficial state ideology when the country adopted a new constitution in 1972, though Kim Il-sung had been using it to form policy since at least as early as 1955. Officially a socialist republic, many media organizations outside North Korea report that it is a totalitarian Stalinist dictatorship. Kim Jong-il and Kim Il-sung have constructed around them a cult personality. It is reported as having one the world's worst human rights records. After the collapse the Soviet Union and a series natural disasters, a famine occurred, causing the death 900,000 to 2 million people. Due to the government's secretive nature and its reluctance to allow in foreigners, North Korea is today considered the world's most isolated country. It is a nuclear weapons state and one the world's most militarized nation. The current secretary the KWP Central Committee Secretariat and leader the armed forces is Kim Jong-il, son Kim Il-sung.
Kim Jong-il (also written as Kim Jong Il, Korean: 김정일, Hanja: 金正日; born 16 February 1941) is the de facto leader the Democratic People's Republic Korea (most commonly known as North Korea); the ficial leader the country is still his long-deceased father Kim Il-sung, the founder North Korea. He is the Chairman the National Defense Commission, General Secretary the Workers' Party Korea, the ruling party since 1948, and the Supreme Commander the Korean People's Army, the fourth largest standing army in the world. In April 2009, North Korea's constitution was amended and now implicitly refers to him as the "Supreme Leader". He is also referred to as the "Dear Leader", "our Father", "the General" and "Generalissimo". His son Kim Jong-un was promoted to a senior position in the ruling Worker's Party and is heir apparent.