North Korea and Cuba are two of the five current communist ruling states, also known as the Ruling parties of Socialist states. North Korea is under the rule of Kim Jung Il, a strong communist leader since 1994. He succeeded his father, Kim Il- Sung, when he died in 1994 after his rule for 50 years of communism. Cuba is ruled by Fidel Castro, who overthrew Fulgencio Batista in 1959 during the Cuban revolution. Castro has been president since 1976 and still hold strong to his communistic ways. Both countries have held a communist party in control for more than 50 years, Cuba starting in the Early 1920’s and North Korea in the late 1940’s. Therefore they have entire generations of families that have lived in a socialistic/communist way of governing. Consequently, many similarities and differences exsist within the goverenment, its people, the culture, economics, and foreign relations.( Malici)
Cuba’s communist party, also known as the Communist Party of Cuba, is currently the only political party permitted to assemble or engage in any political activity in Cuba. It operates on a Marxist-Leninist model. The present Cuban constitution ascribes the role of the Party to be the “leading force of society and of the state”. North Korea’s communist party, known as the ruling party of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), commonly known as North Korea. It is also called the Korean Workers’ Party (KWP).
The Essay on Cuba 3
Cuba is the largest island in the west Indies. It is south of Florida and east of Yucatan peninsula. The island of Cuba is about 760 mi. (1225 km.), from Cabo De San Antonio to Cabo Maisi. The total area is about 44,218 mi.(114,524 sq. km). About !/4 of Cuba is mountains and hills.The rest is mainly flat or rolling terrain. The mountains are all over Cuba. The main mountain ranges of Cuba are the ...
The KWP has been the ruling party in North Korea since 1948, and has had only two leaders, Kim Il-sung (1945-1994) and his son, Kim Jong-il (since 1997, when he officially took over as general secretary).
The party is widely viewed by foreigners as Stalinist and is the closest thing to a traditional Stalinist ruling party in the world today. However, the WPK claims to have its own distinct ideology (Juche),or self-reliance, which it considers to be superior to Marxism-Leninism. Though both countries are communist and follow traditional Soviet-style politics, North Korea differs a great deal in a number of aspects ranging from structure, size, and idealogy. Cuba has a membership of 750,000 after the Fifth Party Congress of 1997 while North Korea has 160 Central Committee members and 143 Central Committee (alternate) canidates. These members have essential and important duties to fulfill for the state and it’s communistic growth. (Malici)
Not much is known on what actually goes on within the country of North Korea because their relation with other countries in limited. What we technically do know is extremely limited and biased because of the information coming out the country. North Korea tends to only work with other communist countries such as, Laos, Vietnam, China, and Cuba. The UN does not even recognize North Korea as a functioning country because of its beliefs in non-western ideals, morals, and overall management. Unlike the other communist countries, North Korea uses methods that are inhumane and cruel to their people. For example, the limiting of food resulting in the starvation of most of the country exceeds the laws of other countries and human rights.
Cuba, however, strives to strengthen its people and economy in comparison to the rest of world, all under Fidel Castro’s communist party. Fidel Castro follows a Marx-Lenin view while regulating politics and society. On the other hand, Kim Jung-Il made this statement regarding his country’s way of governing, “We could not literally accept the Marxist theory which had been advanced on the premises of the socio-historic conditions of the developed European capitalist countries, or the Leninist theory presented in the situation of Russia where capitalism was developed to the second grade. We had had to find a solution to every problem arising in the revolution … from the standpoint of Juche”.
The Essay on Why North Korea Should Stop It Nuclear Weapons Program
Decision The U.S. should take a diplomatic approach to stop North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. If the U.S. uses the hard-line approach, there is a bigger risk of North Korea attacking the U.S. in revenge and killing thousands of people. The diplomatic approach on the other hand would allow both countries to agree on a solution that can make everyone happy within reason. The U.S. and North ...
North Korea and Cuba both heavily depended on the former Soviet Union. From trade such as food, textiles, and clothing but more importantly oil. When the Soviet Union split, their entire resource base for fossil fuels was shut off and many people suffered. North Korea was an industrialized nation at the time while Cuba was mainly agriculturally based. Because of this Cuba was able to bounce back more quickly and efficiently than the industrious North Korea. North Korea saw this and then turned to their agriculture to increase energy and food throughout the country. Thus, North Korea seeing this positive rebound Cuba underwent, Kim Jung Il changed how his country produced the necessities needed to keep some sort of society. (Allen)
As we all know, North Korea’s nuclear program is puzzling. Due to a recent test of a nuclear bomb underground, North Korea has been in the spot light resulting in the punishments on trade and travel from the UN and threats from other countries. There is UN treaty that bans the test of nuclear bombs, but North Korea not being a member, there is assumption that they are exempt. This is what UN officials are having trouble with, starting with simply communicating with Kim Jung and North Korea. On the other hand, Cuba developed its nuclear program for gains in energy for the large island. Fidel Castro hopes that the sole purpose of its nuclear program for producing energy will strengthen the U.S – Cuba relationship. (Benjamin) Therefore, the two countries obviously have different intended usage, one for the better of foreign relations while the others intentions are unknown at the moment. (Price)
In conclusion, North Korea and Cuba differentiate from one another on similar issues. Issues such as communism, with Cuba following a strict Marx-Lenin model while North Korea being ruled by its own distinct ideology, Juche. Other issues include their political structure, freedom of its people, and nuclear program. Both countries, however, have experienced a similar massive decline in imports and fossil fuels, during the fall of the Soviet Union. Both collectively learned and adapted to the modern world while still holding true to its one true belief, communism.
The Term Paper on South Korea’s Policy towards North Korea
The purpose of this essay to address issues concerned with foreign policy of one state over another. In this paper the main concern is South Korea’s policy toward North Korea with emphasis on brief history of past and present foreign policy. A brief description of the Korean government gives clarifications about historical and cultural highlights. The Korean Peninsula was initially populated by ...
References
Allen Pfeiffer Dale “Drawing Lessons from Experience; The Agricultural Crises in North
Korea and Cuba — Part 1″ November 17 2004
Benjamin-Alvarado Jonathan “Cuba’s Nuclear Program: A Hollow Threat?” October 1998
Malici Akan, “The Operational Codes of Fidel Castro and Kim Il- Sung: The Last Cold Warriors?” Nov 3. 2005 Arizona State University
Price Wayne “North Korea and the Threat of Nuclear Extermination” NEFAC October 22 2006