Since 1990's, North Korea has been confronted with serious crises in domestic and foreign affairs. However, North Korea in the center of economic and international crises has been stabilized gradually the present critical phases through the 'Militarizing State', a kind of crisis management system. North Korea was able to maintain his society at large through 'the policy of giving priority to army' and 'the powerful nation' in political level, 'quasi-military mobilization' in social level, and the negotiation of nuclear weapons and missiles in external level.
A crisis management system, what we call the 'Militarizing State', is not a passing phenomenon. Although, 'Militarizing State' has been to be a sinking and floating to the each situation, this was a product resulting from the continuous and structural process of a self-reproduciton since the Korean War. From the Korean War to the 1960's was a very important period which North Korea started to militarization. At the same time, the militarization has been formed a partly self-reproduction system in the social area.
This work starts with focusing how the 'Militarizing State' began in the historical experience. The North Korea had a special historical experience, what we called, the 'Anti Japanese Guerrilla Brigade' and the 'Korean War'. Also, in the international condition, especially the division of the Korean peninsula itself and strongly perpetuated division structure operated upon the 'Militarizing State' as a structural background.
However, the most important affecting background was a domestic factor in the formative process of 'militarization'. The North Korea was aggressive in pursuing the 'Militarizing State' system as a implement for the maintenance and stability of political power and that was actively called out as a implement of social, economic mobilization. To be brief, the instability of political, social, economic affairs in the 1950's~1960's had been solved by the 'Militarizing State' and the framework of North Korea system was formed in this period.
With the historical and external background of the formation of the 'Militarizing State', it was entered a full-scale formative process in political, social and economic level by the North Korea government after the Korean War. The process was gone on through the influence of Chinese Army's retreat, the unification of the party and the military, and the solution of military firm group affair in the political level.
In the social level, it was made through calling the 'Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Brigade', the spread of military culture, military mobilization of the society through the veterans, the establishment of Military Committee in local units, and the formation of military social order such as 'the Worker-Peasant Red Guards' and 'Four Military Lines'.
'Militarizing State', in the economic level, went on through 'National Defence and Economy Proceeding Together Lines', the spread of economic system by the military method.
For the reasons stated above, we come to the following some serious distinctions. First distinction is the unification of political party(Ro-Dong Dang) and military. The role of military in political sphere became stronger by the unification centered on Kim Il Sung and his fellows. In this process, political foundation for the 'Militarizing State' was strengthened.
The second distinction is the infiltration of military into society and the militerization of society. The North Korea's nation system was translated into a structure in which a military culture and military behavior directly affected a society. In response to this, the society accepted this situation and produced a self-military reproductive structure. Of course, that was not voluntary, but North Korea government was able to get a social agreement by a kind of the compulsion resulted from the consciousness of crisis in the domestic and foreign affairs.
Also, the hierarchial order system is one of the main distinction of the 'Militarizing State'. In North Korea, all aspects of the society was translated into the militarization, therefore the quasi-military life and economy controled the society. The terms of 'troop' and 'battle' affected all over the social life and became a main mode of life socio-economically. And the mode of guerrilla affected all over the society too, so that the social and economical spheres was translated into the hierarchial order system.
The fourth distinction is the generalization of military work-mobilization. The mobilization style was based on the emphasis on national crisis, the urge of people's chauvinism and hate against their enemy, and unification-solidarity centered on Kim II Sung Su-ryoung. The process had a resemblance to the military hierarchial order system and mobilization style.
Finally, North Korea, through the power concentration from above and the mass-movements from below, built up the particular unification between party and military, and its reproduction structure, which was founded on 'Man-Ju Pa'. The interdependence between party and military was realized in this process, thus the military system was concreted to the four corners of the North Korea society.
The tendency toward the 'Militarizing State' in North Korea is not a passing phenomenon but a historical result, that is originated from the 1950's-1960's. In North Korea, the 'Militarizing State' was reproduced and intensified during the crisis period since the 1990's.
In the end, the most important question in this study is whether the existing military tendencies in the North Korea, the 'Militarizing State', are preserved and developed, or not. After the 1990's, North Korea has made an effort to overcome their domestic and external crisis and to stabilize domestic affairs, specially economic crisis, through the 'Militarizing State' that called out 'the policy of giving priority to army' and 'the powerful nation'.
The ultimate object of the 'Militarizing State' is strengthen the control over the political, economic, and social affairs to overcome domestic and external crises. Considering North Korea's domestic and foreign aspects, the trend of the 'Militarizing State', if epoch-making changes in economic aspect are not occurred, is going to be continued.
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