A Research On The Formulation Of North Korea’s Independent Defense Policy(1948-1969)

Since the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, North Korea(the DPRK) was a vassal state of China under the Zongfan system. It performed big ceremonies towards China and China would protect them from any forms of danger. From the Ming Dynasty to the mid-19th century, the DPRK was under Lee’s control and he has been attached to the Chinese defense system. In the late19th century, there were competitions among Western powers and they started to invade Asian countries including China and the DPRK. At this time, China had become a semi-colony and it could no longer ensure the security of its vassle state. As a result, the DPRK national defense experienced a hard time. In order to improve its national defense capabilities, Lee had led several military reforms. However, due to multiple international and domestic factors, reforms were ended with little success, and ultimately it became a colony of Japan. During the colonial period, the people of DPRK persisted in fighting Japanese soliders. However due to Japanese army’s brutal oppression and the split of anti-Japanese forces, its people failed to expel Japanese invaders using their own power. Although the DPRK’s discovery of independent defense in the early days did not succeed, the thought of independence had become popular in society in this process. National independence became the common pursuit of its people and they kept fighting Japanese occupants. The anti-Japanese revolutionary forces led by the independent army moving from China and continued to fight for its rights. During the recent decades, the DPRK has committed to establish an independent national defense system, but due to the impact of many international and domestic factors, it was not formally established until1960s.Self-defense was significant towards the DPRK since it is the foundation of an independent nation. After the Japanese surrendered, the newly established Korean defense forces were limited. Therefore, its policy of independent self-defense was not clearly stated. But in fact it had performed some practices relate to this ideology during this period. For example, the establishment of the national Army, reallocation of military resources, recovery of military commands and built a range of navy, arm and air force systems and other measures to improve its self-defense capability.In the1960s, the security environment of the DPRK changed dramatically. At an International level, the United States continued to increase its penetration in Asia. The relationship between the DPRK and the Soviet Union worsened. At a domestic level, it faced a serious economic crisis. The Labour Party of the country started to rise. With both internal and external difficulties, the DPRK leaders shifted its focus to foreign affairs and the self-defense. In1962, the DPRK established the independent defense policy. Under the guidance of this policy, it adopted a "military-first" method, built up its military force, sent troops to the Vietnam War and started the development of nuclear weapons and other measures. The shifted focus not only improved its international environment, but also succeeded to divert people’s attention to the United States and hence achieved its goals of appeasing the public. This will shape the unity of its people and thus consolidate its political aim.Although the DPRK has been committed to build an independent national defense force, its land area, military power and other practical factors demonstrate its self-defense limitations. Its national defense can-not be separated from the help of the Soviet Union and China and it is heaving affected by the competitions among powerful countries. It is hard to achieve the national defense independence among these countries.