North Korea South Korea

391 Words2 Pages
North Korea and South Korea are located in the Korean Peninsula. These two countries used to be one up until 1945 after the defeat of Japan who controlled Korea during World War II. Korean troops north of the 38th parallel were instructed to surrender to the Soviets while Koreans troops in the south were instructed to surrender to the United States. After many efforts for unification in 1948 they separated, and the Republic of Korea (South Korea) and the People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) were formed. ALTHOUGH THEY SHARE MANY SIMILARITIES, THEY ARE DIFFERENT IN MANY ASPECTS. THE FIRST AND BIGGEST DIFFERENCE BETWEEN NORTH KOREA AND SOUTH KOREA IS THEIR GOVERNMENT. North Korea is ruled by a communist government while South Korea is a democracy. The government in North Korea commands and dictates almost every part of the country’s economy. It also claims that they are a classless society, but in reality the citizens are divided into ranks according to their family history. In addition, North Korea is one of the poorest and least developed countries in the world. Most people suffer from starvation and live very poorly. On the other hand, living in South Korea is very similar to living in the United States. The citizens are not controlled by the government and they are free to live a normal life. South Korea is a high income developed country. Their market economy is ranked number 15th in the world by nominal GDP. ANOTHER DIFFERENCE BETWEEN NORTH KOREA AND SOUTH KOREA IS MARRIAGE. In North Korea, society only allows marriage between people in the same socio economic class. In South Korea, the citizens are free to marry the person they love. Arranged marriages are somewhat common and they are called “seon”. Lastly, they also have what are called “matchmakers” in which a family presents their son or daughter to a matchmaker to analyze their resume and
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