“Juche” Government While countries in today's world are becoming increasingly globalized, one country, North Korea, has remained and moved in the complete opposite direction since it was divided into 1948. North Korea, described by many as a totalitarian Stalinist dictatorship but is officially considered a "socialist republic" state, is one of five remaining communist states and one of only two remaining countries that have an almost entirely planned state by government, state-owned economy. For example, “economic plans in North Korea are developed, supervised and implemented under the unitary system centered on the State Planning Committee and passed down to the provincial, municipal and district levels to factories and small businesses. Each region has a Provincial General Industry Office that handles all production, sales and resource management” (Joon). The reason North Korea is one of the few governments to still have a fully state-owned economy is that the political ideology of a “Juche” government created by Kim II Sung, former prime minister, whose term “Juche ” means “self-sufficiency”. This means that almost everything they do is based on themselves. They produce their own crops, use their own natural resources, etc. This type of isolationism has led North Korea's foreign policy to be minimal towards other countries. In fact, the only strong relationships North Korea has are with China and Russia, but more recently it has only been strong with China. “China's share of North Korea's foreign trade rose to 73 percent in 2008, up from 33 percent in 2003. China also provides about half of the aid the North receives, as well as vital energy supplies” (Richardson). However, North Korea is for...... middle of the document ......ww.csmonitor.com/2004/1202/p11s01-trgn.html>.5.) Joon. Local factories in North Korea. 14 March 2002. 30 March 2011 .6.) Thatcher. Text of North Korea's statement. 25 May 2010. 30 March 2011 .7.) Economic and Social Department: Statistics Division. 2005. 30 March 2011 .8.) Economic and Social Department: Statistics Division. 2005. March 30, 2011 .9.) Calder. Geopolitics in Northeast Asia. 2004. March 30, 2011 .10.) Merriam-Webster. 2011. March 30 2011 .