Topic > North Korea and South Korea - 1745

Located between the East China Sea and the Sea of ​​Japan lies a country of growing social and economic prosperity accompanied by a rich and thriving sporting culture. This country is the Republic of Korea, more commonly known as South Korea. A nation starved by invasion and civil war, South Korea has emerged as a global player, embracing and emerging into global culture. It is not possible to study the historical and cultural characteristics related to the sports development of the Republic of Korea without first recognizing the tumultuous history of wars, divisions and invasions throughout the 20th century. We also need to take a look at the distinct relationship between it and North Korea and how the two sports cultures differ. North Korea, or the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), operates independently of South Korea, the Republic of Korea. North Korea operates as a communist country, while South Korea operates as a democratic society. North Korea currently acts according to the Juche policy. Juche politics became the official state ideology of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in 1972 (Lee, 2003, p. 105). In the words of Kim II Sung: “…Founding Juche means, in short, being the master of the revolution and reconstruction of one's country. This means maintaining an independent position, rejecting dependence on the sports governance structure and sports development in the Republic of Korea, using one's own brains, believing in one's own strengths, showing the revolutionary spirit of self-confidence, and thus solving one's own problems alone. under one's own responsibility in all circumstances…” (Lee, 2003, p. 105). Essentially, North Korea operates independently and, for half of the document… the World Cup period, attracting over 15 million visitors, including 800,000 foreign tourists (Dho, 2006, p. 139). Considering that it was the first FIFA World Cup ever held in Asia, the organization was practically flawless; critics who highlight the exceptional operation and design of the infrastructure (Dho, 2006, p. 140). Today, South Korea competes at the highest levels internationally and continues to thrive and be a nation of great pride and competition. The problems of the past have been overcome and a lot of it has to do with sport. Sports connects people and allows them to have mutual understanding instead of hostility caused by cultural differences (Kee Young, 2009, p.50). Sports exchange has been recognized as an effective means of exchange regardless of differences in politics, language and religion between nations (Kee Young, 2009, p. .46).