A riddle wrapped in an enigma: North Korea is an isolated, poor, and cultish society. Its recent attempts to reform have been stymied--not least by its admission that it has a nuclear-weapons program.

PYONGYANG, North Korea--When our plane landed here in North Korea's capital, there were no other jets in sight. A huge portrait of the nation's founder, Kim Il Sung, stared out from atop the airport's musty terminal. A tour bus with government-appointed guides met us at the foot of the plane. The ride down a broad, empty road toward the city's center was eerily quiet.

We passed monument after monument to Kim Il Sung and his son, Kim Jong Il, the short, pudgy leader with a bouffant hairdo who took the reins of power after his father's death in 1994. The father-and-son dynasty has ruled this nation disastrously for more than half a century, imposing on it a hardline brand of Communism.

As we drove, I asked my official guide, Sim Mo, how far the airport was to downtown. "It takes about 30 minutes," she said. Then she added, "Oh, that could confuse a foreigner, because in other countries they have traffic."

Welcome to North Korea, one of the world's most troubling dictatorships. This country of 22 million people relies heavily on international food aid to feed its starving people. Yet it spends heavily to maintain an army of about 1 million people and a weapons program that has led to the country's inclusion in President George W. Bush's "axis of evil." Kim Il Sung, enshrined in statues and images everywhere, is regarded as a deity (he is known as "Great Leader"; his son took on the title "Dear Leader"). And for decades, North Korea has been one of the world's most isolated societies.

"It's kind of like a medieval kingdom, with Kim Jong Il deciding just about everything," says Ralph Hassig, co-author of North Korea Through the Looking Glass. "If I had to sum up the whole country in one word, I think `stifling' would be it."

ATTEMPTS TO OPEN UP AND REFORM

A summit meeting here in September between the reclusive Kim and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi was intended to mark North Korea's opening up to the outside world. Though neighbors, Japan and North Korea have never had diplomatic relations; indeed, North Korea had few ties with any economically advanced democracies until recently.

Soon after the meeting with Koizumi, North Korea made a spectacular announcement: It planned to open a large, capitalist-style industrial zone in the north of the country, on the border with China. The announcement seemed to indicate further dramatic economic reforms, similar to the liberalization policies that China adopted, starting in the late 1970s, to transform that country from a stagnant, Communist backwater to one of the world's most dynamic economies.

But the months since then have seen nothing but setbacks to North Korea's plans. Confronted by American officials in early October, it acknowledged that it has a nuclear-weapons program (and even hinted that it could have other weapons of mass destruction). This revelation--a clear violation of nuclear arms-control agreements negotiated with the United States in 1994--sharply increased tensions between North Korea, its neighbors (particularly Japan and South Korea), and the United States, which maintains about 37,000 troops in South Korea.

In response, the U.S. asked South Korea and Japan to impose economic sanctions on North Korea to encourage it to abandon its nuclear ambitions and open its facilities to international inspection. Both countries agreed to suspend oil shipments to North Korea.

That has been hard on a country already in desperate economic shape. North Korea's economy began a catastrophic decline in the late 1980s, with the demise of the Soviet Union and the other Communist countries in Eastern Europe that were its major trading partners. For decades, much of North Korea's trade with them and the rest of the outside world had involved bartered exchanges of raw materials or simple manufactured goods, in return for fuel, fertilizer, and industrial goods.

ROADS WITHOUT CARS, NO ELECTRICITY

At the same time, North Korea has suffered from a cycle of disastrous droughts and floods that led to massive crop failures and widespread famine. By some international estimates, as many as 2 million people have died of starvation over the last decade. Unable to afford either fuel or spare parts to keep its industries running, the country's factories are thought to operate at 10 percent of capacity or less.

"There is nothing that isn't out of date in this country," says James E. Hoare, a British diplomat in Pyongyang. "The trolley buses are out of China, the trains from East Germany. The wires in the electrical grid are all iron, and they are brittle and breaking all the time."

The effects of the economic collapse are obvious. There are almost no cars on the country's roads, even its biggest highways. Because of power shortages, electricity is turned off in most of Pyongyang at night, and the sky over the capital is an inky black--like a city observing a blackout for fear of air raids.

Until recently, American oil shipments supplied as much as 15 percent of North Korea's energy. The oil was considered vital for heating homes during the long, brutally cold winters. Suspension of those supplies to force the abandonment of the country's nuclear program will cause additional hardships that American officials hope will prompt North Korea to reconsider its policies.

JUST AS THINGS WERE LOOKING UP ...

Ironically, this recent unraveling of North Korea's relations with the outside world came just as the country seemed on the verge of finally normalizing relations with Japan, which held out the promise of large-scale economic assistance. South Korea, too, had been pressing hard for closer ties. In fact, South Korean President Kim Dae Jung won a Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts toward reconciling the two countries, which were one nation until just after World War II (see "North vs. South," page 19).

As a condition for establishing diplomatic ties, Japan's principal demand was that North Korea account for 11 Japanese citizens who had disappeared beginning in 1977, and had long thought to be victims of North Korean kidnappings (see "Kidnapped!" page 17). During the summit meeting with Koizumi, Kim not only acknowledged the kidnappings, but said the actual number of abducted Japanese was 13. Most were said to have died, but the explanations given were so implausible that many Japanese were angered.

Meanwhile, the plans for a new economic zone that were announced with great fanfare have also fizzled. North Korea chose one of China's wealthiest businessmen, Yang Bin, to administer the new capitalist-style business zone. But the North Koreans had apparently not Consulted with China, their most sympathetic neighbor. As it turned out, the Chinese authorities had placed Yang under house arrest for suspected real estate fraud and tax evasion.

Suddenly, North Korea finds itself with fewer, rather than more friends in the world.

Economic Koreas Compared

NORTH KOREA                                  SOUTH KOREA

22.2 million        POPULATION               48.3 million
      $1,000   GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT        $18,000
                    per person *
         36%   LABOR FORCE AGRICULTURE         9.5%
         64%   LABOR FORCE NON-AGRICULTURE   industry: 21.5%
                                             services: 69%
 1.1 million     TELEPHONE LINES IN USE      24 million
           1   INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDERS    11
       1,241     MILES OF PAVED HIGHWAYS     40,630
                                             including 1,240 miles
                                             of expressways

NORTH KOREA: RIDDLE IN ENIGMA > INTERNATIONAL

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

* Why do you think North Korea hinted that it has other weapons of mass destruction, in addition to its nuclear weapons?

* Many American veterans of the Korean War say theirs is the forgotten war. Were you aware of the extent of the war before reading this article?

TEACHING OBJECTIVES

To help students understand North Korea, specifically why the U.S. believes this isolated,,destitute Communist dictatorship poses a threat to peace.

CLASSROOM STRATEGIES

BEFORE READING: Ask: What might life in the U.S. be like if time had frozen in, say, the 1930s? If newspapers, television, and radio were tightly controlled by government? How would all of this affect Americans' view of the world?

TEACH THE COVER: What impression, or message, does the photo of North Korean officials bowing to the statue of founder Kim II Sung convey? Tell students that Kim was addressed as "Great 'Leader" and his son, Kim Jong II, is known as "Dear Leader."

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: After students read the article, ask them to briefly summarize their impressions of North Korea. What one or two words would they choose to describe life there?

CRITICAL THINKING/DISCUSSION: Next, examine some of the specifics reported in the article. Ask students to speculate on why North Korea, though long isolated and rigidly self-reliant, suddenly switched gears and announced plans to open a capitalist-style industrial zone. Did Kim Jong Il finally conclude that something had to be done to pull his country up from the depths of poverty? Why would North Korea endanger its vital fuel supplies by breaking the agreement with the U.S. not to develop nuclear weapons? Ask: Should the U.S., South Korea, and Japan impose economic sanctions if these will hurt only ordinary North Koreans, who are already suffering?

CARTOON CRITIQUE: Refer to the "Fat, Man," "Little Boy" cartoon on page 30. Tell students that the cartoonist is referring to the names given to the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Is this an accurate depiction of Kim Jong Il and Saddam Hussein?

WEB WATCH: North Korea's official Web site, www.korea-DPR.com/, offers a heavily censored view of life in that nation. Go to "Links," then "Korean Central News Agency" for daily news from Kim Jong IIs perspective.

Upfront QUIZ 2

FILL IN THE BLANK

DIRECTIONS: Write the correct answer on the line provided.

1. President Bush has included North Korea in a list of countries he refers to as the "axis of--."

2. In October, North Korea acknowledged that it was developing -- in violation of an agreement it had made in 1994. (two words)

3. The U.S. asked -- and --, both close U.S. allies, to join in a campaign of economic sanctions directed against North Korea.

4. North Korea's economic, slide began in the late 1980s, with the collapse of the -- and other Communist countries in Eastern Europe, with which it had major trading relations.

5. After North Korea's trading troubles came calamity in the form of horrible weather, including droughts and --, which led to crop failures and famine.

6. Severe shortages of fuel and spare parts have taken a toll on North Korea's --, which are estimated to operate at only about 10 percent or less of capacity.

7. One of the most bizarre episodes in North Korean history was the -- of 13 Japanese citizens in the late 1970s, something the North Koreans only recently admitted.

8. The Korean War had its roots in the end of World War II, when the country was split in two. The -- controlled the North, and the U.S. dominated the South.

9. North Korea believed the U.S. would not intervene to prevent its invasion of South Korea. But U.S. President -- sent troops to Korea almost immediately.

10. The American troops were part of a -- force, which had small contingents from 15 other countries. (two words)

11. --, North Korea's Communist ally, sent 300,000 troops to push back the U.S.-led force.

12. Twice during the Korean War, Communist forces pushed south, occupying the South Korean capital of --.

ANSWER KEY

1. evil

2. nuclear weapons

3. Japan/South Korea

4. Soviet Union

5. floods

6. factories

7. kidnapping

8. Soviet Union

9. Harry Truman

10. United Nations

11. China

12. Seoul

RELATED ARTICLE: Kidnapped! North Korea's efforts to make up with Japan are complicated by its abduction of several Japanese 25 years ago.

By Patricia Smith

Nineteen-year-old Hitomi Soga was shopping for groceries with her mother when she was grabbed by North Korean agents, stuffed Into a bag, and spirited away  by boat to North Korea. That was in August 1978.

Saga, now 43, was one of 13 Japanese citizens kidnapped by North Korea between 1977 and 1983 and forced to teach that country's spies Japanese language and customs. Twenty-five years later, North Korean leader Kim Jong II has admitted responsibility for the kidnappings as part of an effort to normalize relations with Japan. Along with Kim's revelation, however, came the grim announcement that eight of the missing Japanese citizens were long deed.

The Japanese have found North Korea's explanations of how those eight died unconvincing. North Korea claims that one woman died of heart disease at age 27; that another, kidnapped at age 13, hanged herself when she was 29; that a family of three died from gas poisoning at home; and that, In a country where car ownership is restricted to the top elite, two abductees died in a car accident. In another case, a kidnapped couple died on the same day, suggesting to many Japanese that they were executed.

After admitting its guilt, North Korea allowed five surviving abductees to return to Japan in October to visit their families for the first time in a quarter century. They have discovered a Japan where eight-track tapes have been replaced by CDs, where black hair and green tea have given way to dyed hair and gourmet coffee, and whore social lives now revolve around cell phones and the Internet.

North Korea did not allow them to bring along their children, most of whom are studying at elite universities in Pyongyang. Now the visits, initially intended to last two weeks, have turned into another bone of contention between the two countries.

Japan says it will encourage the returnees to stay permanently, and has asked North Korea to allow their spouses and children to join them in Japan. North Korea has angrily accused Japan of breaking their agreement, and has threatened to call off further talks on unifying the separated families.

Even if North Korea decides to cooperate, a new life in Japan may be impossible for at least one of the abductees. Saga, who was kidnapped as a teenager, later married her English teacher, Charles Robert Jenkins. In a truth-is-stranger-than-fiction twist, it turns out that Jenkins is a former American soldier believed to have deserted the Army and defected to North Korea In 1965. He faces arrest if he leaves North Korea.

With reporting by Howard W. French and James Brooke of The New York Times.

RELATED ARTICLE: North vs. south.

About 30 miles north of Seoul, the South Korean capital, a three-mile-wide swath of barbed wire, fences, and land mines cuts the Korean peninsula in two. This is the so-called Demilitarized Zone, or DMZ, that divides North and South Korea, and It is the legacy of the Korean War.

The Korean War had its roots in the end of World War II, in 1945, when Korea was divided roughly in half, with the Soviet Union controlling North Korea and the U.S. dominating the South.

Five years later, North Korea, believing that the U.S. would not defend the South, invaded. WIthin the first week, North Korea had captured a huge portion of the South, including Seoul. President Harry S. Truman ordered troops to Korea and persuaded the United Nations to condemn the Invasion. Eventually, the U.S. contributed 500,000 soldiers to a UN force, which had small contingents from 15 other countries.

The UN force pushed the North Koreans back to their borders. But when the forces pushed deep into North Korean territory, China, North Korea's Communist ally, sent 300,000 troops to aid the North Koreans. The Communist forces then marched back into South Korea and retook Seoul. Eventually, the Communists were driven back to the 38th parallel--the original dividing line. This is the DMZ today.

"We considered the Korean War a victory because we rolled back Communism," says Professor Michael Robinson of Indiana University. "But that obscures the absolute catastrophe that it was for the Koreans."

It was one of the bloodiest wars in history. More than 5 million people, including 36,516 Americans, were killed. An estimated 3.5 million of the dead were noncombatants. The Korean War ended on July 27, 1953, in a truce; but to this day, no peace agreement has ever been reached.

HOWARD W. FRENCH is the Tokyo bureau chief for The New York Times. Additional reporting by PATRICIA SMITH.