The two Koreas: A land divided; separated for nearly 60 years, North and South Korea are worlds apart. (World).

Everything changed one night last August for 14-year-old Choi Soo-hyang (cha-way sue-he-ong). That's when her parents led her and her younger sister from their home in Sinuiju (shin-ya-joo), North Korea, a city near the Chinese border.

"I knew something was happening," Soo-hyang told JS. (Koreans say their family names first.) But she didn't know what until her family crammed into a small fishing boat with 17 relatives.

After two days at sea, the group arrived in South Korea. In Seoul (sole), the country's capital, Soo-hyang and her family got a lot of attention. North and South Korea have been separated since 1945, and the defection (leaving a place or situation) of 21 people was the largest ever by boat.

When she lived in the North, Soo-hyang got up at around 6:30 a.m. and ate a breakfast of rice and soup. At school she studied math, music, biology, and Russian. She also had classes called "Dear General's Childhood" and "Respected Great General's Childhood," which were about North Korea's current leader, Kim Jong Il, and his father, Kim Il Sung, who ruled the country from 1948 until his death in 1994.

One of Soo-hyang's classroom tasks was to clean pictures of the two leaders. "I was really nervous when I cleaned the frames," she says. "I was very careful not to break them."

In North Korea, which is slightly smaller than Mississippi, Kim long Il and his father are treated almost like gods. Even though much of the world has a low opinion of the North Korean government, many citizens remain loyal to their leaders.

Most North Koreans don't know anything else. During 50 years of Communist rule, the country has remained closed to the outside world. Radios and TVs are built so that they receive only government-controlled stations. The government also publishes all newspapers and magazines, and no one except top leaders can use the Internet or travel abroad.

According to recent reports, most North Koreans do not have heat, clean water, or even soap. Worst of all, many people do not get enough to eat. In the mid 1990s, famine killed more than 1 million North Koreans, and many children still suffer from malnutrition and disease.

When Soo-hyang got to Seoul, she was surprised at South Korea's wealth. In the North, she had been told that the South was poor. But many of her new classmates have cell phones and wear brand-name clothes. In fact, South Koreans earn 17 times more money than North Koreans do.

A Different World

Lee Yungoo (yoon-goo), 15, lives with his parents, sister, and dog--a schnauzer--in one of Seoul's many large apartment buildings. His father is a professor, and his mother works for a global insurance company.

Academic competition in Seoul is fierce, so Yungoo takes extra classes and usually studies until after midnight. But Yungoo and his friends find time to play computer games and go to the movies. They recently saw Catch Me If You Can.

Yungoo, who wears Nike sneakers and FUBU clothes, became interested in soccer last year when the World Cup was held in South Korea and Japan. "It was a big festival," Yungoo recalls. "Even our exams were put off."

A Nation Divided

The Korean Peninsula was divided after World War II (1939-1945). In June 1950, North Korea attacked the South. The U.S. and other United Nations (UN) countries sent soldiers to help South Korea fight Communist forces. The U.S. entered the Korean War because many Americans feared the spread of Communism.

By October 1950, it seemed that South Korea would win the war. But then China sent troops to help the North, and the conflict developed into a stalemate (deadlock). In 1953, both sides signed an armistice (agreement to stop fighting). But they have never signed a permanent peace treaty.

The border between North and South, called the Demilitarized Zone, lies near the 38th parallel. It is the world's most heavily guarded border, with nearly 2 million soldiers stationed in the area--including 37,000 U.S. troops on the South's side. The U.S. has kept forces there since 1953, to prevent the North from attacking.

Now the U.S. and South Korea have other concerns. Last October, the North admitted to developing a secret nuclear-weapons program despite a 1994 pact (agreement) with the U.S. (see "A Nuclear North Korea, "Nov. 15, 2002). To pressure North Korea to halt its program, the U.S. and its allies cut off fuel deliveries to the impoverished nation.

The North then expelled UN weapons inspectors and withdrew from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, under which it had promised not to build nuclear bombs.

U.S. intelligence officials say that North Korea has developed missiles capable of striking the Western U.S. And earlier this month, a North Korean fighter jet intercepted an unarmed U.S. spy plane in international airspace near North Korea's coast.

In response, the U.S. sent B-52 and B-1 bombers within range of North Korea "as a prudent measure to bolster our defensive posture," according to a Pentagon spokesman. Some people believe that North Korea presents a greater threat to world peace and U.S. safety than Iraq.

Looking Ahead

Soo-hyang feels terrible when she thinks about North Korea and all of its problems. She recently dreamed about her friends there. In the dream, she recalls, "they were disappointed with me because I left without saying goodbye."

Like Koreans on both sides of the border, Soo-hyang and Yungoo hope that North and South Korea will be peacefully reunified. When that day comes, Soo-hyang would like to see her friends again.

Yungoo would also like to travel to the North. Although he worries that North Koreans are very different from himself, he hopes to make new friends there.

"I think we'll all get along," he says.

Your Turn: THINK ABOUT IT

What should the U.S. do to stop North Korea from developing nuclear weapons?

RELATED ARTICLE: NORTH AND SOUTH KOREA

The Korean Peninsula is divided into two countries. Communist North Korea is ruled by a one-man dictatorship. In democratic South Korea, the people elect their leaders. The South is much more prosperous than the North, where many people have died from famine in recent years.

FACTS TO KNOW NORTH KOREA

AREA: 46,541 square miles.

POPULATION: 23,200,000; 59% urban.

GOVERNMENT: Communist one-party state; Kim Jong Il has been General Secretary since 1994.

ECONOMY: North Korea's government-planned economy faces desperate economic conditions. Its people have suffered through years of food shortages because of drought, a shortage of arable land, and poor planning.

PER CAPITA GDP: $1,000.

SOUTH KOREA

AREA: 38,324 square miles.

POPULATION: 48,400,000; 79% urban.

GOVERNMENT: Presidential-parliamentary democracy. President Roh Moo-hyun was inaugurated on February 25, 2003.

ECONOMY: Farmland and industry are privately owned, but close cooperation between the government and business has produced a booming economy.

PER CAPITA GDP: $16,100.

QUESTIONS

1. North and South Korea form what type of geographical feature?

2. North Korea is how many square miles larger than South Korea?

3. Which country has the larger population?

4. What separates North and South Korea?

5. What is the capital of North Korea?

6. What is the capital of South Korea?

7. What city is located nearest to 40[degrees]N, 125[degrees]E?

8. What is the distance in kilometers from Seoul to Pyongyang?

9. What are the causes of the recent famine in North Korea?

10. Name the geographical feature that includes many islands at the tip of South Korea.

World map questions

1. A peninsula

2. 8,217 square miles

3. South Korea

4. A 2.5-mile-wide Demilitarized Zone

5. Pyongyang

6. Seoul

7. Sinuiju

8. About 200 kilometers

9. Drought, lack of arable land, and poor planning

10. The Korean Archipelago