[litwin]

Makes sense, the U.S. got a piece of Moscow empire and its US biggest state today !

ps dont forget that 4 islands belong to Japan!

[unbalanced zealot]

An interesting part of that area is the Rason SEZ in NK. There's a pretty decent legal framework in place - along the lines of Kaesong - which could be reactivated if deals are made and sanctions are lifted. The transport infrastructure is way better than in the past. The ports are also good and importantly they're possibly the most northern ports ice free thru winter. Chinese ports such as Dalian are increasingly congested - and China was shipping to Japan thru Rason at one point. I think Japan may have been shipping auto thru but everything is one hold ATM.

I go to Dongdaemun quite a bit and one part is a Russian district. There's a pretty significant Russian presence in Seoul.

[Puffer Fish]

That area does have a very interesting forest climate, but never had a large population of people live there. The fact that the area got separated from China by a political and languistic border in the mid 1800s probably prevented the area's population from being 10 times higher than it would otherwise have been by now.

The climate has a short productive season, so despite all the forest, probably was not the most agriculturally conducive. Being in closer proximity to the ocean (the northern part of the Sea of Japan, which is mostly blocked off from warmer ocean currents), despite making the winters a little less cold, actually reduces the length of heat throughout the year, making agriculture even a little bit more difficult and less productive than it is in Manchuria. Not only that but the high humidity in the summer (also combined with more summer heat than England) makes it nearly impossible to raise sheep.

Like in Manchuria, the winters are bitterly cold. Due to the rotation of the earth, the earth's prevailing winds move from west to east, bringing extremely cold air from the interior of Siberia.
To give some comparison, the temperature drop in winter is equivalent to the higher altitude areas in the northern part of Sweden.

Agriculture is already more difficult in the northern part of North Korea, and the people there were traditionally poor, but to go even a little bit further north, it would have been even more difficult. The total growing season, the time when the temperatures are not too low, is short, only about 6 months, maybe only 5 for certain heat-requiring crops. That is also combined with deep snowpack.
It explains why the population was never very high. But on the plus side, it has resulted in the preservation of some amazing primeval forest that is almost untouched.

[unbalanced zealot]

That area does have a very interesting forest climate, but never had a large population of people live there. The fact that the area got separated from China by a political and languistic border in the mid 1800s probably prevented the area's population from being 10 times higher than it would otherwise have been by now.

The climate has a short productive season, so despite all the forest, probably was not the most agriculturally conducive. Being in closer proximity to the ocean (the northern part of the Sea of Japan, which is mostly blocked off from warmer ocean currents), despite making the winters a little less cold, actually reduces the length of heat throughout the year, making agriculture even a little bit more difficult and less productive than it is in Manchuria. Not only that but the high humidity in the summer (also combined with more summer heat than England) makes it nearly impossible to raise sheep.

Like in Manchuria, the winters are bitterly cold. Due to the rotation of the earth, the earth's prevailing winds move from west to east, bringing extremely cold air from the interior of Siberia.
To give some comparison, the temperature drop in winter is equivalent to the higher altitude areas in the northern part of Sweden.

Agriculture is already more difficult in the northern part of North Korea, and the people there were traditionally poor, but to go even a little bit further north, it would have been even more difficult. The total growing season, the time when the temperatures are not too low, is short, only about 6 months, maybe only 5 for certain heat-requiring crops. That is also combined with deep snowpack.
It explains why the population was never very high. But on the plus side, it has resulted in the preservation of some amazing primeval forest that is almost untouched.

This is really interesting information. I never looked at that area from that perspective before.

[senor boogie woogie]

The problem with North Korea is that it is isolated from everyone except China basically, and that the country has very limited farmland since it is a mountainous nation. That added to the fact that most of the limited food goes to the elite and the military.

Also, what is bad about North Korea besides the horrendous repression of the people is that their economy is Communist and just doesn’t work. If North Korea was a normal country with a normal government and economy, it is rich in mineral resources and can sell that and then take that revenue to buy more than enough food for the population. The country is so impoverished and people starving to death is from the horrendous government.

[Puffer Fish]

Also, what is bad about North Korea besides the horrendous repression of the people is that their economy is Communist and just doesn’t work. If North Korea was a normal country with a normal government and economy, it is rich in mineral resources and can sell that and then take that revenue to buy more than enough food for the population.

In a modern economy, having access to mineral resources and easy access to ocean trade is practically a guarantee of economic success. Especially in this part of the world next to the big economic powerhouses of China and Japan. It is very much more important than food, in terms of economics.
That combined with a highly educated and industrious population like the Korean people and living in a temperate climate.

But as you say, NK is cut off from the rest of the world, even cut off from China, and their economy is not the most efficiently managed due to the Communist system.
In actuality, after Japan left Korea, due to the dire poverty left behind in SK, and due to NK getting subsidies from the Soviets, NK actually had a greater economic output than SK until around 1965 to 1968. And there was plenty of widespread poverty in SK in 1960. (The Korean war from 1950 to 1953, in which the U.S. was involved in, did not help)