Overview of Two Koreas Now
South Korea's democracy is a fully functioning modern democracy.South Korea has one of Asia’s largest economies, one that resumed strong growth after a brief downturn as a result of the global economic crisis of 2008.In recent years, the U.S.-South Korea alliance has expanded into a deep, comprehensive global partnership, and South Korea’s role as a regional and global leader continues to grow. South Korea hosted the 2010 G-20 Summit, the 2011 Fourth High-Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness, and the 2012 Nuclear SecuritySummit. South Korea is a committed member of various international nonproliferation regimes, including the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) and the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism (GICNT). The United States and South Korea are also expanding cooperation on development assistance and aid.People-to-people ties between the United States and South Korea have never been stronger. South Korea, on a per capita basis, sends the highest number of students to the United States to study of any industrialized country. Educational exchanges include a vibrant Fulbright exchange program as well as the Work, English Study, and Travel (WEST) program that gives a diverse group of South Korean students the opportunity to learn more about the United States.
North Korea is the last Stalinist state on earth, and in 2006 it became the latest country to join the nuclear club. The North Korean economy has grown for the first time in three years, although the latest figures underline just how reliant the regime is on neighbouring China for its survival. North Korea purchased 16,420 closed-circuit surveillance cameras from China in the first 11 months of last year as the regime stepped up the monitoring of its own people. North Korea vowed on Monday to strengthen its defences amid concerns the country may conduct a nuclear test as a follow-up to last month's long-range rocket launch.