NewsTracker Answers for week of May 26, 2025

Q: North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un vowed to punish the “criminals” responsible for last week’s embarrassing failed launch and partial sinking of a new 5,000-ton destroyer. Where is North Korea?

Circle the area on this map

Q: Any perceived failure can be fatal in North Korea. Kim reportedly executed 20 to 30 regional officials over flooding last year and two nuclear researchers earlier this year for failing to meet technical targets. Who did Kim replace as supreme leader in 2011?

A. His brother

B. His cousin

C. His father

D. His uncle

C. Kim Jong Un became supreme leader after the death of his father, Kim Jong Il, who had inherited power from his father, Kim Il Sung, the founder and first supreme leader of North Korea. Kim Jong Un has been quick to kill any potential rivals, including his uncle, his uncle’s family, and his exiled half-brother.

Q: Millions of North Koreans have been executed or starved to death under the totalitarian rule of the Kim family. Which of these rulers was responsible for the most deaths?

A. Adolf Hitler, Germany

B. Joseph Stalin, Soviet Union

C. Leopold II, Belgium

D. Mao Zedong, China

D. It is estimated that Mao caused the deaths of more than 50 million Chinese, mostly from famine, during his 33-year rule. Stalin killed more than 20 million people over 29 years. During 12 years in power, Hitler systematically murdered 11 million civilians and caused millions more war deaths. King Leopold II reigned for 44 years, and he caused the deaths of 1 million to 15 million people in his private Congo colony.

Q: The partially destroyed destroyer was the second new warship built by North Korea with technology apparently from which nation?

A. China

B. France

C. Russia

D. United States

C. North Korea has sent millions of artillery shells and about 15,000 troops to help Russia in its war against Ukraine. In return, it is getting oil and military technology from Russia.

Q: Kim has continued his father’s “military first” policy, building a growing arsenal of nuclear warheads, intercontinental missiles, and conventional weapons. North Korea has more active military, reserve military, and paramilitary forces than any other country. Which country ranks second?

A. China

B. Russia

C. South Korea

D. United States

C. While North Korea has 7.5 million active, reserve, and paramilitary soldiers, rival South Korea has 6.6 million. The Korean Peninsula was divided after World War II, with the Soviets occupying the north and the US occupying the south. Competing governments were formed, each claiming all of the peninsula. The resulting Korean War ended with an armistice but no permanent peace treaty.