Sinhŏn

Sinhŏn, officially the Democratic People's Empire of Sinhŏn (DPRES) (Jeongja: 신헌 인민 지배 제국; Sinheon Inmin Jibae Jegug; Cheonja: 身宪 人民 地配 製國; Shinhŏn Inmin Ch'ipae Ch'éguk) was a sovereign state located in present-day Jeolbo. It served as the sovereign state of Jeolbo before Sinhŏn fell in 1925 and Jeolbo's current republic was established.

History
The Sinhŏn Communist Revolt was a pro-independence rebellion against Jeongmi by communist pro-independence activists, some notable activists were An Jeung-doo, Sim Dong-hang, and Kim Tae-young. At the face of the rebellion was Kim Tae-young, he prolonged the rebellion for three months until Jeongmi ceded control of Jeolbo to said party.

Kim Regime
Shortly after gaining independence from Jeongmi, the pro-independence movement founded the Democratic People's Empire of Sinhŏn. During the foundation period, Kim Tae-young came into prominence by making generous bribes and donations to government officials. In early February of 1900, Kim Tae-young had ordered allies of his to poison high-ranking members of the government. Upon the death of the sitting-president, Kim Tae-young dethroned the government and named himself "All-Mighty Chairman". He appointed only his most-trusted allies and confidants to positions of government.

Months later, in May, Kim Tae-young founded the Sinhŏn Workers Party and initiated reforms all around the country. All able-bodied men between the ages of 16-40 had to serve in the Sinhŏn Liberation Army, the armed forces of Sinhŏn. Woman and young girls had to work in the rice fields, as well as help nurture and harvest other crops. Young men had to do manual labor in mines, or do various other tasks such as constructing buildings, homes, and train tracks. Disabled people were used to perform genetic experiments on, victims of these experiments were referred to as "Gyangji". People who did not participate in their assigned tasks would be publicly beaten and left to rot in the streets.

Beginning in the 1910's, Chairman Kim's health began to seriously decline. He constantly ate grease-filled and generally unhealthy foods which caused him to quickly gain weight. While many in the Sinhŏn Workers Party were deeply concerned about the Chairman's increasingly poor health, Kim's closest friend and only confidant, Baek Tan-soo, often encouraged Kim's eating habits and sedentary lifestyle. In 1917, Chairman Kim had a serious of heart attacks and was hospitalized for three months. Kim placed Baek Tan-soo in charge. Early on, Baek cemented control of the Sinhŏn government, he even created a new flag for the country. Baek slowly started removing his opposers from government. People that were originally allied with Chairman Kim shifted their loyalty to Baek. Later in July, Baek ordered the assassination of Kim, Kim died the next day in the early morning.

Baek Regime
Upon the death of former-Chairman Kim, Baek Tan-soo crowned himself as 'All-Mighty Chairman Baek", shortened to 'Chairman Baek'. Chairman Baek ordered for the assassination of the entire Sinhŏn Workers Party, and then enlisted only the closest of members to the government. Young children, and sometimes toddlers, in orphanages were forced to work in inhumane conditions in sweatshops. The newly reformed military were quickly assigned to civic occupations. Youth all across Sinhŏn endured subhumane treatment, as well as brainwashing. Any and all residents of the country, including government and military personnel, were publicly executed based off of loose interpretations of disloyalty to the Baek regime. During the first two years of Chairman Baek's reign, an estimated 3.62 million people were publicly tortured and executed. Commoners who worked in the fields and performed manual labor would often collapse and die from exhaustion. It was not common to see starving and malnourished toddlers sitting on the sides of trail roads. Every day, an estimated four-thousand people would die from exhaustion or public execution. It was mandatory for every citizen across Sinhŏn to attend these executions. Rotting corpses were a common view when walking amongst common villages.

Due to the declining health of the general population, Chairman Baek initiated the Five-Child Policy, which mandated that all citizens must have five children. This policy was instituted to compensate for the declining population. The population of Sinhŏn saw a four-million increase. Despite the efforts made by the Sinhŏn Workers Party, Sinhŏn only declined further. In early April of 1925, the country entered a long-lasting period of famine. By September, the famine had killed at least 1/3 of Sinhŏn's population, and the government began to feel the effects of the famine. In October of the same year, the Sinhŏn Workers Party gathered for a banquet, the banquet resulted in everyone who attended the dinner became severely ill. Two weeks later, forty-five members of government, including Baek Tan-soo, died from a parasite.

Lasting Effects
During the first 15 years of Jeolbo's current republic, the country continued to be ravaged by mass famine and disease. The famine ended in the early 1980's. Most of Jeolbo's impoverished citizens live in the towns and villages such as Jinjin, Podong, and Pyeonghae, which were massive famine and disease hot-spots during the regimes. The Kim and Baek regimes are often referred to as The Reigns of Terror.