Propaganda in North Korea
Encyclopedia
The propaganda in North Korea
is extensively based on the Juche
ideology to promote the Workers' Party of Korea line. From its beginning to this day the propaganda is omnipresent.
, Kim Il Sung. The Soviet Union began to develop him, particularly as a resistance fighter, as soon as they put him in power. This quickly surpassed its Eastern European models. Instead of depicting his actual residence in a Soviet village during the war with the Japanese, he was claimed to have fought a guerilla war from a secret base. Once relations with the Soviet Union were broken off, their role was expurgated, as was all other nationalists, until the claim was made that he founded the Communist Party in North Korea. He is seldom shown in action during the Korean War, which, if it was presented as a glorious victory, nevertheless devastated the country; instead, soldiers are depicted as inspired by him. Subsequently, many stories are recounted of his "on-the-spot" guidance in various locations, many of them being openly presented as fictional.
This has been supplemented with propaganda on behalf of his son, Kim Jong Il. The "food shortage" produced ancedotes of Kim insisting on eating the same meager food as other North Koreans.
Lately, propaganda efforts have begun for the "Young General," one of his sons.
Americans are depicted particularly negatively. They are presented as an inherently evil race, with whom hostility is the only possible relationship. The Korean War is used as a source for atrocities, less for the bombing raids than on charges of massacre.
Japan is frequently depicted in colonial era as rapacious and dangerous.
Friendly nations are depicted almost exclusively as tributary nations
.
The English journalist Christopher Hitchens
points out in the essay A Nation of Racist Dwarfs that propaganda has a blatantly racist and nationalistic angle:
) which depicts female partisans washing and hanging out white blouses, despite the way it would have made them visible to attack.
In contrast to Stalinist depictions of people steeling themselves, preparing themselves intellectually, and so growing up and becoming fit to create Communism, the usual image in North Korean literature is of a spontaneous virtue that revolts against intellectualism but naturally does what is right.
Stories often have only mildly flawed Korean characters, who are, of course, easily reformed because of their inherently pure nature; this has resulted in problems with lack of conflict and so dullness.
South Korea is often depicted as a place of dangerous racial contamination.
or Songun, 선군정치), which requires other Koreans to do without his close attention. This military life is presented as something that Koreans take spontaneously to, though often disobeying orders from the highest of motives.
was admitted within propaganda to be solely a "food shortage," ascribed to bad weather and failure to implement Kim's teachings, but unquestionably better than situations outside North Korea.
The government urged the use of non-nutritious and even harmful "food substitutes" such as sawdust.
The propaganda in North Korea is controlled mainly by the Propaganda
and Agitation Department of the Workers Party of Korea.
The Flower Girl
, a revolutionary opera allegedly penned by Kim Il-Sung
himself, was turned into a movie, the most popular one in North Korea. It depicts its heroine's sufferings in the colonial era until her partisan brother returns to exact vengeance on their oppressive landlord, at which point she pledges support for the revolution. Art is based on Socialist Realism
, which is the official school of artistic expression and was designed for propaganda purposes to begin with.
Other:
Censorship:
North Korea
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...
is extensively based on the Juche
Juche
Juche or Chuch'e is a Korean word usually translated as "self-reliance." In the Democratic People's Republic of Korea , "Juche" refers specifically to a political thesis of Kim Il-sung, the Juche Idea, that identifies the Korean masses as the masters of the country's development...
ideology to promote the Workers' Party of Korea line. From its beginning to this day the propaganda is omnipresent.
Cult of personality
In previous decades, North Korean propaganda was crucial to the formation and promotion of the personality cult centred around the founder of the communist stateCommunist state
A communist state is a state with a form of government characterized by single-party rule or dominant-party rule of a communist party and a professed allegiance to a Leninist or Marxist-Leninist communist ideology as the guiding principle of the state...
, Kim Il Sung. The Soviet Union began to develop him, particularly as a resistance fighter, as soon as they put him in power. This quickly surpassed its Eastern European models. Instead of depicting his actual residence in a Soviet village during the war with the Japanese, he was claimed to have fought a guerilla war from a secret base. Once relations with the Soviet Union were broken off, their role was expurgated, as was all other nationalists, until the claim was made that he founded the Communist Party in North Korea. He is seldom shown in action during the Korean War, which, if it was presented as a glorious victory, nevertheless devastated the country; instead, soldiers are depicted as inspired by him. Subsequently, many stories are recounted of his "on-the-spot" guidance in various locations, many of them being openly presented as fictional.
This has been supplemented with propaganda on behalf of his son, Kim Jong Il. The "food shortage" produced ancedotes of Kim insisting on eating the same meager food as other North Koreans.
Lately, propaganda efforts have begun for the "Young General," one of his sons.
Foreign relations
Early propaganda, in 1940s, presented a positive Soviet-Korean relationship, often depicting Russians as maternal figures to child-like Koreans. As soon as relations were less cordial, they were expurgated from historical accounts. The collapse of the USSR, without a shot, is often depicted with intense contempt in sources not accessible to Russians.Americans are depicted particularly negatively. They are presented as an inherently evil race, with whom hostility is the only possible relationship. The Korean War is used as a source for atrocities, less for the bombing raids than on charges of massacre.
Japan is frequently depicted in colonial era as rapacious and dangerous.
Friendly nations are depicted almost exclusively as tributary nations
Tributary state
The term tributary state refers to one of the two main ways in which a pre-modern state might be subordinate to a more powerful neighbour. The heart of the relationship was that the tributary would send a regular token of submission to the superior power...
.
The English journalist Christopher Hitchens
Christopher Hitchens
Christopher Eric Hitchens is an Anglo-American author and journalist whose books, essays, and journalistic career span more than four decades. He has been a columnist and literary critic at The Atlantic, Vanity Fair, Slate, World Affairs, The Nation, Free Inquiry, and became a media fellow at the...
points out in the essay A Nation of Racist Dwarfs that propaganda has a blatantly racist and nationalistic angle:
"North Korean women who return pregnant from China—the regime's main ally and protector—are forced to submit to abortions. Wall posters and banners depicting all Japanese as barbarians are only equaled by the ways in which Americans are caricatured as hook-nosed monsters. (The illustrations in this book are an education in themselves.)"
South Korea
South Korea was originally depicted as a poverty-stricken land, where American soldiers shot Korean children, but by the 1990s, too much information reached North Korea to prevent their learning that South Korea had a higher living standard, and so propaganda admitted it. The line taken was that this had not prevented the South Koreans from yearning for unification and purification.Racial pride
North Korean propaganda often invokes Koreans as the purest of races, with a mystical bond with the natural beauty of the landscape. White is often invoked for this purity, as in a painting of the "Homeland Liberation War" (or Korean WarKorean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
) which depicts female partisans washing and hanging out white blouses, despite the way it would have made them visible to attack.
In contrast to Stalinist depictions of people steeling themselves, preparing themselves intellectually, and so growing up and becoming fit to create Communism, the usual image in North Korean literature is of a spontaneous virtue that revolts against intellectualism but naturally does what is right.
Stories often have only mildly flawed Korean characters, who are, of course, easily reformed because of their inherently pure nature; this has resulted in problems with lack of conflict and so dullness.
South Korea is often depicted as a place of dangerous racial contamination.
Military first
Under Kim Jong Il, a major theme has been the need of Kim to attend to the military first of all (in North Korea, this policy is called Sŏn'gunSongun
Sŏn'gun, often spelled Songun, is North Korea's "Military First" policy, which prioritizes the Korean People's Army in the affairs of state and allocates national resources to the army first...
or Songun, 선군정치), which requires other Koreans to do without his close attention. This military life is presented as something that Koreans take spontaneously to, though often disobeying orders from the highest of motives.
Devotion to the state
Romance is often depicted in stories as being triggered solely by the person's model citizenship, as when a beauty is unattractive until a man learns she volunteered to work at a potato farm.Food shortage
The North Korean famineNorth Korean famine
'The North Korean famine was a famine in North Korea which began in the early 1990s...
was admitted within propaganda to be solely a "food shortage," ascribed to bad weather and failure to implement Kim's teachings, but unquestionably better than situations outside North Korea.
The government urged the use of non-nutritious and even harmful "food substitutes" such as sawdust.
Practices
Every year, a state-owned publishing house releases several cartoons (called geurim-chaek in North Korea), many of which are smuggled across the Chinese border and, sometimes, end up in university libraries in the United States. The books are designed to instill the Juche philosophy of Kim Il-sung (the ‘father’ of North Korea)—radical self-reliance of the state. The plots mostly feature scheming capitalists from the United States and Japan who create dilemmas for naïve North Korean characters.The propaganda in North Korea is controlled mainly by the Propaganda
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
and Agitation Department of the Workers Party of Korea.
Posters
Posters depict the correct actions for every part of life, down to appropriate clothing.Art
Fine art often depicts militaristic themes.The Flower Girl
The Flower Girl
The Flower Girl is a North Korean revolutionary genre theatrical performance, supposedly written by Kim Il-Sung himself according to official North Korean sources...
, a revolutionary opera allegedly penned by Kim Il-Sung
Kim Il-sung
Kim Il-sung was a Korean communist politician who led the Democratic People's Republic of Korea from its founding in 1948 until his death in 1994. He held the posts of Prime Minister from 1948 to 1972 and President from 1972 to his death...
himself, was turned into a movie, the most popular one in North Korea. It depicts its heroine's sufferings in the colonial era until her partisan brother returns to exact vengeance on their oppressive landlord, at which point she pledges support for the revolution. Art is based on Socialist Realism
Socialist realism
Socialist realism is a style of realistic art which was developed in the Soviet Union and became a dominant style in other communist countries. Socialist realism is a teleologically-oriented style having its purpose the furtherance of the goals of socialism and communism...
, which is the official school of artistic expression and was designed for propaganda purposes to begin with.
See also
- Voice of KoreaVoice of KoreaVoice of Korea is the international broadcasting service of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. It broadcasts primarily information in Korean, Chinese, Spanish, German, English, French, Russian, Japanese, and Arabic...
- Let's trim our hair in accordance with the socialist lifestyleLet's trim our hair in accordance with the socialist lifestyleLet's trim our hair in accordance with the socialist lifestyle, or alternatively translated as Let us trim our hair in accordance with Socialist lifestyle, was part of a North Korean government propaganda campaign promulgating grooming and dress standards in 2004–2005.It was broadcast on state-run...
- Propaganda in the Soviet UnionPropaganda in the Soviet UnionCommunist propaganda in the Soviet Union was extensively based on the Marxism-Leninism ideology to promote the Communist Party line. In societies with pervasive censorship, the propaganda was omnipresent and very efficient...
- Propaganda in the People's Republic of ChinaPropaganda in the People's Republic of ChinaPropaganda in the People's Republic of China as interpreted in Western media refers to the Communist Party of China's use of propaganda to sway public and international opinion in favor of its policies. Domestically, this includes censorship of proscribed views and an active cultivation of views...
- Socialist realismSocialist realismSocialist realism is a style of realistic art which was developed in the Soviet Union and became a dominant style in other communist countries. Socialist realism is a teleologically-oriented style having its purpose the furtherance of the goals of socialism and communism...
Other:
- Media of North KoreaMedia of North KoreaThe media of North Korea is one of the most strictly controlled in the world. As a result, information is tightly controlled both into and out of North Korea. The constitution provides for freedom of speech and the press; however, the government prohibits the exercise of these rights in practice...
- Telecommunications in North Korea
- Communist propagandaCommunist propagandaCommunist propaganda is propaganda aimed to advance the ideology of communism, communist worldview and interests of the communist movement.A Bolshevik theoretician, Nikolai Bukharin, in his The ABC of Communism wrote:...
Censorship:
- Radio jamming in KoreaRadio jamming in KoreaRadio jamming on the Korean Peninsula makes the border region one of the world's busiest places for radio signals. Medium wave jamming is dominant in the area including Seoul and the DMZ...
- Censorship in North KoreaCensorship in North KoreaNorth Korea has a high degree of censorship and no de facto freedom of the press. It is routinely at the bottom of the World Press Freedom Index Rankings published annually by Reporters Without Borders...