Knowledge Traditions, Cultural Practices for Information Sharing,
and Social Network Formation
The citizens of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) are socialized in several ways: through domestic and family interaction, early and primary Education systems, Nongovernmental Organizations, and most importantly in keeping with the philosophy of Juche.
Juche Foundations
Common traditional religions such as Christianity, Islam, or Buddhism often serve as social and information networks. However, they have a minimal presence in the DPRK. Instead, their place is taken by Juche, which is the ideology espoused by Kim Jong-Il and the ruling structure of the DPRK. According to this ideology, Human Beings are the masters of all things. In a world filled with natural resources, untamed wilds, and endless possibilities, it is Man’s responsibility to reshape the structure of things to further his own goals. Kim Jong-Il insists that this ideology is a human-centered one, yet not on the individual per se, but rather the state as a whole. In other words, as defined by the principals of Juche, the collective North Korean citizenry constitutes “the Human Being.” According to the Official DPRK website, Juche means self-reliance in the economy, self-defense in the military, and independence in the government. The Leader and the Masses are combined into one single inseparable unit and must work together towards the common good. The caveat to this partnership, of course, is that the Government is “Independent” under this Juche tradition. According to the official DPRK website, this allows the government to resolve
problems in an “independent and sovereign way.” In effect, this makes the government unaccountable to the population.
Common traditional religions such as Christianity, Islam, or Buddhism often serve as social and information networks. However, they have a minimal presence in the DPRK. Instead, their place is taken by Juche, which is the ideology espoused by Kim Jong-Il and the ruling structure of the DPRK. According to this ideology, Human Beings are the masters of all things. In a world filled with natural resources, untamed wilds, and endless possibilities, it is Man’s responsibility to reshape the structure of things to further his own goals. Kim Jong-Il insists that this ideology is a human-centered one, yet not on the individual per se, but rather the state as a whole. In other words, as defined by the principals of Juche, the collective North Korean citizenry constitutes “the Human Being.” According to the Official DPRK website, Juche means self-reliance in the economy, self-defense in the military, and independence in the government. The Leader and the Masses are combined into one single inseparable unit and must work together towards the common good. The caveat to this partnership, of course, is that the Government is “Independent” under this Juche tradition. According to the official DPRK website, this allows the government to resolve
problems in an “independent and sovereign way.” In effect, this makes the government unaccountable to the population.
This approach to economics, government, and defense has permeated the DPRK, and began with Kim Il-Sung, Kim Jong-Il’s father. The “Great Leader,” Sung is venerated in a messianic light. Images of him are found all over the country, and quotations from his speeches are constantly referenced, such as on the DPRK website, where most of their informational pages begin with a quotation from Kim Il-Sung. This is in keeping with their own words, that the Government “follows the line of the “Three Revolutions:” ideological, technical, and cultural.” Ideology comes first in this list, indicating the focus of the architects of modern Juche tradition. In 1959, a compulsory, free, and universal education system was introduced (Choi Eun-soo, Korea Herald) to further the spread of Juche tradition and ideological and social homogenization.Compulsory Education
Children's education was something Korean people could only dream of before Korea was liberated from Japanese rule in August 1945. Currently, despite rural poverty, and many areas being underdeveloped, schools can be found everywhere, and for children who live farther away from an educational facility, buses, boats and trains are provided. Thanks to these measures, the DPRK boasts a 99 percent literacy rate (U.S. Department of State).
Children's education was something Korean people could only dream of before Korea was liberated from Japanese rule in August 1945. Currently, despite rural poverty, and many areas being underdeveloped, schools can be found everywhere, and for children who live farther away from an educational facility, buses, boats and trains are provided. Thanks to these measures, the DPRK boasts a 99 percent literacy rate (U.S. Department of State).
Unfortunately, the motivation for emphasizing literacy through a public education system is not driven by a desire to give children the tools to fulfill their personal potential, but rather to indoctrinate and socialize them into communist revolutionaries. Naturally, Juche ideology is the founding principle on which the DPRK's curriculum is based, and this curriculum emphasizes ideology, technology, animosity, and the North Korean form of socialism. It would be more appropriate to consider it a form of training, rather than an education, as the objective is to convert them into efficient members of the working class.
A key component in the education and upbringing of citizens is centered on maintaining and reinforcing the personality cult of Kim Il-sung, as ‘Eternal President,’ and the legitimacy of Kim Jong-il as his successor. Therefore educational policies are under the direct supervision of Kim Jong-il himself. Even language as a medium, is controlled as a means of influence, and words that do not conform to the interest of the party and the state are not introduced into the society in the first place. The result is efficient censorship and homogenization of the language centered on Juche rhetoric. Linguistic homogenization contributes to a shared sense of group identity and nationalism (Anderson, Imagined Communities), but creates a language barrier that may limit effective communication and exchange of ideas with poeple of other nations in the future. People learn the vocabulary by reading publications of the state and the party, and Kim Il-sung's words are quoted and referenced like the gospel. Ideological and social indoctrination extends beyond the schoolyard, however.
Home Life
It is evident that the ideological and political beliefs that the government has turned the society are instilled in children from a very young age. T’agaso, or nurseries, are very popular for families who have working parents. The children are taken here from the age of three months to four years old, and are given an early education for their political thoughts. An example of this treatment is when children are given food for the day, they are told to be grateful by giving “thanks” to a portrait of Kim Il-sung.
Home Life
It is evident that the ideological and political beliefs that the government has turned the society are instilled in children from a very young age. T’agaso, or nurseries, are very popular for families who have working parents. The children are taken here from the age of three months to four years old, and are given an early education for their political thoughts. An example of this treatment is when children are given food for the day, they are told to be grateful by giving “thanks” to a portrait of Kim Il-sung.
Prior to 1946, the government would take any land that had been passed on through family lineage. At these times, families preferred having sons over daughters, which was even cause for divorce. However, the lack of land and the labor shortage, has the government encouraging families to include women in the workforce. Since the government does evaluations of work being done on a quarterly and monthly basis, discipline is taught early on in households. Kim Il-sung’s government also created the Ch'ongsan-ni Method in 1960, when it seemed that farmers were not happy at their jobs. Instead of allowing them to go into different sectors, more incentives were created that would bring rewards to their homes as well: paid vacations, special bonuses, titles, and monetary rewards.
State Sanctioned Organizations
Outside of the rigid school system, and family unit, each citizen is automatically affiliated with one of several groups. Nongovernmental organizations, such as unions, do not exist in the DPRK. Organizations like the Korean Democratic Women's Union, the Korean Congress of Trade Unions, the Korean Socialist Labor Youth League, the Korean Farmers' Union, the Korean Press Association, the Korean Association of Writers and Artists, and the Korean Young Pioneers, etc. are all arms of the state in some manner, and citizens belong to at least one of these political organizations. These are also major routes for Juche indoctrination.
Contributions:
Alejandra Bustamante
Sections: Home Life
-Research, Analysis, PowerPoint
Geoff Blizard
Sections: Home Life
-Research, Analysis, PowerPoint
Geoff Blizard
Sections: Juche Foundations; State Sanctioned Organizations
-Research, Analysis, Editing
-Research, Analysis, Editing
Mariam Samsoudine
Sections: Compulsory Education
-Research, Analysis, Photos and Editing, Webmaster
Sources:
Choi Eun-soo, Professor at Soongsil University in Seoul, Enjoying Benefit of Free Education System, “North Korea's Educational Policy,” (December, 1996). http://www.fortunecity.com/meltingpot/champion/65/dprk_edu.htm
Choi Eun-soo, Professor at Soongsil University in Seoul, Enjoying Benefit of Free Education System, “North Korea's Educational Policy,” (December, 1996). http://www.fortunecity.com/meltingpot/champion/65/dprk_edu.htm
Sonia Ryang, Everyculture.com country profile.
The NGO experience in North Korea, Center For Applied Policy Research. http://www.cap-lmu.de/transatlantic/topics/korea_ngo.php
Country Studies: North Korea. Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress under the Country Studies/Area Handbook Program sponsored by the U.S. Department of Army.
DPRK Official Website.
Interview with Ben Anderson (BBC): Versions of the Truth
PBS, FRONTLINE/World.
Photo by Iason Athanasiadis, The First Post.
Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origins and Spread of Nationalism (New York, 1991).
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