North Korean Culture

Nicole Prak
Honors English, Hour 7
March 16th, 2011
Independent Research Project
 NORTH KOREAN CULTURE

I. Introduction

II. History

A. The Soviet Union

B. The Korean War

C. After The War

III. Government

A. Kim Il-Sung

B. Kim Jong-Il

IV. Economy

V. Daily Life

A. Life in Pyongyang

B. Life in Concentration Camps

C. Food

1. Famine

2. Food

VI. Religion

VII. Language

VIII. Entertainment

IX. Conclusion
 Nobody really knows much about North Korea unless one counts the news stories about

nuclear threats, terrorism, famine, or fighting with the south. There are a lot of questions that

come up after listening to all this negative stuff about them. What is it like to live there, in a

place that seems so isolated from the rest of the world? What is their culture like? Their history,

government, economy, daily life, religion, language, and entertainment; What is that all like?

In 1910, Korea was colonized by Japan. After World War II, Korea was divided up into

two parts, the North and the South. The Soviet Union helped establish a leader for the North,

while the United States helped out the South. They crowned Kim Il-Sung, a communist officer in

the Red Army who refused to be ruled by Japan, as leader of North Korea. In June 1950, Kim Il-

Sung invaded the South in hopes of re-uniting the two Koreas into one. This started The Korean

War, otherwise known as the Cold War, that left millions dead. (Salmon).

The Korean War was a fight that lasted three years and killed thousands of innocent

lives. Kim Il-Sung wanted to unite Korea as one under his rule. In 1950, he led his army,

equipped with weapons from the Soviet Union, and raided the South. When the United States

found out, they fought against Kim’s army. China allied with the North, and the fight lasted up

until 1953 when they created a peace treaty. (Salmon).

After the war, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, or DPRK, (it’s official name)

had less people, but more natural resources than the South. It stayed a communist country, and

still hated the South, as if the war never ended. In 1968, assassins from North Korea tried to kill

the South Korean President! They had two nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009, and they even

admitted to kidnapping the Japanese to use as spies. Just recently, they were accused of attacking

a warship in March 2010 that killed 46 sailors. (Salmon).

 Kim Il-Sung was the leader of North Korea for 46 years until his death in 1994. He was

born with the name Kim Song Ju, but took the name of a Korean guerilla fighter who fought

against the Japanese. Around 1925, he and his family fled to Manchuria. He joined the Soviet

Union and later led a unit in the Soviet Union Army during World War II. After the war, he

became leader of North Korea and soon created a new war. Kim lead the Korean War as he tried

to unify Korea under his ruler. After that, he ruled until he died. (Sung, Kim Il-).

Next in line for leader was Kim Jong-Il, son of the great Kim Il-Sung. He was born in

1941, when his father was part of the Soviet Union in Siberia. But official North Korean

accounts say that he was born at his father's base on Mt. Paektu, in February 1942. He didn't

actually become important until 1991 when he took control of armed forces. And after his

father's death in 1994, it took him three years before he finally took his father's place. He

resumed leadership like his father, and died in 2008 from a stroke. Now people are wondering

who will be next. (Profile: Kim Jung-Il).

After the Korean war that devastated the North Korean infrastructure and economy,

farms were reorganized and industries were reinforced by the government with some aid from

the Soviets and the Chinese. The economy was incredibly great at the time. Several economic

plans have been introduced since, which led to the end of taxes, the country becoming socialist,

and a very high GNP (per capita gross national product). However, evidence of flaws in the

North Korean economy is shown in the famines, which were largely caused by terrible weather.

(Culture of North Korea).

In Pyongyang, anyone can see old men playing cards, women buying groceries, and

families going on walks. But this is their capital, the richest part of the country. “Nobody who
lives in Pyongyang is an ordinary person. This is the top five to 10% of the population,” says

Barbara Demick, the author of the book Nothing to Envy (qtd in Branigan). This place has great

music, karaoke, restaurants, and department stores, as well as many other places for tourists. But

all visitors have an official escort with them at all times, and their cell phones are taken away as

soon as they enter the country. Also, all photos are inspected, and any picture that shows even a

little part of the North Korean's world is deleted. Maybe that's why very little people choose to

visit here. But, anyways, Pyongyang is a great place compared to the rest of it's country.

(Branigan).

Life in concentration camps is definitely not a fun experience. Many of the people who

end up here were likely to have either tried to cross the border to China or were deported back to

North Korea. In the concentration camps, prisoners work 10-12 hours every day on state-run

projects, which may include farming, stone quarrying, construction, and more. There are no such

things as rest days in a concentration camp. The hard work, combined with lack of food, hygiene,

and space are the reason that so many to end up dying in the camps. Beatings and torture are also

common. One former prisoner recalls an experience where someone was caught sleeping, and

because of this, his team leaders had to do extra work. He notes that “the team leader responsible

for the sleeping prisoner was so angry that he took a stick and beat the prisoner's back and legs.

The prisoner couldn't walk for three weeks. He suffered a fracture in one leg.” Sadly, he is not

alone. In an interview conducted on former prisoners, 90 percent of them have either witnessed a

beating or have been beaten for trivial things such as being slow or forgetful (Background Forced

Labour).

Famine has been a huge struggle in North Korea the past couple of years. The famine is

caused by the poor weather conditions, and thousands of people have died of starvation. They get
help from the U.S. And other organizations. The United Nations World Food Program states that

out of all children under five years old in North Korea, one out of three of them don't get enough

food. And over one out of four people in the entire North Korean Population need food aid, but

only one in seventeen actually get it. (Sang-hun).

The food they eat reflects who they are in this country. For the average citizens, they eat

white rice, and meat soup. Because of the famine, it's uncertain how much of that they have to

eat. But the visitors who come to North Korea have it the better way. They are given much more

food, like meat, vegetables, dairy products, and fruits. (Culture of North Korea). However, in

Pyongyang, you can see little children carrying candy around, and a few residents sucking on

lollipops. They even have pizza in North Korea, which is one of Kim Jong Il's favorites.

(Branigan)

Freedom of religion is almost a myth in North Korea. Yes, there are nuns and monks, but

they’re mostly for visitors, and aren’t allowed to publicly practice their religion. Christianity and

Buddhism were practiced in the past, but that was before Kim Il-Sung. Now, it’s as if Kim Il-

Sung is their god! There’s even a popular children’s song that has phrase, “Our Father is

Marshall Kim Il Sung”, in it! Because he lead them during the Korean war and a lot of

accomplishments happened when he was in power, many people admire him like a god. (Culture

of North Korea).

At one point in Korean history, while they had their own unique spoken language, and

the written language was in Chinese. The complicated characters prevented the people who lived

there from learning to read and write, creating a largely illiterate population. The importance of

literacy upon Korea becoming its own nation sparked the creation of the Korean script,
composed of 21 vowels and 19 consonants, which creates words that are spelled the way they are

pronounced. This is very helpful in increasing the literacy rate in Korea, up to the point where

the use of Chinese characters, which oftentimes have multiple pronunciations and meanings for

the same character, has largely disappeared (Culture of North Korea).

People find great ways to have fun in North Korea! If someone is visiting, there are many

events in Pyongyang for them to go to. (Branigan.) But the people who live there have to find

more creative ways to enjoy. Because they are too poor, children stick a knife blade in a block of

wood and use them as ice-skates.(Unseen North Korea). But did you know that the book, The Da

Vinci Code was hit in this country? And that Celine Dion is a favorite for karaoke? Who

would've thought that a country so isolated from everybody else and has so many differences

from us, would be reading and singing the same thing? (Branigan).

North Korea is a country separated from the rest of the world, with barbed wire

surrounding it's border. Not much is known about their culture and way of life, but what we do

know can be quite interesting. Although most of the stuff we hear is about the famine, nuclear

threats against the south, and their military, there's still a lot more to this mysterious country.
 Works Cited

"Background: forced labour in North Korea." Link: The North Korea Crisis. Anti-Slavery

International, n.d. Web. 23 Feb 2011.

Branigan, Tania. “The Cultural Life of North Korea”. Latest News, Comment and Reviews from

the Guardian. Guardian.co.uk. Oct. 15, 2010. Web.

“Culture of North Korea – traditional, history, people, women, beliefs, food, customs, family,

social”. Countries and Their Cultures. Advameg. Inc, n.d. Web. Dec. 5, 2010.

“In Pictures: Unseen North Korea”. BBC News. BBC News. n.d. Web. Dec. 5, 2010.

“Profile: Kim Jong-Il”. BBC News. BBC News, Jan. 16, 2009. Web. Feb. 2, 2010.

“Sung, Kim Il-”. The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military. Encyclopedia.com. 2001.

Web.

Salmon, Andrew. “What is Life like inside North Korea?”. World News – International

Headlines, Stories, and Video from CNN.com. CNN, Sept. 26, 2010. Web. Dec. 9, 2010.

Sang-hun, Choe. “North Korea – The New York Times”. The New York Times - Breaking News,

World News & Multimedia. New York Times, Sept. 9, 2010. Web. Dec. 4, 2010.