North Korea does it “our way”
North Korean regime uses the term ‘our way’ to justify state-imposed injustices and to block external criticism (Image: iStock.com/Goddard_Photography)
Every country has its own traditions, history, and way of doing things. In North Korea, they call this “our way.”
The emotions people feel about “our way” vary. Some may feel pride and honor, while others feel shame. Today I would like to write about my own feelings and thoughts regarding “our way.”
I truly like the meaning behind the words “our way.” When I lose my individuality and am swayed by others, I think of them.
Readers may somewhat agree that, in this rapidly changing modern society, having one’s own way is necessary.
I, of course, heard “our way” countless times during my 30 years in North Korea. “Let’s live our way!” “Thoughts, technology, and culture – everything in our way!” These slogans show just how North Koreans insist on sticking to “our way.”
In the fall of 2009, I boarded a train to Pyongyang with my brother. Whenever it was time to return to university after the holidays, I felt a sense of dread. This was because, due to frequent power outages, the 500-kilometer journey took three or four days.
One of the few consolations was that people in the train car would engage in conversations to pass the time.
Once we were lucky enough to encounter the actor Kim Won-il. He is really famous. We heard behind-the-scenes stories about the film industry from him.
It seems that the making of a single movie places a huge burden on the production team and the actors. The films don’t carry advertisements or sell for commercial purposes. It is therefore impossible to recoup production costs. As a result, the crew has to rely on the small budget allocated by the state. This is so tight that only two or three films are made each year. Even then, the actors have to pay for everything from costumes to expenses.
That’s how, after countless hardships, a single film is born.
The most recent Kim Won-il film was Emergency Doctor. However, it was banned and sent to the archives.
In one scene, a man and a woman ride a Ferris wheel at an amusement park late at night. That was the scene that set the critics off.
“How could they keep the lights on so late at night in a country suffering from power shortages?” they complained. “How could they get romantic in an empty amusement park?”
The critics decided that Emergency Doctor was not in line with “our way” and prevented it from being screened.
When the Kaeson Youth Park was renovated in 2011, it stayed open at night. This was the first time this had ever happened, and young people cheered. Thanks to the Youth Park, a new nightlife culture was born. Kim Jong-un himself expressed his satisfaction.
“At last, our people can enjoy themselves under bright lights without worrying about time,” he said. This one sentence sent the message that “our way” had changed.
I have a friend who loves writing. From childhood, she wanted to be a writer. She studied at the department of Korean Language and Literature at Kim Il Sung University. Filled with great anticipation, she actively participated in writing competitions. However, she frequently tasted the bitterness of rejection.
Her writing was excellent, better than anyone else’s, but the problem was that its content and form were not “our way.”
What exactly is “our way?” She couldn’t accept the rejection and wanted to know.
One day she went to confront the judges and what they said made her give up her dream. The judges said, “If the Party tells you to do one thing, even if you want to do ten, just do the one.”
That day she realized she would never be able to write the kind of stories she wanted to. She could only write the stories the Party wanted.
Trying to be different or pursuing something new often makes things worse. As the saying goes, “The nail that sticks out gets hammered.”
So, to preserve one’s position and life, doing nothing is better than doing something. Avoiding responsibility and passing the blame has become the norm.
While innovation and reform are generally considered the way forward, it’s the opposite in North Korea. That’s why we have these sayings: “A nosy person is the enemy of the revolution” and “A soldier’s creativity is a commander’s headache.”
By now you can probably guess the kinds of action taken by the officials preaching about “our way.” It’s the action of taking no action at all.
One day in 2012, there was a performance by the Pyongyang-based Unhasu Orchestra to celebrate the scientists who had worked hard to launch a satellite.
The scientists entered the concert hall wearing old-fashioned clothing and with shy expressions on their faces. The singers bared their shoulders and sang “Gonna Fly Now,” the theme song from the American movie Rocky.
Perhaps Kim Jong-un’s desire to soar was reflected in the selection of this song.
The shocking moment was when the singers turned around and shook their hips.
In North Korea, it is generally forbidden for singers to turn their backs on the audience like this. Wiggling your hips is considered seductive.
The embarrassed scientists didn’t know how to react. It must have confused them more than figuring out satellite orbits.
Their eyes wandered. They looked about them. The style of the performance was clearly foreign, the kind that the North Korean government had criticized heavily in the past.
What they didn’t know was that the long-standing rejection of foreign influence had changed. Why? Because of Kim Jong-un.
What would have been deemed anti-socialist if it came out of someone else’s head, became creative and “our way” out of his head.
That’s right—every idea must come from him alone.
He is seen as knowing more about physics than Einstein and more about music than Beethoven. I don’t say this with sarcasm. In North Korea, it’s reported that Kim Jong-un personally guided the launch of the satellite.
So, what exactly does it mean – “our way”? Why have we North Koreans chosen avoidance and denial? I say this because, if there truly is such a thing as “our way,” we could work together to develop and improve it. But in actuality it doesn’t exist. Given this – or given that no one seems to really know what it is – people have chosen to avoid it.
“Our way” means rejecting anything foreign and any foreign advancements. By dismissing anything advanced as “their way,” all that remains is “our way,” which is by definition backward.
This approach is highly effective in controlling North Koreans, as it makes them forget the reality of their backwardness. Even poverty can be packaged as “our way.” If living alone, self-pitying and poor in a closed society is “our way,” what possible reason is there to hold onto it? If that’s what “our way” is, then I’m sorry, but I’ll pass.
“Our way” is nothing more than a political tool to control the masses.
Take that image of Kim Jong-un at the ICBM launch site.
Surely, I am not the only one who saw Tom Cruise in Kim Jong-un’s black sunglasses and black leather jacket?
Of course, once again, Kim Jong-un will claim that this posturing is “our way,” but I wonder why the embarrassment always seems to fall on me.
Born in Chongjin in 1990, Jang Mi was not a studious child, but under her mother’s influence, she graduated from high school and went on to university to take math and science. She worked as a wedding video editor for seven years until her defection in 2019.
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