The Birth of Korea Documentary Leaves No Room to Deny Achievements of Syngman Rhee
“If it weren’t for President Syngman Rhee, South Korea today would hardly differ from North Korea,” said Jo Dong Jin, a 45-year-old North Korean defector. Jo made the comment on February 23 after watching The Birth of Korea, a documentary on South Korea’s first president which has been creating something of a sensation since its release in mid-January.
Kim Il Sung-Kim Jong Il Fund, “Using the Dead to Exploit the Living”
The bodies of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, the North Korean leaders who died in 1994 and 2011 respectively, are enshrined in the...
The Differing Views of North Korean Women on Human Rights Activism
Why is it that women who defect from North Korea and come straight to South Korea have a different attitude to human rights activism than...
Russian Foreign Minister Visits Cuba on the Heels of Surprise Havana-Seoul Ties Announcement
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met with Cuba’s President and Communist Party First Secretary, Miguel Díaz-Canel, in Havana Monday at the start of a Latin American tour that appears designed to shore up Moscow’s declining influence in the region.
Defectors Prefer a Preemptive Strike to Remove Kim Jong Un but Speaking Softly and Carrying a Big Stick is the Wiser Strategy
One of the options for dealing with North Korea’s military provocations is a preemptive strike, on military targets and/or on Kim Jong Un himself. Given what could go wrong, this is a scary idea, especially for those of us living close by in South Korea. It also appears somehow undemocratic or certainly unpeaceful for a democracy to even consider it. Furthermore, why advocate war in a situation where war has been avoided for 70 years?
Secret Police Intensifies Pressure on Defectors’ Families
The secret police in North Korea has increased surveillance and suppression of families of people known to have defected to South Korea. Defectors say they have been receiving more worrying news about their relatives since Kim Jong Un re-framed South Korea as the North’s number one enemy on January 15.
The Changing View of the Dictator’s Gifts
On the last day of school last year, parents all over North Korea dressed up and made their way to nurseries and kindergartens for a special ceremony. There their children received a gift from the leader, Kim Jong Un, of sugary sweets and other goodies.
North Korea’s Internal War Against South Korean Culture and Market Ideas May Be Unwinnable
As the generation of North Koreans who grew up familiar with the jangmadang market system enters adulthood, the state is cracking down harshly to prevent their “impure” attitudes and tastes – which include a preference for South Korean music and movies – from going mainstream.
Provincial Governments Tap Wealthy Traders to Donate for Regional Development
Provincial governments are conducting a donation campaign targeting wealthy merchants to fund local development projects, according to sources in North Korea.
Is Something Happening in North Korea? 6,000 Young Adults Forcibly Sent to Mines and Farms in January
Young adults are being forcibly relocated to mines and rural areas in increasing numbers, according to recent defectors and sources in North Korea.
No Rest on Sunday for North Koreans
The second Sunday of every month in North Korea is officially designated as Sports Day. People go to the workplace, but instead of doing their usual job, they engage in team sports and physical recreation.
Collecting Taxes in the Country of No Taxation
Back in June 2018, after watching news of the summit between Kim Jong Un and then-US President Donald J. Trump on TV, a friend in my hometown had a quirky suggestion.
Workers’ Party Directive Instructs Diplomats to Gain Chinese Recognition of North Korea as a Nuclear Power
With its confidence boosted by recently strengthened ties with Russia, North Korea is setting its sights on recognition by China of its status as a nuclear power.
A Gift of Rice for Lunar New Year: Propaganda versus Reality
For Lunar New Year, which falls this year on Saturday, February 10, the recently established grain sales centers (which replaced the old distribution centers), were authorized to sell 3 kilograms of rice to each household. Officials characterized this as a thoughtful gesture by the Workers’ Party. But our impression from sources in North Korea is that citizens increasingly see such things as impractical propaganda.
“Music Politics” Shows the Changing View of Women in North Korea
In recent years, the changing role of women in North Korean society, brought on by the famine of the 1990s, has become apparent through the...
Are North Koreans Becoming Aware of the Concept of Human Rights?
Growing up in North Korea, I was not familiar with “human rights.” It wasn’t that I was just unaware of what it meant. I didn’t even know the concept existed. I hadn’t heard the phrase. This was not just ignorance on my part or among my friends and family members. I’ve found since escaping North Korea that, with the exception of a few elite defectors, none of us knew. We all lived without knowing what human rights were.
Latest Study Guides for Ideological Indoctrination
The ruling Workers’ Party produced its annual Study Guide last month, which provides a rare window into political indoctrination and the devotion with which everyone from top officials to ordinary workers is expected to approach it.
Foreign Currency is Now the Key to North Korea’s Survival
Despite being closed off from the world, politically and economically, North Korea cannot survive without foreign currency. This, of course, applies to some degree to all countries in the international trading system. But ever since the 1994-1998 famine – which North Koreans refer to as the ‘Arduous March’ – foreign currency earning in the country has taken on a unique character. Not only has it become the key to the country’s continued survival. But the system itself that depends on it can no longer be considered normal.