: The Role of Narrative in Polarization, Water For All? The state with the most leverage regarding North Korea is South Korea. An intimidating poster in a primary school in North Korea. Under the iron-clad rule of the late Kim Jong-il, artists were not granted the freedom to paint what they wanted, instead having to adhere to a “strict list of instructions”. The United States is dead last. Kim Il Sung’s birth conveniently fell on April 15, 1912, the same day the Titanic sunk. “I got into it because my family was too poor to send me to university and I had an interest,” he explains. Elizabeth Anderson is a sophomore pursuing a degree in International Relations with a minor in Asian Studies. ‘Potato Pride’ is a fine example, the song’s sole purpose seemingly just to elevate the status of the potato. North Korea is the second happiest country behind China, according to North Korean researchers. Paektu. However, there are also likely people who have zero faith in the state. It allows our most engaged readers to debate the big issues, share their own experiences, discuss real-world solutions, and more. Jang worked in Pyongyang as a propaganda poet and assisted with the rewriting of Kim Jong Il’s biography. While we get glimpses of fist-pumping rallies, military weapon parades and Pyongyang’s deserted grey streets on the news, much about the hermit kingdom still remains unknown. After the fall of the Soviet Union, stories about North Korea’s relationship with the Soviet Union were modified to give the impression that North Korea had been skeptical about the survival of the Soviet state since the very beginning. There are likely people who believe in the North Korean state and trust the stories they are told. Start with Financial Supervisory Authorities, What’s in a Story? His purging of most of his father’s government was with the intention of proving himself as a strong and legitimate leader. A poster on the window next to one of the venues we visited in Pyongyang, Kids playing football next to the Arch of Triumph. It’s also expensive - I’ve heard brokers charge 1000 euros to pass messages.”. An Examination of Water Scarcity and Privatization in South Africa, The Effectiveness of Declaring a Climate Emergency, Proxies and Power: Addressing the Attribution Problem in Cyberspace, Moscow’s Mad Monk: Aleksandr Dugin and Eurasianism, Constitutional Amendments and the Future Political Course of the Russian Federation, President Trump's Travel Ban: 2020 Updates, An Analysis on Cryptocurrency and Future Regulatory Provisions, U.S. Policy Towards Saudi Arabia: The Up's and Down's, Nationwide Internet Blackout Showcases Iran’s Increasing Digital Authoritarianism, Inefficacy of Trump’s ‘Maximum Pressure’ Campaign, What's Next? The following quote is Jang Jin Sung’s take on this issue: “North Koreans are people, and they aren’t stupid. North Korean children learn the history of the three Kim leaders - Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Il, and Kim Jong Un - starting in preschool. What is that? North Korea has no incentive to loosen their censorship. I was released after six months because there were so many people dying in prison, and they were tired of getting rid of the dead, so they told the prisoners to go home and die there.”. Back then I believed our leader was the best man in the world, like a god,” he recalls. With the rising number of defectors each year, it is clear that more and more North Koreans are aware of the situation they are in and are actively trying to escape. Ultimately, South Korea is the sole government that could potentially improve the freedom of speech in North Korea. Every year, a state-owned publishing house releases several cartoons (called geurim-chaek (Korean: 그림책) in North Korea), many of which are smuggled across the Chinese border and, sometimes, end up in university libraries in the United States. What is fake? Ultimately, the intense censorship serves as a protection for the Kim family and their continued survival as dictators. Satire was not always a medium available to Mr Song. It is likely that fake news will continue to prevail in North Korea for some time to come. North Korea has no incentive to stop their censorship, propaganda, or rewriting of history. This man had just enough time to save either his children or the portraits of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il. What is true? Rumors said he was “stripped naked and fed to 120 dogs”; however there is no factual basis for this claim. The most well-known executed official was Jang Song Thaek, Kim Jong Un’s uncle. North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un watches a military drill marking the 85th anniversary of the establishment of the Korean People's Army (KPA), A military drill marking the 85th anniversary of the establishment of the Korean People's Army (KPA) is seen in this handout photo by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), A military drill marking the 85th anniversary of the establishment of the Korean People's Army (KPA). “I was held in a prison specifically for North Koreans in China who were captured between the borders of China and North Korea. Reshaping began after the Korean War in the 1950s when North Korea was established as its own state. Historical reshaping became a talking point of international media in the early 2010s, following the release of the memoir Dear Leader by Jang Jin-Sung. 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