Beyond stereotypes: New book delves into N. Korea’s real language culture

A woman looks at a screen showing the newspaper "Rodongsinmun" with news on the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping, in Kaeson Station of the Pyongyang Metro, June 9. AFP-Yonhap

North Koreans' language habits may seem familiar even to those who have never witnessed them firsthand. Through portrayals of North Korean soldiers in films, comedians imitating North Korean speech, and television programs featuring North Korean defectors, many South Koreans feel they already have a sense of how North Koreans speak.

Since the South Korean government reclassified the Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of North Korea's ruling Workers' Party, as general public material late last year, anyone can now easily access authentic examples of North Korean written language.

Yet fully understanding the "Pyongyang Cultural Language," North Korea's version of the standard language, remains far from easy.

Even the word for "mutual" has changed. While both Koreas once commonly used "sangho," North Korea now exclusively uses "hosang," rejecting the former as a South Korean-style expression found in terms such as the Korea-U.S. Mutual Defense Treaty.

One can understand the desire to replace foreign loanwords with native Korean terms, but seeing even well-established vocabulary altered in ways that widen the linguistic gap between the North and South can feel somewhat disheartening.

Jeong So-un, a director at the National Institute for Peace, Unification and Democracy Education, affiliated with the Ministry of Unification, explains the reason succinctly: "From the start, North Korea never wanted its language to remain the same as South Korea's."

Cover of the book "The Purest and Finest Language in the World" by Jeong So-un

The title of Jeong's new book, "The Purest and Finest Language in the World," comes from a phrase North Korean authorities use to glorify their cultural language.

Three years ago, North Korea denounced South Korean speech as "puppet language" and "mixed-up language" and enacted the Pyongyang Cultural Language Protection Act, under which those who use "puppet-style speech" can face penalties as severe as execution.

How the linguistic gap has widened

The roots of this unusual linguistic pride lie in the "language refinement" campaign launched in 1966.

The goal was to replace all foreign loanwords with native Korean alternatives. However, in the 21st century — an era of rapid technological and cultural change — it proved impossible to eliminate linguistic influences from Russian, Chinese, Japanese and English.

As a result, many officially promoted replacements failed to gain traction. For example, "dajin-sogogi-gyeopppang" ("ground-beef layered bread") lost out to the universally recognized word "hamburger" and eventually became a non-standard term.

In a society where even politically neutral onomatopoeia, mimetic expressions, and newborns' names are subject to regulation, one area of speech remains relatively safe for ordinary people: proverbs.

When expressing one's personal feelings, opinions, or judgments can be risky, proverbs offer protection because they are viewed as time-tested wisdom rather than individual viewpoints.

North and South Korea also differ sharply in their views on linguistic etiquette.

North Korea regards regional dialects as violations of proper morality and courtesy and seeks to eliminate them. Yet when referring to "enemies," it freely employs harsh insults and even derogatory comments about physical appearance.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and North Korea leader Kim Jong-un applaud during an artistic performance at the Pyongyang Gymnasium in Pyongyang, June 8. Xinhua-Yonhap

Words such as "geui" (he or that person) and "eobeoi" (parent), which are ordinary expressions in South Korea, are reserved almost exclusively for the supreme leader in North Korea. According to the author, this serves as evidence of the quasi-dynastic nature of the North Korean system.

Many words widely believed to be examples of North Korean speech are, in fact, rarely used there. Terms such as "eoreum-bosungi" (ice puff) and "kkoburang-guksu" (curly noodles) are often introduced as representative examples of North Korean vocabulary despite lacking widespread use.

A view of the Grand People's Study House in Pyongyang / TASS-Yonhap

Jeong argues that this misconception stems largely from treating North Korea as a source of entertainment.

"People have often consumed North Korea merely for amusement. Whether something is true or not matters less than whether it seems surprising or funny. Once a word is incorrectly introduced as North Korean, it rarely gets corrected."

What hurts the most is the official name of the country. In January 2024, Kim Jong-un declared that the South and North are not the same people and do not seek unification, defining them as 'two hostile states' and officially using Republic of Korea instead of "Namjoseon."

While this has only deepened the severance and lack of communication, the author notes: "Even so, people must understand each other's language. The final chapter of division will be decided by the collective knowledge and capabilities we build along the way."

Children dance during the 76th anniversary of International Children's Day at the Taesongsan Pleasure Park in Pyongyang, June 1. AP-Yonhap

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.