Opinion - The Korea Times

Education about N. Korea

By Andrei Lankov What are South Korean children told about North Korea? How has the North been presented in South Korean education? These are important issues since in many ― if not most ― cases one’s worldview is determined by what he or she learned at school. Education in South Korea is dominated by the state, perhaps to a somewhat greater degree than in many other developed countries. From the end of the Korean War until the collapse of the military dictatorships in the late 1980s, the state attitude towards the North was highly negative. Suffice to say that until 1972, North Korea could not be described as ``North Korea” (북한) in South Korean official documents and media. The only proper description was ``Bukgui” (북괴), literally meaning ``Northern puppets.” Many Koreans in their 40s and 50s might occasionally tell you that in their childhood they believed that the northern half of the Korean Peninsula is actually populated by demons ― real demons, that is, complete with tails and horns. Sometimes one can come across statements that such stories were part of obligator

Mar 25, 2012By Andrei Lankov

Andrei Lankov

New breed of N. Koreans

By Andrei Lankov The present author has never made secret his views regarding the future of the North Korean regime: I believe that in the long run, it is doomed. There are many things which are likely to eventually bring the Kim family down, and one of them is the generational shift. Generations change and this type of turnover has always been a significant factor in historical events. Nowadays in North Korea, one can see the rise of a new generation, whose ideas and values are very different from those of their father’s and, for that matter, their grandfather’s. These are people who entered their teenage years after the death of Kim Il-sung in 1994, when North Korean began to be dramatically transformed. This can be described in a nutshell as ``marketization from below.” Now in their late 20s and early 30s this group has never really experienced the world which once determined the lives of their parents. Nearly all North Koreans above the age of 35, became adults in a monolithic state-controlled society, which had been developed under the leadership of Kim Il-sung fro

Mar 11, 2012By Andrei Lankov

Andrei Lankov

N. Korea‘s first family

By Andrei Lankov The recent promotion of Kim Jong-un, now the “Supreme Leader” of North Korea, has once again confirmed what has been known since the 1970s: North Korea is an absolute monarchy in all but name. Predictably, this has stimulated much public interest in the intricate web of the family relations of the nation’s hereditary oligarchy, the Kim family itself, which has remained at the helm of the regime for nearly 70 years. For the moment, we can forget about dalliances and children of Kim Il-sung, the founding father of the dynasty. It seems that the dynastic politics nowadays revolve around Kim Jong-il’s immediate family ― his only surviving sister, her husband Jang Seong-taek and, above all, Kim Jong-il’s four known children (including new leader, Kim Jong-un). Admittedly, not much is known about North Korea’s first family. Their life cannot become the topic of gossip columns in Pyongyang’s tabloids (for the obvious reason that there are no tabloids in Pyongyang). Even the North Korean public seldom discusses this issue since they have learnt the hard way th

Feb 26, 2012By Andrei Lankov

Andrei Lankov

Rating Kim Jong-il era

By Andrei Lankov So, the Kim Jong-il era is over. How will it be remembered by Koreans? Perhaps, it will remain in their memory as times of instability and change. Marshal Kim Jong-il’s North Korea was very different from the North Korea which was created by his father, Generalissimo Kim Il-sung. To simplify things a bit, one can say that prior to the late 1980s, North Korea was arguably the most Stalinist society the world had ever seen. The state owned virtually everything. All food and many consumption goods were distributed by the state. A small horde of enforcers and informers insured that everything would move in accordance with countless regulations. The career and income of the average North Korean was determined almost exclusively by his or her position in the elaborate state hierarchy. Kim Jong-il’s North Korea was different. The public distribution system collapsed, and only a minority of the population still receive subsidised food rations. Everyone else has to buy food at the markets at the market price but the official salary is well below the subsistence leve

Jan 29, 2012By Andrei Lankov

Andrei Lankov

N. Korea’s political calculations

By Andrei Lankov This year, President Lee Myung-bak’s New Year address paid much attention to North Korea issues. The South Korean President warned the North against fresh provocations but the general tone of his speech was conciliatory. Lee said that now is the time to put aside past problems and start to rebuild relations anew. Tellingly, he did not repeat that Seoul expects Pyongyang to apologize for the two military incidents of 2010 ― the sinking of the Cheonan and the shelling of Yeongpyeong Island. Are there chances that Pyongyang will react to this charm offensive and rush to resume talks with Seoul? Don’t hold your breath ― such chances are very remote. Pyongyang decision makers understand perfectly well that an immediate detente is not in their long-term interests. Pyongyang’s foreign policy goals are surprisingly easy to describe: They are regime security and obtaining unconditional aid (the former is an absolute priority with the latter a rather distant but still significant second). In other words, North Korea’s foreign policy makers want to squeeze as much

Jan 15, 2012By Andrei Lankov

Andrei Lankov

Impenetrable North Korea

By Andrei Lankov The last two weeks were quite an annoying experience for the present author in one regard: people asked questions which have no answers, questions about personal politics in Pyongyang. It is understandable that journalists and diplomats want to know about relations between Jang Song-thaek and Ri Yong-ho, two top advisers to Kim Jong-un, or, say, about Jang’s attitude to the economic reforms. Alas, such questions cannot really be answered. Both the general public and political decision makers feel themselves enlightened when they are told about factions, power rivalry, clashes of personal ambition and complicated political intrigues. When it comes to the vast majority of countries across the globe, such stuff indeed comprises the mainstay of political reporting. But North Korea is different. A small secret of North Korean watchers: we, the outsiders, don’t know much about what is happening in the corridors of power in Pyongyang. Frankly, most of the time we are entirely ignorant, and a very large part of what is reported in the media is based on unreliabl

Jan 1, 2012By Andrei Lankov

Andrei Lankov

Challenges in post-Kim Jong-il era

By Andrei Lankov Everybody knew that Marshall Kim Jong-il was going to die sooner rather than later. Nonetheless, his death came as a complete surprise to both North Koreans and the outside world. It seems that Kim himself assumed that he would live many more years ― at least he was not as careful in preparing for a power transfer as his father. Indeed, only in early 2010 did the people of North Korea actually learn that a new genius of leadership had been born in their country. In October the same year, Kim Jong-un, Kim Jong-il’s third son, appeared in public for the first time. It is not widely realized though, that technically speaking, Kim Jong-un had been made heir-designate. When the father died, his son was merely a top official and four-star general (never seen in uniform, though). This situation has led many to speculate that the young Kim, obviously lacking a power base and experience, will become a sitting duck for rival contenders in the court of the now dead elder Kim. Admittedly, such a turn of events cannot be ruled out. As is known, the deaths of both Jos

Dec 25, 2011By Andrei Lankov

Andrei Lankov

N. Korea in South’s textbook

By Andrei Lankov What are South Korean children being told about the North? How has North Korea been presented in South Korean education? These are important issues since in many ― if not most ― cases, one’s worldview is decided by what he or she learned at school. Education in South Korea is dominated by the state ― perhaps, to a somewhat greater degree than in many other developed countries. From the end of the Korean War until the collapse of the military dictatorships in the late 1980s, the state’s attitude towards the North was highly negative. Suffice to say that until 1972, North Korea could not be described as ``North Korea” (북한) in South Korean official documents and media. The only proper description was ``Bukgoe” (북괴), literally meaning ``Northern puppets.” Many Koreans in their forties and fifties might occasionally tell you that in their childhood they believed that the northern half of the Korean peninsula was actually populated by demons ― real demons, that is, complete with tails and horns. Sometimes one could come across statements that such stories we

Dec 19, 2011By Andrei Lankov

Andrei Lankov

Survival strategy in N. Korea

By Andrei Lankov North Korea is often described as the ``world’s last Stalinist state,” but this description became misleading a long time ago. The state sector in the North Korean economy has shrunk dramatically ― maybe, to less than half of what it used to be in 1990. The subsidized rations, once by far the most important source of calories for virtually all North Koreans, are no longer delivered to a majority of the population. Instead, the average North Korean makes a living through some form of market activity. Such activities are numerous and varied ― North Koreans trade, smuggle, provide services, manufacture consumer goods at home, and toil in semi-legal private fields. Officially, this entire booming private sector does not exist. The North Korean state does not recognize it. The authorities still demand that all adult males and unmarried females attend their official work place. However, this demand is completely unrealistic since rations are no longer delivered (or sometimes delivered only partially), whilst the official monthly salary would buy merely one or

Dec 4, 2011By Andrei Lankov

Andrei Lankov

Still weird and poor

By Andrei Lankov Back in the 1970s, the present author was a teenager in the still Soviet city of Leningrad. Of course, I occasionally had to have a haircut, and while waiting for my turn, I spent time reading magazines in the waiting area. Somewhat surprisingly glossy magazines from North Korea were always nearly displayed there. These propaganda monthlies were subscribed by managers who believed that patrons would find North Korean promotion amusing. Sales of the ``Korea” magazine ― the major propaganda mouthpiece of Pyongyang ― in the 1970s, the Soviet Union must have been huge, so the North Korean embassy must have reported to the Pyongyang headquarters about the dramatic success of their propaganda efforts. However, these proud reports were completely unfounded. It is true that many Soviet citizens subscribed to the ``Korea” monthly. But most of them did it because they saw it as objects of ridicule where one could get a cheap laugh. Indeed, in the Soviet Union in the 1960s and 1970s, North Korea was one of the least popular communist countries (it probably cam

Nov 20, 2011By Andrei Lankov

Andrei Lankov

Read more

Education about N. Korea

New breed of N. Koreans

N. Korea‘s first family

Rating Kim Jong-il era

N. Korea’s political calculations

Impenetrable North Korea

Challenges in post-Kim Jong-il era

N. Korea in South’s textbook

Survival strategy in N. Korea

Still weird and poor

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