Propaganda is widely used and produced by the government of
North Korea
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...
(DPRK). Most propaganda is based on the ''
Juche
''Juche'' ( ; ), officially the ''Juche'' idea (), is the state ideology of North Korea and the official ideology of the Workers' Party of Korea. North Korean sources attribute its conceptualization to Kim Il-sung, the country's founder and f ...
''
ideology and on the promotion of the
Workers' Party of Korea
The Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) is the founding and sole ruling party of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, commonly known as North Korea. Founded in 1949 from the merger of the Workers' Party of North Korea and the Workers' Party ...
.
The first syllable of ''Juche'', "ju", means the man; the second syllable, "che", means body of oneself.
Article 3 of the
Socialist Constitution proclaims, "The DPRK is guided in its activities by the ''Juche'' idea, a world outlook centered on people, a revolutionary ideology for achieving the independence of the masses of people."
Many pictures of the
supreme leaders are posted throughout the country.
Themes
Cult of personality
![Sinpyong Lake, North Korea (2921982738)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7c/Sinpyong_Lake%2C_North_Korea_%282921982738%29.jpg)
North Korean propaganda was crucial to the formation and promotion of the
cult of personality centered around the founder of the
DPRK
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...
,
Kim Il-sung
Kim Il-sung (; , ; born Kim Song-ju, ; 15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994) was a North Korean politician and the founder of North Korea, which he ruled from the country's establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994. He held the posts of ...
. The Soviet Union used propaganda to develop a cult of personality around Kim, particularly as a
Korean resistance
The Korean independence movement was a military and diplomatic campaign to achieve the independence of Korea from Japan. After the Japanese annexation of Korea in 1910, Korea's domestic resistance peaked in the March 1st Movement of 1919, which ...
fighter, as soon as they put him in power. This quickly surpassed its Eastern European models. Instead of depicting his actual residence in a Soviet village during the war with the Japanese, he was claimed to have fought a guerrilla war from a .
Once relations with the Soviet Union were broken off, their role was expurgated, as were all other nationalists, until the claim was made that Kim founded the Communist Party in North Korea. He is seldom shown in action during the
Korean War
, date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
, instead, soldiers are depicted as inspired by him. Subsequently, many stories are recounted of his "
on-the-spot guidance
"On-the-spot guidance" (also "guidance tours" or "field guidance") is a term used in the North Korean mass media to describe appearances by the supreme leader of North Korea, often at sites related to the military or to industry, at which the lea ...
" in various locations, many of them being openly presented as fictional.
This was supplemented with propaganda on behalf of his son,
Kim Jong-il. The
North Korean famine
The North Korean Famine (), also known as the Arduous March or the March of Suffering (), was a period of mass starvation together with a general economic crisis from 1994 to 1998 in North Korea. During this time there was an increase in defec ...
of the 1990s, referred to as a "food shortage" by DPRK propaganda, produced anecdotes of Kim insisting on eating the same meager food as other North Koreans.
Propaganda efforts began for the "Young General",
Kim Jong-un, who succeeded him as the paramount leader of North Korea on
Kim Jong-il's death in December 2011.
Foreign relations
![DPRK Museum painting 1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/59/DPRK_Museum_painting_1.jpg)
Early propaganda, in the 1940s, presented a positive Soviet–Korean relationship, often depicting Russians as maternal figures to childlike Koreans. As soon as relations were less cordial, they were expurgated from historical accounts. The collapse of the USSR, without a shot, is often depicted with intense contempt in sources not accessible to Russians.
Americans are depicted particularly negatively.
They are presented as an inherently evil race, with whom hostility is the only possible relationship. The Korean War is used as a source for atrocities, less for the bombing raids than on charges of massacre. June 25 is considered the start of "Struggle Against US Imperialism Month" (informally called "Hate America Month" in the U.S. media), which is commemorated by anti-U.S. mass rallies at
Kim Il-sung Square __NOTOC__
Kim Il-sung Square is a large city square in the Central District of Pyongyang, North Korea, and is named after the country's founding leader, Kim Il-sung. The square was constructed in 1954 according to a master plan for reconstructing ...
in the capital Pyongyang. In 2018, these rallies were cancelled in what the
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...
called "another sign of
detente following
the summit between leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump" that same year.
Japan is frequently depicted as rapacious and dangerous, both in the colonial era and afterward. North Korean propaganda frequently highlighted the danger of Japanese remilitarization. At the same time, the intensity of anti-Japanese propaganda underwent repeated fluctuations, depending on the improvement or deterioration of Japanese-DPRK relations. In those periods when North Korea was on better terms with Japan than with South Korea, North Korean propaganda essentially ignored the
Liancourt Rocks dispute
The Liancourt Rocks dispute is a territorial dispute between South Korea and Japan. Both countries claim sovereignty over the Liancourt Rocks, a group of small islets in the Sea of Japan which are referred to as "Dokdo" () in Korean and in Ja ...
. However, if Pyongyang felt threatened by Japanese–South Korean rapprochement or sought to cooperate with Seoul against Tokyo, the North Korean media promptly raised the issue, with the aim of causing friction in Japanese–ROK relations.
Friendly nations are depicted almost exclusively as
tributary nations.
The English journalist
Christopher Hitchens
Christopher Eric Hitchens (13 April 1949 – 15 December 2011) was a British-American author and journalist who wrote or edited over 30 books (including five essay collections) on culture, politics, and literature. Born and educated in England, ...
pointed out in the essay "A Nation of Racist Dwarfs" that propaganda has a blatantly racist and nationalistic angle:
South Korea
![Demilitarized Zone, North Korea (2914652546)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/04/Demilitarized_Zone%2C_North_Korea_%282914652546%29.jpg)
South Korea was originally depicted as a poverty-stricken land which was run by harsh and cruel dictators backed by the US and where American soldiers based there shot and slaughtered Korean women and children, but by the 1990s, too much information reached North Korea to prevent their learning that South Korea had a much stronger economy and higher living standards and quality of life, including political and social freedom, and as a result, North Korean propaganda admitted to it. However, their line taken was that this had not managed to prevent their South Korean brethren from yearning for the unification of their land and of "racial-purification" of their peoples.
Racial pride
North Korean propaganda often invokes Koreans as the purest of races, with a mystical bond with the natural beauty of the landscape. The color white is often invoked as a symbol of this purity, as in a painting of the "Fatherland Liberation War" (or Korean War) which depicts female partisans washing and hanging out white blouses, despite the way it would have made them visible to attack.
In contrast to Stalinist depictions of people steeling themselves, preparing themselves intellectually, and so growing up and becoming fit to create Communism, the usual image in North Korean literature is of a spontaneous virtue that revolts against intellectualism but naturally does what is right.
Stories often have only mildly flawed Korean characters, who are easily reformed because of their inherently pure nature. This device has resulted in problems such as lack of conflict and hence dullness.
South Korea is often depicted as a place of dangerous racial contamination.
"Military first"
![Fahey DSCF2839 (6074653969)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/60/Fahey_DSCF2839_%286074653969%29.jpg)
Under
Kim Jong-il, a major theme was the need of Kim to attend to the military first of all (in North Korea, this policy is called ''
Songun
''Songun'' is the " military-first" policy of North Korea, prioritizing the Korean People's Army in the affairs of state and allocation of resources. "Military-first" as a principle guides political and economic life in North Korea, with "mili ...
''), which required other Koreans to do without his close attention. This was a shift from the former policy of economic reform and diplomatic engagement.
This military life is presented as something that Koreans take spontaneously to, though often disobeying orders from the highest of motives.
The diplomatic offensive had failed to yield a normalization of relations with Japan. Meanwhile, relations with Russia remain cold and China was applying direct pressure on Pyongyang, thereby changing the dynamic of the long-standing relationship between the two erstwhile allies.
Devotion to the state
Romance is often depicted in stories as being triggered solely by the person's model citizenship, as when a beautiful woman is unattractive until a man learns she volunteered to work at a potato farm.
Social control
The capital city of North Korea has witnessed tight, inflexible social control since Kim Il-sung's rule, and during as well as after Kim Jong-il's rule. The
aerial bombardment of North Korean population centers inflicted the greatest loss of civilian life in the Korean War, which the North Koreans have claimed ever since was America's greatest
war crime.
Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) soldiers helped rebuild bridges, elementary schools, factories, and apartments. In February 1955, the 47th Brigade of the CPV rebuilt the
Pyongyang Electric Train Factory.
The city's reconstruction was supervised by Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il.
The DPRK, led by Kim Il-sung and supported by the Soviets, was left with a scene of complete and utter destruction; with the exception of a handful of buildings Pyongyang had been completely flattened. For a young general with socialist ideals, this was seen as a clean slate, on top of which a new country, both physically and ideologically, could be built.
Kim Jong-il favored grand scale buildings and monuments. The giant pyramid of the
Ryugyong Hotel
The Ryugyong Hotel (; sometimes spelled as Ryu-Gyong Hotel), or Yu-Kyung Hotel, more commonly known outside of North Korea as the "Hotel of Doom", is an unfinished 105-story, pyramid-shaped skyscraper in Pyongyang, North Korea. Its name ("cap ...
building, originally scheduled for completion in time for the
13th World Festival of Youth and Students
In music or music theory, a thirteenth is the note thirteen scale degrees from the root of a chord and also the interval between the root and the thirteenth. The interval can be also described as a compound sixth, spanning an octave pl ...
in 1989, is 105 stories tall. Work on the structure stopped in the early 1990s due to structural defects. The monuments dedicated to Kim Il-sung were not made to be habitable, rather, they need only to look grand. A twenty-meter bronze statue of Kim Il-sung, arm outstretched to encompass his city, sits atop . Although North Korea suffered severe economic hardships in the 1990s, Kim Jong-il had his late father's
Kumsusan Palace extensively renovated to house the
Great Leader's remains, hiring Russian specialists to embalm the corpse for permanent display.
The planning of Pyongyang was unique. It was laid out in a highly symmetrical pattern. Massive, concrete structures are erected with a harmony of pastels. They did not possess the technology to construct any other type of buildings. An example of this is the pyramidal Ryugyong Hotel. There were no advertisements except political banners and portraits of the two Kims,
billboards, coffee shops, or anything to distract from the concrete structures. There is very little traffic in the city, outdoor activities are not encouraged, and an absence of public spaces that are usually used in daily life.
Technology is in pitifully short supply in Pyongyang.
Cell phones, the intranet, and the Internet are a luxury reserved for the DPRK elite. Internet access in North Korea is restricted to a small section of the elite who have received state approval, and to foreigners living in Pyongyang. In the absence of a broadband network, the only option is through satellite internet coverage which is available in some tourist hotels.
Mobile phone use was banned in 2004, but service was re-introduced in 2008, jointly operated by the Egyptian
Orascom
Orascom Construction PLC (OC) is an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor based in Cairo, Egypt. The company was Egypt's first multinational corporation and stands at the core of the Orascom Group companies. OC is active in m ...
company and the state-owned
Korea Post and Telecommunications Corporation. According to the ''
Daily NK
''Daily NK'' is an online newspaper based in Seoul, South Korea, where it reports on various aspects of North Korean society from information obtained from inside and outside of North Korea via a network of informants. North Korea is ranked 179 ...
'' website, the new service, despite its cost, proved popular among affluent party members in Pyongyang.
Women in North Korea
![North Korea — Pyongyang Opera (1027349830)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f5/North_Korea_%E2%80%94_Pyongyang_Opera_%281027349830%29.jpg)
The cultural identity of North Korea was deeply rooted in
Confucian
Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, a way of governing, or ...
tradition and intractable Confucian family traditions. Women's identity is seen through the prism of familial relationships. It became a primary aspect of women's lives irrespective of prevalent political regime or social circumstances. Women were considered angels which men had to protect.
Women in representative propaganda productions, such as ''
Sea of Blood
''Sea of Blood'' () is a propagandist North Korean opera credited to Kim Il-sung. It was first produced as an opera by Sea of Blood Theatrical Troupe (''Pibada Guekdan'') in 1971. It was then later adapted into a novel by the Choseon Novelist ...
'' and ''
The Flower Girl'', became not only the focal point of visual composition within the traditional family structure but also the agents of ideological awakening for the newly founded
socialist state
A socialist state, socialist republic, or socialist country, sometimes referred to as a workers' state or workers' republic, is a sovereign state constitutionally dedicated to the establishment of socialism. The term '' communist state'' is of ...
.
Revolutionary operas and numerous other productions depicted as well as forged the new gender order within the structure of the "imagined" family, which gained supremacy over blood ties. The imagined family was deemed by the degree of commitment to ideological and political struggle, which separated "us" from the "enemy." Thus, imagining a family was perceived as a process of liberating women and motivating them to have a larger social presence.
The colonial experience under occupation by the Japanese, who were traditionally despised as "barbarians," propelled Koreans to evaluate their weakness vis-à-vis the concrete threat to their national
sovereignty
Sovereignty is the defining authority within individual consciousness, social construct, or territory. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within the state, as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the perso ...
. Women's backwardness was regarded as directly related to national weakness. In light of their nation's fragile future, Koreans thought women's backwardness to stem from the traditional family life, one of the most ancient institutions in
Korean society.
Women joined the labor front upon the outbreak of the Korean War. As manpower was concentrated on warfare, industry and agriculture were left to women's care. But even after the war, the North Korean leadership urged women to continue participating actively in the reconstruction of society. The practical social demand created the need for a female labor force and thus women's emancipation from the domestic sphere was legitimized under the pretext of "achieving gender equality." As Hunter points out: "In 1947, only 5 percent of industrial workers were women; by 1949, the number had jumped to 15 percent. By 1967, women accounted for almost half of the total workforce."
North Korea is a fashion-conscious nation where
political leaders strive to dress its people through rigid regulations, imposing uniforms on various social sectors and systematically recommending certain designs to civilians.
Some other socialist and authoritarian states glorified masculine clothing as a preferred means to represent revolutionized women. Contrarily, North Korean fashion has continuously expressed degrees of femininity, contradicting the astringent revolutionary spirit often identified with masculinity.
Food shortage
The
North Korean famine
The North Korean Famine (), also known as the Arduous March or the March of Suffering (), was a period of mass starvation together with a general economic crisis from 1994 to 1998 in North Korea. During this time there was an increase in defec ...
was admitted within propaganda to be solely a "food shortage", ascribed to bad weather and failure to implement Kim's teachings, but unquestionably better than situations outside North Korea.
The government urged the use of non-nutritious and even harmful "food substitutes" such as sawdust.
Practices
![Propaganda North Korea](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/35/Propaganda_North_Korea.jpg)
Every year, a state-owned publishing house releases several cartoons (called ''
geurim-chaek'' () in North Korea), many of which are smuggled across the
Chinese border and, sometimes, end up in university libraries in the United States. The books are designed to instill the ''Juche'' philosophy of Kim Il-sung (the "father" of North Korea)—radical self-reliance of the state. The plots mostly feature scheming capitalists from the United States and Japan who create dilemmas for naïve North Korean characters.
The propaganda in North Korea is controlled mainly by the
Propaganda and Agitation Department of the Workers' Party of Korea.
Posters and slogans
Posters depict the correct actions for every part of life, down to appropriate clothing.
North Korean propaganda posters are very similar to the messages portrayed by
socialist countries. North Korean propaganda posters focus on military might, utopian society and devotion to the state, and the leader's personality.
Slogans
A slogan is a memorable motto or phrase used in a clan, political, commercial, religious, and other context as a repetitive expression of an idea or purpose, with the goal of persuading members of the public or a more defined target group. T ...
are similar to that of Maoist China, containing calls to action and praises for the leadership.
Art
![Propaganda poster in a primary school - DPRK (2604154887)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a7/Propaganda_poster_in_a_primary_school_-_DPRK_%282604154887%29.jpg)
Fine art often depicts militaristic themes. ''
The Flower Girl'', a revolutionary opera allegedly penned by Kim Il-sung himself, was turned into a movie, the most popular one in North Korea. It depicts its heroine's sufferings in the colonial era until her partisan brother returns to exact vengeance on their oppressive landlord, at which point she pledges support for the revolution.
Music
The country's supreme leaders have had hymns dedicated to them that served as their signature tune and were repetitively broadcast by the state media:
*"
Song of General Kim Il-sung
The "Song of General Kim Il-sung" ( Korean: 김일성장군의 노래) is a North Korean marching song composed by Kim Won-gyun in 1946. As a part of an ongoing cult of personality, the song praising Kim Il-sung, North Korea's "Eternal Presiden ...
" (for Kim Il-sung)
* "
Song of General Kim Jong-il
The "Song of General Kim Jong-il" () is a marching song from North Korea. It was composed by Sol Myong-sun(설명순,1936-2012) and the words were written by Sin Un-ho(신운호,1941-March 24,2020) in 1997.
The song praises the " Eternal Genera ...
" and "
No Motherland Without You
"No Motherland Without You" (or "Ode to Kim Jong Il"), is a North Korean song about the country's second supreme leader, Kim Jong Il. Composed by Hwang Jin Young and written by , it extols the proclaimed talent and virtues of Kim, and the North Ko ...
" (for Kim Jong-il)
* "
Footsteps", "
Onwards Toward the Final Victory
"Onwards Toward the Final Victory" () is a North Korean propaganda hymn dedicated to the country's leader Kim Jong-un. It continues the tradition of North Korean supreme leaders having hymns dedicated to them, as was the case with Kim's grandfath ...
" and "
We Will Follow You Only" (for Kim Jong-un)
Film
![Pyongyang Film Studio mural detail](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/40/Pyongyang_Film_Studio_mural_detail.jpg)
The North Korean government also runs a film industry. North Korean movies depict the glory of North Korean life and the atrocities of
Western Imperialism
Imperialism is the state policy, practice, or advocacy of extending power and dominion, especially by direct territorial acquisition or by gaining political and economic control of other areas, often through employing hard power (economic and ...
, with a key role of providing on-screen role models.
[ The film industry is run through Pyongyang University of Cinematic and Dramatic Arts.] Kim Jong-il was a self-proclaimed genius of film.[ In 1973, he authored '']On the Art of the Cinema
''On the Art of the Cinema'' () is a 1973 treatise by the North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. It is considered the most authoritative work on North Korean filmmaking.
The book sets forth several original theories, which can be applied to the ...
'', a treatise on film theory and filmmaking. He was rumored to own over 20,000 DVDs in his personal collection. Kim believed that cinema was the most important of the arts. Domestically, these films are given lavish receptions. International critics cite the films as propaganda, because of their unreal depictions of North Korea. Recently, there has been an increase in animated films. The animated films carry political and military messages aimed at the youth of North Korea.
Leaflets
The North Korean government is known for dropping propaganda leaflets to South Korean soldiers, just across the Demilitarized Zone
A demilitarized zone (DMZ or DZ) is an area in which treaties or agreements between nations, military powers or contending groups forbid military installations, activities, or personnel. A DZ often lies along an established frontier or bounda ...
. The leaflets are dropped across in a floating balloon. The leaflets criticize the South Korean government and praise North Korea.
Social media
North Korea made its first entry into the social media market in 2010. The country has launched its own website, Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...
page,[ ]YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
channel, Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
account,[ and ]Flickr
Flickr ( ; ) is an American image hosting and video hosting service, as well as an online community, founded in Canada and headquartered in the United States. It was created by Ludicorp in 2004 and was a popular way for amateur and profession ...
page. The profile picture of all social media accounts, according to the official Korean Central News Agency
The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) is the state news agency of North Korea. The agency portrays the views of the North Korean government for both domestic and foreign consumption. It was established on December 5, 1946 and now features onli ...
, is the Three Charters for National Reunification Memorial Tower, a monument in Pyongyang that "reflects the strong will of the 70 million Korean people to achieve the reunification of the country with their concerted effort."[
]
''Uriminzokkiri''
''Uriminzokkiri
''Uriminzokkiri'' () is a North Korean state-controlled news website, much of whose content is syndicated from other news groups within the country, such as KCNA. Aside from on their own website, Uriminzokkiri also distributes information over ...
'' is a website that provides Korean-language news and propaganda from North Korea's central news agency. The website offers translation in Korean, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, and English. Uriminzokkiri means 'on our own as our nation'. The site includes articles entitled "South Korea's Pro-US/Japan Corporate Media: Endless Demonization Campaigns Against DPRK", "The Project for New American Century: The New World Order & The US's Continued CRIMES" and "Kim Jong-un Sends Musical Instruments to Children's Palaces". The website also contains a page for tv.urminzokkiri. This page contains videos showing news clips criticizing imperialist movements, clips showing the bravery of Korean people and the power of its military.
Facebook
The North Korean Facebook account, also titled Uriminzokkiri, appeared a week after the South Korean government blocked the North Korean Twitter account.[ The page represents "the intentions of North and South Koreas and compatriots abroad, who wish for peace, prosperity, and unification of our homeland". There were over 50 posts on Uriminzokkiri's wall, including links to reports that criticize South Korea and the U.S. as "warmongers", photos of picturesque North Korean landscapes and a YouTube video of a dance performance celebrating leader Kim Jong-il, "guardian of the homeland and creator of happiness".]
YouTube
The channel named Uriminzokkiri was opened in July 2010.[ It has uploaded over 11,000 videos, including clips that condemn and mock South Korea and the U.S. for blaming North Korea for the sinking of a South Korean warship in March 2010. The account has posted videos dubbing United States Secretary of State ]Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
a "Maniac in a Skirt". The account had over 3,000 subscribers and over 3.3 million views as of 28 November 2012; by early 2015, numbers had grown to over 11,000 subscribers and more than 11 million views. On 5 February 2013, a propaganda film that featured New York in flames was blocked and then taken down after Activision
Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It serves as the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios. Activision is one ...
pointed out that the video used copyrighted footage from '' Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3''. The channel was shut down in 2017.
Twitter
The government's official Twitter account is also named Uriminzok ('Our race'). It gained 8,500 followers in the first week.[ As of 28 November 2012, the account had almost 11,000 followers and had sent out almost 5,000 tweets; by early 2015, the account had sent almost 13,000 messages and had close to 20,000 followers. In January 2011, the Korean-language account was hacked and featured messages calling for North Korean citizens to start an uprising. In April 2013, the country's Twitter account was hacked by the online activist group Anonymous.
]
Flickr
The Flickr account was started in August 2010 and deactivated in April 2013 but is now active from some point in 2017. The site included many pictures of Kim Jong-un receiving applause from the military; children eating, in school, and enjoying life; booming agriculture; and modern city life. The Urminzokkiri Flickr account was hacked by Anonymous in April 2013, as part of the group's attack on North Korea's social media accounts.
Propaganda village
Kijong-dong is a village in Pyonghwa-ri, Kaesong-si. It is situated in the North's half of the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and is also known in North Korea as "Peace Village" ().
The official position of the North Korean government is that the village contains a 200-family collective farm, serviced by a childcare center, kindergarten, primary and secondary schools, and a hospital. However, observation from the South suggests that the town is actually an uninhabited Potemkin village
In politics and economics, a Potemkin village (russian: link=no, потёмкинские деревни, translit=potyómkinskiye derévni}) is any construction (literal or figurative) whose sole purpose is to provide an external façade to a co ...
built at great expense in the 1950s in a propaganda effort to encourage defections from South Korea and to house the DPRK soldiers manning the extensive network of artillery positions, fortifications and underground marshalling bunkers that abut the border zone.
See also
* Voice of Korea
Voice of Korea () is the international broadcasting service of North Korea. It broadcasts primarily information in Chinese, Spanish, German, English, French, Russian, Japanese and Arabic. Until 2002 it was known as Radio Pyongyang. The inter ...
* Media coverage of North Korea Media coverage of North Korea (officially known as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea) is hampered by an extreme lack of reliable information. There are a number of reasons for this lack of information.
Access to North Korea by foreign news ...
* Historical revision of the Korean War by North Korea
* ''Let's trim our hair in accordance with the socialist lifestyle
''Let's trim our hair in accordance with the socialist lifestyle'' (alternatively translated as ''Let us trim our hair in accordance with Socialist lifestyle'') was a television program broadcast on state-run Korean Central Television in North ...
''
* List of American and British defectors in the Korean War
This list names the twenty-two United Nations soldiers and POWs (one British and 21 Americans) who declined repatriation to the United Kingdom and United States after the Korean War in favor of remaining in China, and their subsequent fates. Also ...
* Propaganda in South Korea
Propaganda in South Korea counters the extensive propaganda in North Korea, propaganda of rival North Korea or influence domestic and foreign audiences. According to the French philosopher and author Jacques Ellul, propaganda exists as much in a d ...
* Propaganda in the Soviet Union
Propaganda in the Soviet Union was the practice of state-directed communication to promote class conflict, internationalism, the goals of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, and the party itself.
The main Soviet censorship body, Glavli ...
* Propaganda in the People's Republic of China
Propaganda in China refers to the use of propaganda by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) or (historically) the Kuomintang (KMT) to sway domestic and international opinion in favor of its policies. Domestically, this includes censorship of pros ...
* List of North Korean propaganda slogans
* South Korean defectors
South Korean defectors are South Korean citizens who have defected to North Korea. After the Korean War, 333 South Korean prisoners of war detained in North Korea chose to stay in the country. During subsequent decades of the Cold War, some p ...
Related
* Media of North Korea
The mass media in North Korea is amongst the most strictly controlled in the world. The constitution nominally provides for freedom of speech and the press. However, the government routinely disregards these rights, and seeks to mold informati ...
* Telecommunications in North Korea
Telecommunications in North Korea refers to the communication services available in North Korea. North Korea has not fully adopted mainstream Internet technology due to its isolationist policies.
Telephone
North Korea has an adequate telephon ...
* Communist propaganda
Communist propaganda is the artistic and social promotion of the ideology of communism, communist worldview, communist society, and interests of the communist movement. While it tends to carry a negative connotation in the Western world, the t ...
Censorship
* Radio jamming in Korea
* Censorship in North Korea
Censorship in North Korea ranks among some of the most extreme in the world, with the government able to take strict control over communications. North Korea sits at the bottom of Reporters Without Borders' 2022 Press Freedom Index, ranking 180 o ...
References
Sources
*
*
Further reading
*
External links
*
Behind the Curtain
'
{{Authority control
Anti-Americanism
Korea, North