Research Paper On The Culture Of North Korea

The current dictator of North Korea is Kim Jong Un. Although it is not confirmed, it is believed that Kim was born in the early 1980’s and is in his early thirties. (Kim Jong UN Fast Facts Cnn Libary.)On December 31, 2011, Kim became dictator after his father, the previous dictator, Kim Jong il, passed away. This shows that Kim quickly rose to power as a dictator at a young age. Under Kim’s rule, North Koreahas carried out 5 nuclear tests in less than six years. ( Business Insider) This is an important point because Kim’s use of nuclear bombs has caused panic and fear throughout the world, including the United States. These are a few different ways Kim Jong Un Is

Cultures around the world are divide by their distinctive characteristic of people, and how people interact within their society. Most cultures are driven by the way their environment has been set for them. Many of cultures have to adapt to the way their environment are due to the conditions that are set for them and the amount of resources that they are provided. The biggest drive for culture are the historical custom. Most countries continue to carry their ancestor custom so that the tradition may stay with them throughout their years, in which making other countries distinctive from one another. One of the particular country that will be discuss in this report is North Korea. In this report, I will be discussing the North Korean culture, with describing their living condition in the country, common issues that they face with on a daily bases, and common threat that they pose on other countries.

In North Korea all aspects of life are ruled by the government, which essentially takes away human rights. North Koreans, rich or poor have this idea put into their head that their dictator is a supreme god. If someone had the idea of not worshiping the supreme leader in public, they would be sent to a labor camp. North Koreans who try to leave North Korea without permission may be shot on the spot or sent to a labor camp where they may never be released. In every house, no matter where you lived, there is a picture of the supreme leader that you pray to every day. When the supreme leader of North Korea, Kim Jong II, died recently, on December 17th 2011, there was a parade held that had mourners when the casket passed by. As the Supreme Leader’s casket passed by , the mourners were observed to see if they were actually crying. If they didn’t seem like they were sad enough they were sent to prison camps along with other North Koreans that didn’t join the parade. At these Labor camps imprisoned North Koreans are taught how important is to worship the supreme leader and sometimes kept there with their families for as long as they live.

The government structure of North Korea has its existence in one man, Kim Jong Un. It existed in his father, Kim Jong Il, before him, and in his grandfather, Kim Il-sung, before him. North Korea has one of the few successful hereditary dictatorships based on a personalistic regime where the leaders are worshipped as almost a deity (after Kim Il-sung’s death he was made “eternal president”) creating a dynastic transfer of power (Aoki, 2012). In China the one party of the Chinese Communist Party will rule as an Authoritarian body over the nation, but in North Korea the sole power rest dangerously in the arms of one person. Some of the reason for this dissimilarity between the two government structures lies in the country’s differing political cultures.

They make people believe in things aren’t real just like King Jong Un does to his population. An example in George Orwell book was that 2+2=5, Orwell stated (1949) “Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows” (page 81). This shows how much the government controls you and how they can manipulate the way people think. Just like 1984, North Korea makes the citizens believe things are true when they are clearly to anybody else in the world.The government is very careful with what they let in and out of the

I believe that North Korea is similar to the society in the book Anthem. I believe this for the reason that they are both collectivism societies and their leaders go to extreme ends to protect their collectivism (71). Firstly, they are both collectivism societies which means that the citizens are taught to work for the greater good instead of just themselves. If they aren’t contributing or making the culture better, than the leaders would not approve of their action. For example, in North Korea the citizens have to work for the greater good and are not encouraged to be individualized. Another example, is that in the book Anthem they are not allowed to speak the word “I” because that hints towards individualism which the society is not about

The country of North Korea compares rather closely to the world in Ayn Rand’s Anthem. Both nations of people are very closed off from the community and the outside world. The citizens only know about what the government officials want them to know about. In North Korea everyone depends upon and worships their leader, Kim Jong Il, almost as though he is their god. They all only depend on what they classify as “we” and they rely only on that because they do not have access to anyone else or even know what it means to be an individual. In both the book and North Korea, the citizens are locked down and watched with a careful eye. Breaking the rules in Anthem would send you to the Uncharted Forest, which is very similar to what happens to those

In Korea, the people have been taught to love and adore the great leader, Kim Jong Il. In the documentary about Korea, the people thanked the great leader for giving them the gift of seeing but did not thank the people who actually operated and fixed their eye. They are taught that everything he does is right and he never does anything wrong. In Anthem, they were trained at birth to live for each other. They had to say “We exist through, by and for our brothers who are the State”(21), every night before sleeping as their prayer. They are also to NEVER doubt or question the council. The citizens in North Korea and in Anthem are taught that whatever the government says is always correct and there is no questioning with what they say. The citizens have no say in their lives. After time, the people will start believing nothing else than what they've been taught to believe. Then they start believing that if they disobey with what they are told to believe in, then they are an evil or bad

North Korea, officially the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, is a unitary singe-party state. There is only one political party: the Worker’s Party of Korea. North Korea was founded on August 5, 1945. The per Capita GDP for the country is $1,700. The country has a supreme leader (head of state); Kim Jong-un, who was chosen by the Supreme People’s Assembly. The premier (head of government) is Yon-rim. The national literacy rate is 99%. Also, the citizens’ roles are to follow laws and to be loyal to their country. Citizens cannot vote and have very little say in the government.

In North Korea it is law that every household must have a picture of Kim Jung Il and Kim Jung Un displayed in their family room, and just walking down the street, one can see art everywhere displaying the nationalistic zeal, and the leader being portrayed as a

Most people probably think 1984 is completely fiction, but there are many drastic similarities between 1984 and North Korean Society. These societies have forced labor camps, powerful dictators or government parties, and the use of propaganda. Both of these societies slowly gained power over many years and took full control of their country or territory. On the other hand, they differ when it comes to they way they designed their governments. Both 1984’s and North Korea's societies are similar in the ways they control, torture, and deprive their people, but differ when it comes to government organization.

Envision, walking down the street and seeing posters plastered all over persuading and screaming out at you how terrific, strong, and successful your leader is, wouldn’t you feel pretty great about your country? In North Korea, their society is exactly that, the article “Cult of personality: why do so many leaders force their people to worship them as heroes?” by Fred Bratman and the National Geographic video explain this concept very well. Between North Korea constantly shoving propaganda, statues, and myths into their citizens faces unequivocally their citizens will be manipulated and believe their leader is a god in disguise.

Unlike other dynamic leaders who are portrayed as symbols of the government; for example, Hitler was seen as the symbol or figure head of the Nazi party and German government at the time of WWII, Kim Jong-il was seen as the symbol of North Korea as a whole. Similarly to the Nazi party, however, Kim Jong-il shared a similar common goal: to target another group to increase cooperation and morale within the other group. Kim Jong-il was in no doubt the symbol of North Korea since “every book, every newspaper article, every song, every TV program” is about the dear leader, and “the flowers are named after him [and] the mountains are carved with his slogans. Even every citizen wears the badge of the Great Leader at all times” (TED2015 Suki). Kim Jong-il is the only thing that the people of North Korea ever hear and see whether it is when they are reading the daily newspaper, listening to a song, or going on a jog, and it starts to greatly influence them.

Understanding how North Korea as a country defines itself in a changing world. Where do they derive their customs and practices, political standings and military power? Define North Korea’s history leading into the modern age and define its culture and characteristics and how they interact with the world today. Understanding a subject as broad as the term culture begins where the culture began with the birth of civilization and the people that influenced it. There are many factors that play a role in the shaping of a nation none so much as turmoil and conflict and the Korean peninsula saw its fair share for the better part of a millennia. A complete statistical breakdown of North Korea shows a struggling nation that strongly depends on

Kim Il Sung created this “dangerous belief system” so that North Koreans would always obey him. Before Dictatorship North Korea was an independent nation, it was a colony full of Christians. Kim Il Sung noticed how Christians worshipped the Japanese ruler who ruled Korea. When North Korea declared as a country, Kim Il Sung changed the form of Christianity and he declared himself as a God so that North Korea will always praise and pray him. Christians revolted against this, so Kim Il Sung annihilated most of them because he did not want his own people suspecting him of Juche and put lots of people in concentration camps and they still reside there. (Juche Religion) Juche originated from Marxism-Leninism. Marxism-Leninism was created by Karl Marx, some of the main points in this ideology are that a communist party should be able to perform and play major roles in society. Some other beliefs in Marxism-Leninism are that modern capitalism should turn into imperialism. (Piskunov) North Korea gained inspiration from Marxism-Leninism, which is why this ideology is one of the main ideologies that Juche originated. Some other ideologies that Juche originated were Confucianism. Confucianism was developed in China by a man named Kong Qiu (Confucius). Kong Qiu travelled across the country to spread his teachings, but at that time his beliefs was not popular and some of his beliefs were how to do the right things in life. He