Culture of North Korea

thumb|At the [[Pyongyang Embroidery Institute]]

thumb|[[Lapel pins from North Korea]]

The contemporary culture of North Korea is based on traditional Korean culture, but has developed since the division of Korea in 1945. Juche, officially the Juche idea, is the state ideology of North Korea. Juche displays North Korea's cultural distinctiveness as it is the origin and sole adopter of the ideology.

Guidance and control

The state and the Korean Workers' Party (KWP) control the production of literature and art. In the early 1990s, there was no evidence of any underground anti-regime literary or cultural movements such as the samizdat in the Soviet Union or those that exist in the People's Republic of China. The party exercises control over culture through its Propaganda and Agitation Department and the Culture and Arts Department of the KWP's Central Committee. The KWP's General Federation of Korean Literature and Arts Unions, the parent body for all literary and artistic organizations, also directs cultural activity.

These media of paintings, songs, movies, and mass games tell the story of Kim Il Sung as the father of the nation and provides guidance on how to behave as "model citizens" of North Korea.

Cultural expression

The general theme of cultural expression is to take the best aspects from the past while discarding capitalistic elements. Popular vernacular styles and themes in literature, art, music, and dance are esteemed as they are seen as expressing the unique spirit of the Korean nation. Ethnographers restore and reintroduce cultural forms that have a proletarian or folk spirit and that encourages the development of a collective consciousness. Lively, optimistic musical and choreographic expressions are emphasized. Group folk dances and choral singing are traditionally practiced in some but not all parts of Korea and were being promoted throughout North Korea in the early 1990s among school and university students. Farmers' musical bands have also been revived. albeit for a handpicked "invited audience". The concert was broadcast on national television. The Christian rock band Casting Crowns played at the annual Spring Friendship Arts Festival in April 2007, held in Pyongyang.

Motion pictures are recognized as "the most powerful medium for educating the masses" and play a central role in social education. According to a North Korean source, "films for children contribute to the formation of the rising generation, with a view to creating a new kind of man, harmoniously evolved and equipped with well-founded knowledge and a sound mind in a sound body." One of the most influential films, An Jung-geun Shoots Ito Hirobumi, tells of the assassin who killed the Japanese resident-general in Korea in 1909. The protagonist is portrayed as a courageous patriot, but one whose efforts to liberate Korea were frustrated because the masses had not been united under "an outstanding leader [<nowiki/>Kim Il Sung] who enunciates a correct guiding thought and scientific strategy and tactics." Folk tales such as "The Tale of Chun Hyang", about a nobleman who marries a servant girl, and "The Tale of On Dal" have also been made into films.

Australian filmmaker Anna Broinowski gained access to North Korea's film industry through British filmmaker Nick Bonner, who facilitated meetings between Broinowski and prominent North Korean filmmakers to assist Broinowski with the production of Aim High in Creation!, a film project based on Kim Jong Il's manifesto. Broinowski explained in July 2013, prior to the screening of the film at the Melbourne International Film Festival:

A friend gave me Kim Jong Il's manifesto on how to make the 'perfect socialist film', The Cinema and Directing (1987). I was immediately fascinated by his often counter-intuitive (for a Westerner at least) filmmaking rules. And I began to ponder: what would a film by Westerners, strictly adhering to Kim Jong Il's rules, be like? Could it have the same power over western audiences that North Korean films have over Kim Jong Il's 23 million citizens? ... I wanted to humanise the North Koreans in the minds of viewers constantly bombarded by the mainstream Western media's depiction of North Koreans as victimised, brainwashed automatons.</blockquote>

A version of Broinowski's work was screened in Pyongyang, but the director believes that the documentary version of the film will not be allowed into the country.

A South Korean professor claimed that the spread of cheap, Chinese-made "portable TVs" (EVD players) in North Korea is making it harder for authorities to crack down on citizens watching South Korean-made videos.

Uriminzokkiri is a Korean news website that frequently posts propaganda including the United States attack video published in 2013.

Visual arts

Historically, graphic design in North Korea was influenced by the Soviet bloc and by Korean tradition. It has tended to use a "Korean palette" of bright colours.

Architecture and city planning

thumb|right|200px|The incomplete [[Ryugyong Hotel in 2011.]]

The most distinct form of contemporary cultural expression in North Korea is architecture and city planning. Pyongyang, almost completely destroyed by the United States during the Korean War, has been rebuilt on a grand scale. A number of new buildings have been constructed during the 1980s and 1990s in order to enhance Pyongyang's status as a capital.

Mass games

thumb|200px|[[Arirang Festival mass games display in Pyongyang.]]

North Korea is famous for its "mass games". Mass games are the culminating annual celebrations of the state leader's birthdays and the rituals commemorating the foundation of the state: On the birthdays of Kim Il Sung (15 April 1912), the founding father of North Korea, and Kim Jong Il (born 16 February 1942), the former leader of the state. These are exhibitions where thousands of North Koreans perform highly choreographed dances, especially traditional dances, and gymnastics, often engaging in simultaneous rhythms of movement. The performers sing and chant their loyalties to Kim Il Sung, the KWP, and to the principle of Juche.

References

External links

Macintyre, Donald & Yooseung, Kim (June 21, 2004). "A Literary Thaw in Korea". Time
Young-min, Kwon "In North Korean Literature Kim Il-sung is Everything"
Professional photo series of the 2009 "Arirang" Massgames in North Korea

bn:উত্তর কোরিয়া#সংস্কৃতি