Sino-NK

On November 25, 1945, the northwestern city of Sinuiju was gripped by a coordinated rebellion of anti-communist youth.  The multiple demonstrations on that day began with violence, and were violently suppressed. When the gunpowder aurora had lifted, the Soviet administrators summoned Kim Il Song from Pyongyang by airplane — the 30-something leader who had been back in Korea for all of about five weeks — to meet with students and buck up security on the northern frontier.  The aftermath of the Sinuiju Incident marked the earnest birth of what has become the unrelenting North Korean mobilization of youth, and it also notched Kim’s first-ever “on-site” inspection in the process.  (“Looking at things” takes on a whole new meaning when those things include angry students whose colleagues have been killed with live ammunition.) When he really was in the mood to bang on the table, the late Kim Jong Il would evoke the student rebellion, telling his underlings that without due attention to ideological work, a recurrent outbreak could happen at any time. 

Why raise these historical precedents? Because, maybe, these precedents are more relevant today than I-Pads or USB hubs to the character of potential change among the country’s youth.  Or, maybe, because they make clear that the North Korean state has learned its lessons the hard way.  Or finally because they are the rebellious yin to the decidedly orthodox yang of DPRK youth work as seen in today’s essay by David Matthew, SinoNK.com Analyst based in Edinburgh.  — Adam Cathcart, Editor-in-Chief

‘True to the Instructions of the Great General’: Political Stability and Youth Work in Post-Kim Jong Il North Korea

by David Matthew

North Korea’s youth often go overlooked in western media reports unless they are starving. Their education and upbringing, however, remains one of the North Korean government’s primary points of interest. While events in North Korea have recently put the spotlight on Kim Jong Un and the efforts to transition into a new government, occasional news about the country’s youth does emerge. Much of this news has mirrored the power transition process, as the leadership looks to consolidate its hold among all sectors of society. Exhibiting no visible doubts about the youth, the Kim Jong Un regime seems to be granting particular energy to the task of securing their loyalty.

Child Geniuses in Sinuiju, Rodong Sinmun, February 19, 2012

Required Reading |  For North Korean youth, the year started with the publication of the country’s awkwardly titled New Year’s editorial, “Glorify This Year 2012 as a Year of Proud Victory, a Year When an Era of Prosperity is Unfolding, True to the Instructions of the Great General Kim Jong-il,” in the Kim Il-sung Socialist Youth League Youth Vanguard. The inclusion of this government editorial in the Socialist Youth League’s periodical demonstrates the priority placed on selling the new regime to North Korea’s young people.

Rodong Sinmun, February 6, 2012

If mandatory reading of editorials consisted of the duty of the youth, there were also rewards to garner. North Korean children were at the focus of the announcement of the youth prize to honor Kim Jong-Il, which accompanies an already existing award to honor Kim Il-sung. The DPRK, according to its news agency, has“instituted [the] Kim Jong-il Youth Honor Prize on the occasion of the 70th birth anniversary of leader Kim Jong-il.” Far from being an award to promote achievement in youth, the prize predictably is intended to be given to youth organizations that set examples in defending the nation and advancing the socialist cause (activities which in some cases may involve the conveying of resources to the state). Functionally, the prize, then, is no different from the Kim Il-sung prize. In fairness, KCNA did report that the 104 winners of the Kim Jong-il prize distinguished themselves along a number of lines, including their studies. But it is worth pointing out that the primary qualifying factors for the prize are consistently related in some way to Songun, Kim Jong-il’s military-first doctrine.

Mood Swings: Mourning and Chanting | As the Songun-related aspects of North Korea have not been changed with the new regime, the willingness to use sticks along with carrot has, unsurprisingly, not changed either. A source reported to DailyNK that the Kim Il-sung Socialist Youth League has, along with government authorities, been punishing citizens who did not adequately mourn the death of Kim Jong-Il. The Socialist Youth League spent some of the early part of January conducting assessments to identify young people who failed to display true sadness, from universities all the way down to primary schools. While it is difficult to imagine Korean Children’s Union meetings conducting hearings resembling witch hunts, these crackdowns on Korea’s only-moderately sad mourners are another indication that the Kim-centered system shows no signs of slackening.

Students at Hyesan Forestry University, Rodong Sinmun, January 27, 2012

Given this heavy-handed behaviour by DPRK authorities, it is not surprising to see reports in KCNA of North Korea’s youth engaging in oath-taking meetings across the country. Some students  travelled with the Kim Il-sung Socialist Youth League to the official birth place of Kim Jong-Il, the spiritual Mt. Baekdu, to “defend his legacy” by pledging their loyalty to Kim Jong-Un. The call has also been taken up by the youth outside of North Korea, as the Korean Youth league in Japan ensured that the diaspora’s younger members swore fealty as well, all of which reemphasizes the caricature of a paranoid autocracy more concerned abut maintaining power than educating the young.

Labor and Education |  An article in Rodong Sinmun is a clear reminder of the place that education remains high on the hierarchy of interests in the DPRK government. “More than 100,000” university students spent their winter holiday helping and encouraging workers in the mining, energy, and agricultural sectors of the economy. What is not made clear in the article is that this “winter holiday” is actually the 10 month university closure that occurred last spring under Kim Jong-il. Described as “singing militant and revolutionary songs in the severe cold,” these students are still toiling as manual laborers for the state during their forced time off from school. Proof enough that, as some things have changed in recent years on the education and youth front, more often than not they stay the same.

Getting Up to Date on 1936: Touring the Pochonbo Battle Site in Ryanggang Province, Rodong Sinmun, January 30, 2012