Sino-NK

A female worker looks over sleeping children at Pongung Chemical Factory Nursery in Sakju County, near Sinuiju, on North Korea’s border with China, in 1956. | Image: Choson yosong.

Nurseries in North Korea have played a significant role in the country’s economic development and gender roles and rights. While men were assigned to work at state-run factories and companies, women in the DPRK have been subject to undulating policy up to the present, and are currently viewed as the main agents of the country’s fledging free enterprise. This new research from Sino-NK Analyst Anqi Gao traces the origins of North Korean nurseries, and with it a key moment in the history of women and their evolving role in DPRK society. – Stephen Finch, Editor-in-Chief.

In the context of North Korea’s post-war reconstruction and the early Chollima Movement from late 1956, the mass mobilisation of women into the public workforce raised a fundamental question: who would care for their children?

The state’s answer was the establishment of collectivised nurseries. However, this national policy manifested itself in vastly different ways across the country. In the capital Pyongyang, this new concept embodied an idealised model of scientific and rigorous childcare. In stark contrast, the reality in the vast countryside was one defined by practical improvisation and community initiative. This paper explores these two different types of nurseries which emerged from a single state vision, through evidence in Choson yosong (조선여성), or Korean Women, the official magazine of the Korean Democratic Women’s Union, first published in 1946.

The Ideal Blueprint: ‘Scientific Childcare’ in Pyongyang

In the model nurseries of Pyongyang and those affiliated with large state-run factories, early childhood education was elevated to a “science”, aligned with biomedical and pedagogical standards. Instructional content was meticulously designed according to infants’ developmental stages, encompassing specific programs for language, motor, and cognitive training. Beginning from 40 days of age, each stage had clear educational goals and methods. For infants aged one to three months, caregivers used brightly coloured toys for visual and auditory stimulation; by ten months, children were taught to walk independently. The infrastructural advantages in Pyongyang, including access to a plentiful supply of educational toys, slides, and dolls, combined to create a diverse and enriched learning environment.

To understand the emergence of North Korea’s ‘scientific’ childcare model, it is crucial to first look at the legacy of the Japanese colonial period (1910-1945). During this time, the Japanese authorities actively restricted the development of Korean national education, establishing four-year primary and secondary systems from 1911.^[1] The development of state-sponsored nurseries was deliberately stunted, institutions that did appear were run primarily by school foundations or religious organisations. For instance, while the first nursery was established in Busan in 1897, it exclusively targeted Japanese children. Although the first kindergarten primarily for Korean children opened in 1909 in Nanam-eup (North Hamgyong Province),it was still staffed entirely by Japanese teachers.^[2] The first institution entirely operated by Korean staff and serving Korean children was the Ewha Kindergarten, established in 1914 by an American missionary.[3][4]

This systemic lack of public childcare support was compounded by deeply rooted social norms regarding gender and labour. Following traditional gender roles, women primarily remained in the home, responsible for childcare, resulting in low female labour force participation. Working women typically relied on informal, private custodians. This pre-existing system, marked by minimal state investment, established the infrastructure gap.

Following the establishment of the socialist regime, North Korea swiftly implemented a massive, Soviet-modeled system of state-run nurseries. This system was fundamentally designed to alleviate the domestic burden on women and maximize their employment rate in service of socialist construction. The legal foundation for operating these nurseries was first established in 1947 through Order No. 5 issued by the Department of Public Health, which introduced a comprehensive set of nursery regulations. These regulations were later revised in 1949 in accordance with Directive No. 1 of the Ministry of Public Health.[5] Subsequently, the state initiated a period of large-scale quantitative expansion. The era extending into the 1960s was characterised by the ambitious pursuit of numerical growth in the establishment and scope of these childcare facilities.

Under the new system, daily routines were also strictly planned by experts. In 1960, Ri Yu-ho, a paediatric specialist at Pyongyang Medical College, provided detailed recommendations for daily schedules in urban state-run institutions.[6] These schedules incorporated hygiene practices, playtime, naps, and early cognitive activities. This systematic approach to care was further reflected in the child-to-caregiver ratios: one caregiver was responsible for just five to seven babies. As children grew and required assistance with feeding, the ratio was adjusted to one caregiver for every three to four children, as shown by the following table:

Age Group	Classification	Educational and Care Focus	Child-Caregiver Ratio
40 days – 3 months	Infant Group 1st stage (Jeotmeogi cheilban)	Visual and auditory stimulation through toys, sound training (e.g., ah-eo), tummy time, leg exercises, individual soothing.	5–7 infants per caregiver (intensive care)
4 – 6 months	Infant Group, 2nd stage (Jeotmeogi cheibban)	Prone positioning, grasping toys, assisted rolling, crawling guidance, rotating toys for sensory stimulation.	5–7 infants per caregiver
6 – 10 months	Weaning 1st stage (Riyugi cheilban)	Crawling and assisted standing, language mimicry, structured play, introduction of novel stimuli.	3–4 children per caregiver (feeding assistance needed)
10 months – 1 year and 3 months	Weaning 2nd stage (Riyugi cheibban)	Self-feeding (spoon, straw), basic hygiene (face washing, shoes), vocabulary building (‘mum,’ ‘dad’), walking practice, independent play.	3–4 children per caregiver
1 year 3 month – 1 year 6 months	Weaning 3rd stage (Riyugi cheisamban)	Independent eating, toilet training, hygiene routines, imitation of adults, emotional and cognitive development, basic sentence acquisition	10 children per caregiver (transitional ratio)
1 year 7 months and above	Children’s Class (Eorini-ban)	Independent routines, group play, communal meals, dining etiquette, verbal expression, self-management skills	17–18 children per caregiver (least intensive)

The Other Reality: in the Countryside

In stark contrast to the model in Pyongyang, nurseries in the countryside—typically seasonal or mobile tagaso established on cooperative farms, operated under far more constrained conditions. Established primarily during peak agricultural seasons, their main objective was to free women for farm labour.

Unlike the finely graded age divisions in urban centres, rural facilities often had a simpler structure whereby younger children attended nurseries (tagaso) while older ones enrolled in kindergartens (yuchiwon). Official guidance from the Director of the Department for Maternal and Infant Protection (Tong-bin Chim, 1956) acknowledged the challenge of “caring for 30 to 40 children in a single class”, and recommended setting up multiple smaller nurseries or combining age groups, provided separate arrangements were made for children under two.[7]

The availability of physical space was a major factor. For cooperatives lacking dedicated buildings, official state guidance allowed for a practical improvisation: “Vacant rooms in the homes of cooperative members can be used temporarily. However, in order to care for both infants and older children, two or more rooms need to be prepared.”[8]Ultimately, the ability to separate children by age in rural areas was determined not by pedagogical principle, but by the housing and facilities available on the cooperative farm.

Lacking standardised teaching materials and commercially produced toys, learning and play relied heavily on outdoor physical activity and improvisation. Toys and picture books were often handmade by mothers and cooperative members, and official directives even suggested that women could “utilise work breaks to make toys”.[9]

According to the Director of the Department for Maternal and Infant Protection’s description of rural nurseries, basic infrastructure like beds also had to be improvised from available materials, by laying sacks on the ground or building temporary frames from tree branches.

The official guidance for these nurseries essentially functioned as a DIY manual, including extensive recommendations for making age-appropriate toys from scratch –

from hanging colourful, sound-producing objects for infants (one to three months) to creating handheld animal figurines, dolls, and carts for toddlers learning to stand and walk (six to 12 months). The instructions also covered building outdoor play equipment including swings and slides, all aimed at ensuring children could grow up happily even amid harsh material conditions. [10]

Furthermore, official directives called upon women’s union members to “take a leading role” by providing technical guidance and cooperating with local clinics to ensure children’s well-being.[11] Ultimately, the responsibility to create a functional and stimulating environment fell directly on the women of the cooperative.

Tension Between Ideological Vision and Reality

The publication of national childcare guidelines served a dual purpose. On the one hand, they were intended to provide guidance to rural nurseries, which often lacked professional staff. On the other hand, they aimed to project the image of a comprehensive and reliable system, thereby encouraging women to entrust their children to these nurseries and participate in the workforce with peace of mind.

However, in practice, where nurseries often lacked even basic resources like beds and toys, the responsibility for solving these material shortages was effectively offloaded onto the women themselves. They were expected to “find ways” to ensure their children could grow up happily and healthily. Thereby, the state’s solution to its own material limitations was to place the burden of creation squarely on the shoulders of the women the system was meant to liberate. 

Therefore, the childcare system of 1950s North Korea was not monolithic, and instead encompassed two divergent models for urban and rural areas, revealing an immense gap between the idealised, scientific model of Pyongyang and the reality of rural self-resilient, community initiatives. Although the establishment of nurseries was intended to liberate women for the workforce, the reality of material scarcity instead meant that the responsibility for building and sustaining these facilities was paradoxically offloaded onto the women themselves.

The duality within the North Korean childcare system is due to profound urban-rural economic imbalance. This disparity was deliberately sustained by the state’s resource allocation, which heavily favoured the capital. For instance, reports from The Times (UK) on April 12, 1973, highlighted the existence of massive public facilities in Pyongyang, which the state termed its “perfect nursing system.” They featured various nursing rooms furnished with tricycles, toys, and other equipment, as well as dedicated television rooms, dining rooms, and children’s wards.^[12] Another article introduced the Pyongyang Children’s Palace as a large-scale centre for the extracurricular education of students and children. It boasted more than 500 study rooms and over 100 specialised training halls. Furthermore, the complex featured an attached 1,300-seat theatre, a library, a gym, a meteorological station, and a planetarium.[13] Crucially, such impressive facilities were entirely unavailable to the rural population. This fundamental imbalance in living conditions and state investment ensured the persistence of a two-tiered system despite the unified national rhetoric.

Ultimately, from the professional, state-trained caregivers in Pyongyang to the mothers handcrafting toys in the countryside, the new state-instructed nursery system rested upon a foundation of gendered labour, with women serving as the primary agents of care. Nevertheless, North Korean women, working within a resource-limited environment, contributed immense effort and wisdom for the sake of the next generation, and in the pursuit of their own liberation.

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[1] National Archives of Korea, ‘신의주고등보통학교 Sinŭiju Godeung Botong Hakgyo [Sinuiju Higher Common School]’, 일제시기 학교건축도면 컬렉션 Ilje Sigi Hakgyo Geonchuk Domyeon Keolleksyeon [Collection of School Architectural Blueprints from the Japanese Colonial Period], n.d. <https://theme.archives.go.kr/next/dwg/dwgSearchTailView.do?com_code=KS0068> [accessed 2 December 2025].

[2] Yun-ju Lee, ‘(약수터) 유보통합 (Yaksu-Teo) Yubo Tonghap [Integration of Childcare and Education Systems]’, 무등일보 mdilbo, 31 January 2023 <http://www.mdilbo.com/detail/WYXZ2h/687738> [accessed 2 December 2025].

[3] ‘일제강점기서 만5세공통과정까지..유치원 100년 Ilje Gangjeomgi-seo Man 5-se Gongtong Gwajeongkkaji… Yuchiwon 100-nyeon [From the Japanese Colonial Period to the Common Curriculum for Age 5… 100 Years of Kindergarten]’, Seoul Shinmun, 19 August 2011 <https://www.seoul.co.kr/news/society/2011/08/19/20110819800039> [accessed 2 December 2025].

[4] Ibid.

[5] Yun-jin Lee and others, 통일에대비한북한의영유아양육에관한연구Tongil-e Daebi Han Bukhan-Ui Yeong-Yua Yangyuk-e Gwanhan Yeongu[A Study on the Childcare of Infants and Young Children in North Korea in Preparation for Reunification] (Korea institute of child care and education, 2011).

[6] Yu-ho Ri, “탁아소 강좌Tagaso kangjwa [Lecture at a Nursery],” Chosŏn yŏsŏng (P’yŏngyang), January 1, 1960, pp. 36–37.

[7] Tong-bin Chim, ‘농촌 계절 탁아소의 운영 Nongch’on kyejŏl t’ak’aso ŭi unyŏng[Operation of Seasonal Nurseries in Rural Areas]’, Chosŏn yŏsŏng (P’yŏngyang), April 1, 1963, 1 April 1956, pp. 24–25.

[8] Chim, ‘농촌 계절 탁아소의 운영 Nongch’on kyejŏl t’ak’aso ŭi unyŏng [Operation of Seasonal Nurseries in Rural Areas]’.

[9] Ibid.

[10] Ibid.

[11] Ibid.

[12] ‘Perfect Nursing System,’ The Times, 12 April 1973, The Women’s Library, London School of Economics and Political Science, 2/IAM/2/A/78.

[13] ‘Perfect Facilities for Child Care Pyongyang Children‘s Palace’, The Times, 12 April 1973, The Women’s Library, London School of Economics and Political Science, 2/IAM/2/A/78.