North Korea is known as one of the world’s most repressive, mysterious, and secretive countries. It has isolated itself from other nations by strictly limiting the information that gets in and out.
Most North Koreans live in poor conditions, working as farmers and factory workers, some without enough food to eat. Between 2019 and 2021, the United Nations (UN) found that 42% of North Koreans were malnourished. The North Korean government tries to control the population with strict authority, North Korean prisons are being threatened quite similar to concentration camps.
Relations between the United States and North Korea involve a mix of land occupation, perceived threats, and many grievances left behind after historical events such as the Korean War of 1950.
At the end of World War II in 1945, Korea was freed from Japanese control. The northern region was occupied by the Soviet Union, which the Communist Party ruled. The southern region was occupied by the United States, which was politically opposed to the Soviet Union with its capitalist beliefs. By 1948, Korea was divided in half into a capitalist south and a communist north. The North was ruled by Kim Il Sung, marking the beginning of the Kim Dynasty. Soviet troops withdrew from Korea in 1948, and US troops withdrew soon after in 1949.
Tensions between the North and the South escalated and North Korea attacked South Korea in 1950, starting what is now known as the Korean War. American President Harry Truman wanted to prevent the spread of communism, so the US came to South Korea’s aid and UN troops were sent to fight back. Communist China sent troops into North Korea shortly after and the war continued to escalate until 1953 when an armistice was signed. This formally ended the war, but tensions remained.
After multiple years under the heavy influence of the Soviet Union, North Korea further evolved into a Stalinist State — a one-party totalitarian state with a leader who adopts a cult-like personality. After the Soviet Union fell in 1991, North Korea became the only Stalinist State remaining in the world.
North Koreans are constantly exposed to propaganda, much of it portraying America as its enemy. When a leader can convince a population that there is an emergency or shared danger, the government can try and exert total control.
Americans have also used propaganda that displays exaggerated and unfair ideas to control its citizens. The Korean War is just one example of when the US produced large amounts of propaganda to promote itself and its political agenda.
These four images were produced by the US military. Thousands of physical copies were distributed over targeted areas:
Kim Jong Il was the second leader of the Kim Dynasty from 1993 to 2011. From a young age, he was obsessed with movies and according to The Hollywood Reporter, “accumulated a collection of 30,000 movies on VHS and DVD.” Kim Il Sung, his father and the first leader of the Kim Dynasty, was worried he was not a good fit to be his successor. He discovered a way he could allow his son to live his dream of being a filmmaker while also ensuring he would be involved in North Korea’s political goals. Kim Jong Il became a North Korean propaganda movie maker.
Kim Jong Il wrote a book in 1973 called, “On the Art of Cinema,” which dictates how all North Korean movies should be made and suggests filmmakers are extensions of the government. Every movie must demonstrate the North Korean ideologies they want their citizens to follow. For example, “On the Art of Cinema” states that characters should solve their problems with no outside help, promoting “Juche” (self-reliance) and the idea that happiness is achieved through struggle, glorifying the poor conditions many North Koreans live in.
Many Americans look down on North Korea for its history of isolation, disregard for its citizens, and use of propaganda. However, propaganda is not unique to North Korea or communism, as the US also employs its propaganda to promote its political and strategic goals.
On Korean State TV, viewers are exposed to media created purely by the government. Its goal is to promote its current leader, Kim Jong Un, as a “hero revered by all people” and a “world-respected outstanding statesman, a once-in-a-lifetime great man,” according to a YouTube video posted by The Daily Show.
While the US government does not produce its own mainstream news, third parties with political interests produce media to promote their opinions. Fox News is an American news channel that consistently reports in favor of conservative political positions. They have taken similar stances on Republican politicians such as Former President Donald Trump. “You simply can’t comprehend the genius of Donald Trump,” said anchor Judge Jeanine Pirro when reporting for Fox News. “Our president has no fear.”
In recent years, North Korea’s wall of isolation has been breaking down. Jeong Hwang Il is a North Korean defector living in Seoul, South Korea. He smuggles foreign media into North Korea through thumb drives, DVDs, and radios. Jiro Ishimaru, an editor of the Asia Press, said in PBS’s documentary The Secret State of North Korea, “People’s willingness to ignore authority has become more and more common. People around the world have this image of North Koreans as being brainwashed, but that’s very mistaken.”
Jeong is not the only defector exposing North Koreans to foreign media, and there are many other people with the same goal. David Kang, Director of the Korean Studies Institute at the University of Southern California said in PBS’s documentary The Secret State of North Korea, “Information and knowledge of the outside world is beginning to widen out. If North Korean people themselves stop believing in the regime and the story they tell themselves, that means central control is breaking down.”
Governments such as North Korea try to control their populations using tactics of propaganda and fear. However, this is also seen in most other countries in the world, including the US. What media do we see that tries to manipulate our beliefs?
