Discursive construction of social selfhood: an analysis of North Korean elementary moral education textbooks

ABSTRACT

This study critically analyzes North Korean elementary moral education textbooks published under the Kim Jong-un regime to understand how identities and power are enacted through school curricula. In order to interpret North Korean elementary moral education textbooks, the study reviews a brief history of compulsory moral education in East Asia in the context of Korean ethnonationalism. Three main themes emerge regarding the construction of North Korean sense of self, namely ‘fabricating ethnic homogeneity’, ‘correct attitude towards a new supreme leader’, and a ‘formally systemized mode of living’. Such findings uncover that the state’s institutionalized manufacturing of regime adherence begins at an early age and meticulously shapes individuals’ world views. The implications of the politics of monocultural, ethnonational identity formation are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Compulsory moral education
• citizenship education
• elementary education
• Japanese imperialism
• Korean ethnonationalism
• North Korean education
• critical content analysis

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Nationalist ideology became visible and became the dominant form of collective Korean identity at the end of the Choson dynasty in the early twentieth century when Japanese imperialism was escalating (Shin, 2006). Korean elite nationalists used nationalism as resistance to Japanese imperialism during the Japanese occupation (Lim, 2000). However, in post-colonial North and South Korean societies, elite nationalists (e.g. Kim Il-sung, Park Chung-hee) used the same discourse to normalize their domination, repression, and persecution (Lim, 2000). Dictators in both the South and North effectively associated patriotism with the state’s economic modernization project, thus justifying their rule.

2 According to the document, the ultimate purpose of North Korean socialist education is to raise individuals to become part of a socialist revolutionary workforce which displays autonomy and creativity, and this goal can be achieved by the following four principles: (1) apply the tenets of the [Workers’] party and the working class into education; (2) construct juche[s] (‘ethno-nationalists’) in education; (3) integrate education with revolutionary practices; and (4) maintain that a socialist state should be in charge of planning and implementing the education business (I. Kim, 1997).

3 Elementary school curriculum includes four independent subjects about Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong-Il, Kim Jong-un, and Kim Jong-suk that are each taught for one hour per week (D. Kim, 2016).

4 The Korean Children’s Union activity starts in third grade and should be taught in class four hours per week (D. Kim, 2016).

5 Every adult North Korean has to participate in ‘the organizational life’ (chochik saenghwal; 조직 생활), which serves the dual purposes of indoctrination and surveillance. As a part of the organizational life, every adult North Korean must participate in lectures, political studies, and mutual criticism sessions every week. Through this highly formalized set of networks, North Koreans internalize the ‘correct’ attitude toward the world while acting as mutual policemen. To read more about ‘the organizational life’ of North Koreans, see Lankov et al., 2012.

6 To gain access to the North Korean textbooks, the author used the Information Center of North Korea under the South Korean Ministry of Unification (http://unibook.unikorea.go.kr). Graphics are left out of this paper because of a copyright/permission issue.