Statism as a lifestyle: deciphering society in films on North Korea and evolving communication through cinema

ABSTRACT

This article concerns a core distinctive representation portrayed in North Korean films, namely statism grounded in Juche ideology in the context of the evolution of cinema on North Korea. The paper examines, from an outsider's point of view, how the cinema represents statism that is embedded in the daily life of North Korean people, paying greater attention to two films, Comrade Kim Goes Flying and A School Girl's Dairy, by exploring the patterns of the plot, storylines, texts, and main messages. Furthermore, it discusses the disparity between foreign and domestic films on North Korea that exists in such representation. The evolution of North Korean cinema demonstrates noticeable adaptation, a gradual move away from overt propaganda, despite the fact that autonomous cultural space is extremely limited due to the oppressive political system and ideological rigidity. Such dynamics, albeit limited, occurred throughout the Kim Jong Il era in parallel with an effort to strengthen the foundation of statism lain by Kim Il Sung. More recently, it has continued in the Kim Jong Un era, due to an increasingly uncontrollable influx of external culture and ideas, as well as geographical diversification in North Korean cinema production, from the US to Europe and the rest of the world. More communication and interaction may contribute to the modernization of filmmaking in North Korea, which may in turn enhance understanding of the country and people.

KEYWORDS:

• World cinema on North Korea
• statism
• Juche ideology
• propaganda
• Comrade Kim Goes Flying
• A School Girl's Dairy

Notes

1 For discussions on conceptualization of propaganda soft power, see Van Herpen (2016).

2 See Buckland (2008), for ways to categorize types of films.

3 Kim J. (2020); Zwirko (2020).

4 See Ahn (2015, 215), for discussion of sport nationalism in North Korea.

5 Interview with Sung-Hyung Cho “Home from Home,” Q&A Part 1 at 15^th Berlin & Beyond Film Festival. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPp8kvk0y5E, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=om9jgrG21hc

6 “North Korea” (2014).

7 Interview with M. Noland (Peterson International Economic Research Institute, Vice Director), concerning the issue of the North Korean government's announcement on state bond issuance. Noland was concerned that such a decision is forcibly depriving money of grassroot, which may destabilize the regime given that there are a lot of rising discontents about the government and cynicism but there are no civil society organisations capable of channel that discontent in the North Korean society (VOA News Today, 26 May 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2bCkNJobIM).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

JeongWon Bourdais Park

JeongWon Bourdais Park is an Associate Professor of Political Science and International Relations at the University of Nottingham Ningbo China, and previously held academic positions at Lingnan University Hong Kong SAR and KIMEP University, Republic of Kazakhstan. The author has written two books entitled, Regional Environmental Politics in Northeast Asia: Conflict and Cooperation (Routledge, 2018), and Identity, Policy and Prosperity: Border Nationality of the Korean Diaspora and Regional Development in Northeast China (Palgrave Macmillan, 2017, 2019) and the author’s articles appeared in a number of international peer-reviewed journals. Her teaching and current research concentrate on comparative politics and policy, environmental social sciences, and political communication.