Childhood is a wonderful time and the most valuable time in the life of any person. And it’s not at all great when children work in the fields or blindly support dictators. But if you are one of the five million children under 14 born in North Korea, then, unfortunately, this is the reality. Children in this country are taught to love history and all rulers - from the founder of the state, Kim Il Sung, to the current ruler, Kim Jong Un. So, what is it like growing up in the most closed country in the world?
Children born and living outside the capital must work on farms.
Some sources claim that workers who disobey are sent to camps as punishment.
In less developed regions, the road to school may pass through construction sites and other dangerous areas. The few school buses available are often converted from dump trucks.
For orphans in North Korean orphanages, life is even harder. Even if children are adopted, there is a risk that parents will give them back if they cannot provide for them.
Families with little money can afford a little luxury - for example, traditional costumes.
But money does not free families from political responsibilities. Many people idolize the country's leaders and periodically travel with their children to historical monuments to pay tribute.
Schoolchildren and students are often forced to travel in groups to monuments to express their love for the country's leaders.
In June 2017, Kim Jong-un organized the performance “We are the happiest in the world” in honor of the 70th anniversary of the Children's Union of Korea.
Ideological training begins in kindergarten. Children learn anti-American slogans and attack cartoon figures of soldiers with toy machine guns and grenades.
In honor of International Day Children in the capital held a military parade, where children were dressed as army soldiers.
Conditions in schools do not always meet sanitary standards. The kindergarten in the photo is located on the territory of a textile factory.
Children in families that do not live below the poverty line have a slightly better chance of enjoying the joys of childhood.
For example, children of high-ranking parents study at the Mangyongdae District Schoolchildren's Palace. They are engaged different types sports, they are taught foreign languages, teach them how to use computers.
The massive concrete building, run by the Korean Youth Corps, houses up to 5,400 children.
The pompous performances are also a tribute to the North Korean cult of personality. Themes of greatness and honor are pervasive.
During a performance for foreign journalists in May 2016, for example, many of the performances, including choral singing, dancing and acrobatic performances, had a clear political overtone.
Not every child can ride on such a carousel.
Of course, children are too young to realize how meager their living conditions are.
Nevertheless, childhood is childhood in North Korea too. And perhaps only at this age do North Koreans have something in common with people from other countries.
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The everyday life of North Korea is hidden from prying eyes, but sometimes the curtain lifts and we get a glimpse of how adult citizens spend their everyday lives. But much less is known about the little ones, and is there anything sharply different in their lives from the lives of our children?
We are in website found the answer to this question and share with you 10 interesting facts about how childhood is spent in the most closed country in the world.
- The first thing a newborn receives is social status, or sunbun. Thus, the state immediately classifies the baby as a “loyal,” “vacillating,” or “hostile” segment of the population. The songbun is passed down from the father and determines where the child will study, what university he will attend, and whether he will be able to become a member of the Workers' Party.
- Education begins in kindergarten. From the age of 4, children go to kindergarten at the request of their parents, but from the age of 5 - according to mandatory educational program. Visit kindergarten Within a year, every child who is going to 1st grade must.
- Children who have parents live in shelters. This is because young couples often cannot cope with the financial support of their children. It happens that orphans who were taken into the family are returned to the orphanage for the same reason.
- Biographies of the country's leaders and the Russian language are taught in schools. Separate classes are also devoted to worship revolutionary activities Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Il and Kim Jong Un. They study not only Russian, but also English language, however, at a rather low level due to the refusal of foreign textbooks. At the age of 10, all schoolchildren, without exception, join the Korean Children's Union and from that moment begin to attend political and ideological meetings.
- Ideological propaganda in lessons and class events. There are propaganda posters in school corridors, and patriotic slogans in textbooks. At matinees, children act out scenes with obvious political overtones, and on major holidays, children's parades are held, where schoolchildren dressed in military uniform, march and drive around in cars with cardboard rocket launchers.
- Children are taken to public executions. What can you do, such a seemingly traumatic experience is considered normal and even necessary for young citizens of North Korea. In addition, children sometimes participate in denunciations.
- Heavy child labor is the order of the day. Schoolchildren harvest crops, cut down trees, beat and move rocks, and even work on construction sites. Like adults, children have a “labor standard”, for failure to comply with which they may well be fined.
- Military themed toys. Of course, stores sell dolls and bunnies, but there are also many toys tanks, helicopters and machine guns. It is believed that such toys help to instill the spirit of patriotism in young Koreans.
There are conflicting ideas about how children live in North Korea. If you believe the Western media, schoolchildren are starving, work on construction sites along with adults, are subject to physical punishment and pay fines for failing to fulfill working standard. However, there is another way of looking at the situation: boys and girls study in creative studios, perform during holidays, go on excursions and generally live like their peers from other countries. The truth, as usual, lies in the golden mean.
What influences children's lives
The situation where people live in different conditions depending on the region is not unique to North Korea. If we take as an example schoolchildren from Moscow and a small town in the outback, the difference will be obvious. This fact is often forgotten in attempts to portray the entire life of North Korea with a few photographs of children from rural areas, where the standard of living is much lower than in big cities.
Residents of the state's capital, Pyongyang, have the most opportunities for development. There are hundreds of schools, kindergartens, sports clubs, music and art studios here. The income level of parents also differs from provincial regions. At the same time, the authorities do not hide the fact that Pyongyang is a city for the elite. Only those North Koreans who have been approved by the authorities can visit it, and even more so to live in the capital.
Another factor that affects well-being is the “rating” of the family in the DPRK caste system. It is called “songbun” and involves the division of society into three main layers and a dozen smaller categories. Their profession, income and respect of society depend on what “caste” their parents belong to. This directly affects the lives of children - kindergarten and school are chosen according to class, and it also determines whether the child will have the opportunity to enter a university in the future.
What do they teach at school
Education begins at age seven and consists of three stages. IN school system eleven classes that complete everything and without fail. Formally, education is free, but the student's family must pay fees for the use of textbooks, furniture and the school building itself, as well as food. However, teachers are not paid for their services.
From Soviet Union The Ministry of Education has adopted the extended school day. The country lives in a single rhythm, so the vast majority of adults work until six in the evening, and then stay at meetings or party lectures, and only then return home. It turns out that the children are under supervision all day educational institution. There is enough time for lessons, clubs, sports and ideological education.
Study familiar subjects: mathematics, Korean and literature, history (including world history, albeit noticeably adjusted to the requirements of the party), and fine arts.
Each discipline is aimed at forming a “correct” citizen - a patriot who, from childhood, believes in the Juche ideals, loves the Leaders and knows that the main enemy is America.
Political education accounts for about 6% of the teaching load. This does not prevent North Korea from ranking first in the world in terms of population literacy. They even study English in schools, albeit using poor North Korean textbooks. Others cannot be used due to the incorrect presentation of ideology.
Free time
In addition to studying, children are required to participate in sports or art sections. Playing one musical instrument is included in school curriculum, the second is studied additionally, after lessons. Depending on their predisposition, children are divided between drawing sections, household, singing, dancing, technical clubs.
Raising a child in the DPRK is impossible without active sports. Moreover, preference is given to team sports, since the pursuit of individual achievements develops unhealthy competition and selfishness. To be fair, it is worth noting that the collective approach is typical for most Asian countries - including capitalist Japan and South Korea.
During major and minor public holidays, children's performances are a mandatory element. entertainment program. They start preparing for them two to three months in advance, because the festivals are shown on television. Therefore, children do not have much free time as such. It appears only within the family circle, but even there there are responsibilities - for example, helping around the house.
Children's Union
This is the North Korean analogue of the pioneer movement of the Soviet Union. Children join the organization at the age of ten, and this event makes them full members of society.
The dedication takes place on the Day of the Sun - April 15th. This holiday is associated with the birth of Kim Il Sung, the Eternal Leader of North Korea. Schoolchildren take an oath of allegiance to their ideals and receive red ties, confirming that they are now adults.
This event is described in detail in the film “In the Rays of the Sun” by Russian director Vitaly Mansky. It shows one day in the life of a North Korean schoolgirl who is about to become a pioneer. The film does not contain a direct assessment of the events, but the mood suggests that the event is not as joyful as the country’s authorities want to portray it. The film caused a great stir and was banned in North Korea.
Everyone knows that North Korea is a country closed to prying eyes. Quite rarely we have the opportunity to look behind the Iron Curtain to find out how its citizens really live. But today there is such an opportunity!
Thanks to these photographs, you can learn a little more about the young generation of North Korea - how local children live, how they relax and have fun, how they study and how they smile.
(Total 26 photos)
1. North Korean children after a snowfall on the banks of the Yalu River, in the North Korean Sakchu district, December 17, 2014. The photo was taken from China on the Yalu River.
6. North Korean schoolchildren attend taekwondo wrestling classes in the Moranbong area of Pyongyang on July 31, 2014. The capital is hot and humid in the summer, and one of the most popular destinations is Mount Moranbong, located just a few minutes' walk from the famous Kim Il Sung Square. The mountain is famous for its shady walking paths, scenic city views and green lawns.
7. North Korean schoolchildren play musical instruments at Moranbong on July 31, 2014 in Pyongyang.
8. Primary school students help repair potholes on a rural road in North Hamgyong Province.
9. North Korean children travel along the Yalu River to Sinuiju, opposite the Chinese border city of Dandong, May 15, 2013.
10. A North Korean boy skates on ice on the Yalu River on the border with China near the North Korean city of Hyesan on December 1, 2008.
12. North Korean students with weapons at the parade to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the signing of the armistice in Korean War 1950-1953 at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang, July 27, 2013.
13. Workers and youth visit the Munsu Entertainment Center during a heat wave in Pyongyang on August 8, 2014.
North Korean students use sheets of colored cardboard to form a picture as a backdrop during the Arirang mass gymnastics and art performance in Pyongyang on July 26, 2013.
16. North Korean children wave to people on a Chinese tourist boat on the banks of the Yalu River near Chongsong, a county in North Korea, opposite the Chinese border city of Dandong, May 8, 2011.
17. A boy with a shovel in a corn field in an area damaged by floods and a typhoon in South Hwanghae province on September 29, 2011.
18. Kim Jong-un visits the Mangyongdae Revolutionary School on the occasion of the 68th anniversary of the founding of the Korean Children's Union.
North Korean children and their parents wave to Chinese residents during Children's Day celebrations on the Yalu River near the North Korean city of Sinuiju, opposite the Chinese border city of Dandong, June 1, 2011.
22. North Korean schoolchildren in front of the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, where the embalmed bodies of North Korea's founder Kim Il Sung and his son Kim Jong In are kept, in Pyongyang July 25, 2013.
