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The everyday life of North Korea is hidden from prying eyes, but sometimes the curtain rises and we manage to peep how adult citizens spend their everyday lives. But many times less is known about the smallest ones, and is there anything in their life that is sharply different from the life of our children?
We are in website found the answer to this question and share with you 10 interesting facts about how childhood passes in the most closed country in the world.
- The first thing a newborn receives is social status, or songbun. Thus, the state immediately classifies the baby as a "loyal", "wavering" or "hostile" segment of the population. Songbun is passed down from the father and determines where the child will study, which university they will enter, and whether they can become a member of the Workers' Party.
- Education starts in kindergarten. From the age of 4, children go to kindergarten at the request of their parents, but from 5 - according to the mandatory educational program. Every child who is going to the 1st grade must attend kindergarten during the year.
- Children who have parents live in shelters. This is because young couples often cannot cope with the financial support of children. It happens that orphans who were taken into the family are returned to the orphanage for the same reason.
- The schools teach biographies of the country's leaders and the Russian language. Separate classes are also devoted to the glorification of the revolutionary activities of 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 rejection 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 at lessons and class events. There are propaganda posters in school corridors, patriotic slogans in textbooks. At matinees, children act out skits with obvious political overtones, and on major holidays, children's parades are held, where schoolchildren dressed in military uniform, marching and driving around in cars with cardboard rocket launchers.
- Children are taken to public executions. What to do, such a seemingly traumatic experience is considered normal and even necessary for the little citizens of North Korea. In addition, children sometimes participate in denunciations.
- Hard child labor is par for the course. Schoolchildren harvest, cut down trees, beat and carry rocks and even work in construction. Like adults, children have a “labor standard”, for failure to comply with which they may well be fined.
- Military toys. Of course, dolls and bunnies are sold in stores, but there are also many toys. tanks, helicopters and machine guns. It is believed that such toys help to bring up the spirit of patriotism in little Koreans.
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 photos, 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.
1. North Korean children after a snowfall on the banks of the Yalu River, in the North Korean district of Sakchu, December 17, 2014. The picture was taken from the territory of China on the Yalu River.
2. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visits one of the orphanages in Pyongyang on New Year.
3. Kim Jong-un poses with children at the orphanage on the first day of the new year.
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5. North Koreans celebrate Lunar New Year on February 19, 2015.
6. North Korean students in the classroom for taekwondo wrestling in the Moranbong district in Pyongyang on July 31, 2014. The capital is hot and humid in summer, and one of the most popular holiday destinations is Moranbong Mountain, located just a short walk from the famous Kim Il Sung Square. The mountain is famous for its shady paths for walking, picturesque views of the city and green lawns.
7. North Korean schoolchildren play musical instruments on Moranbong July 31, 2014 in Pyongyang.
8. Primary school students help repair potholes on a rural road in North Hamgyong Province.
9. North Korean children during a trip along the Yalu River in Sinuiju, opposite the Chinese border city of Dandong, May 15, 2013.
10. A North Korean boy rides on ice on the Yalu River on the border with China near the North Korean city of Hyesan December 1, 2008.
11. New academic year 2015-2016 began in the DPRK with proper ceremonies in schools.
12. North Korean students with weapons at the parade to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the signing of a truce 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 the heat wave in Pyongyang on August 8, 2014.
14. North Korean students use sheets of colored cardboard to form a picture as a background during the mass gymnastic and artistic performance of "Arirang" in Pyongyang on July 26, 2013.
15. Beginning of the school year.
16. North Korean children wave to people on a Chinese tourist boat on the banks of the Yalu River near Chongsong, a district in North Korea, opposite the Chinese border city of Dandong, May 8, 2011.
17. A boy with a shovel in a corn field in the area affected by floods and typhoons in South Hwanghae province on September 29, 2011.
18. Kim Jong-un visits Mangyongde revolutionary school on the occasion of the 68th anniversary of the founding of the Korean Children's Union.
19. North Korean students in a school bus in Pyongyang July 25, 2013.
20. North Korean children and their parents wave to Chinese residents during the celebration of Children's Day on the Yalu River near the North Korean city of Sinuiju, opposite the Chinese border city of Dandong, June 1, 2011.
21. Girls mourn the dead leaders of the country at the memorial in Pyongyang.
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 located, in Pyongyang on July 25, 2013.
23. Kim Jong-un plays with children during a visit to a general hospital in Pyongyang May 19, 2014.
24. A boy in an orphanage in an area affected by a summer flood and typhoon in South Hwanghae province, October 1, 2011.
25. A woman carries a boy dressed in a North Korean military uniform at a monument to the Fund Party in Pyongyang on October 11, 2010.
26. Girls backstage before a performance at a local school in the city of Rason, northeast of Pyongyang, August 29, 2011.
Ideas about how children live in North Korea are contradictory. According to the Western media, schoolchildren are starving, working on construction sites on an equal basis with adults, subjected to physical punishment and paying fines for not meeting the work quota. However, there is another way of looking at the situation: boys and girls are engaged in creative studios, perform during holidays, go on excursions and, in general, 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 schoolchildren from Moscow and a small town in the outback as an example, then the difference will be obvious. This fact is often overlooked when trying to depict the whole life of North Korea with a few photographs of children from the countryside, where the standard of living is much lower than in big cities.
Residents of the capital of the state, Pyongyang, have the most opportunities for development. Hundreds of schools, kindergartens, sports sections, music and art studios work here. The income level of parents also differs from the 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 caste system of the DPRK. It is called "songbun" and involves the division of society into three main layers and a dozen more small categories. The profession, income and respect of society depend on which “caste” the parents belong to. This directly affects the lives of children - in accordance with the class, they choose a kindergarten and school, and it also determines whether the child will have the opportunity to enter a university in the future.
What is taught in school
Education begins at the age of seven and consists of three stages. There are eleven grades in the school system, which complete everything and without fail. Formally, education is free, but the student's family must make contributions for the use of textbooks, furniture and the school building itself, as well as food. However, the services of teachers are not paid.
From Soviet Union The Ministry of Education adopted the extended school day. The country lives in the same rhythm, so the vast majority of adults work until six in the evening, and then stay for meetings or party lectures, and only after that they return home. It turns out that the whole day the children are supervised educational institution. There is enough time for lessons, circles, sports and ideological education.
They study the usual subjects: mathematics, Korean language 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 believes in the Juche ideals from childhood, 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 occupying the first place in the world in terms of the level of literacy of the population. They even study English in schools - however, according to bad North Korean textbooks. Others cannot be used due to the wrong presentation of ideology.
Free time
In addition to studying, children are necessarily engaged in sports or art sections. game on one musical instrument included in school curriculum, the second is studied additionally, after the lessons. Depending on the predisposition, children are distributed between sections of drawing, housekeeping, singing, dancing, and technical circles.
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. For the sake of fairness, it should be noted that the collective approach is typical for most Asian countries - including capitalist Japan and South Korea.
During large and not very public holidays, children's performances are an obligatory element. entertainment program. They start preparing for them two or three months in advance, because the festivals are shown on television. Therefore, children do not have much free time as such. It appears only in the family circle, but there are responsibilities there too - for example, helping around the house.
Children's Union
This is the North Korean counterpart to 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 initiation 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 ideals and receive red ties confirming that they are now adults.
This event is described in detail in the film by Russian director Vitaly Mansky "In the Rays of the Sun". It shows one day in the life of a North Korean schoolgirl who is about to become a pioneer. There is no direct assessment of the events in the tape, however, the mood suggests that the event is not as joyful as the country's authorities want to portray it. The film caused a great resonance, and in North Korea it was banned.
Childhood is a wonderful time and the most valuable time in the life of any person. And it's not cool when children work in the fields or blindly support dictators. But if you are one of the five million children under 14 who were born in North Korea, then unfortunately this is the reality. Children in this country are taught to love history and all the rulers - from the founder of the state, Kim Il Sung, to the real ruler, Kim Jong-un. So what's it like growing up in the world's most closed country?
Children born and living outside the capital must work on farms.
Some sources claim that workers who do not comply are sent to the camps as punishment.
In less developed regions, the road to school may pass through construction sites and other hazardous areas. The few school buses 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.
Families with little money can still afford a little luxury - for example, traditional costumes.
But money does not free families from political obligations. Many idolize the leaders of the country and periodically travel with their children to historical monuments to pay their respects.
Schoolchildren and students are often forced to travel in groups to monuments to express their love to the leaders of the country.
In June 2017, Kim Jong-un organized the "We are the happiest in the world" performance to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Korean Children's Union.
Ideological education begins in kindergarten. Children learn anti-American slogans, with toy machine guns and grenades they attack cartoon figures of soldiers.
In honor of international day children in the capital hosted a military parade, where the children were dressed as army soldiers.
Conditions in schools do not always meet sanitary standards. Kindergarten in the photo is located on the territory of a textile factory.
Children in families that do not live in poverty are slightly more likely to enjoy the joys of childhood.
For example, the children of high-ranking parents study at the Mangyongdae Schoolchildren's Palace. They are engaged different types sports, they are taught foreign languages teaching them how to use computers.
The massive concrete building, run by the Korean Youth Corps, houses up to 5,400 children.
Pompous performances are also a tribute to the North Korean cult of personality. The themes of greatness and honor are ubiquitous.
During a performance for foreign journalists in May 2016, for example, many of the performances, including choirs, dances and acrobatic acts, had a clear political connotation.
Not every child can ride on such a carousel.
Of course, children are too young to realize how poor their living conditions are.
Nevertheless, childhood is also childhood in North Korea. And perhaps only at this age, North Koreans have something in common with people from other countries.
Facing marriage and divorce statistics different countries, we see not very pleasant pictures and figures. Divorce is becoming commonplace even in countries where strict family views are held and where kinship and family ties are very respected.
The reason for this situation is a departure from the traditions and customs that many years ago had great importance for every person. Many modern families have long forgotten what was once dear to their ancestors.
Among this not very pleasant information that family values are a thing of the distant past, one can take as an example North Korea, which has achieved incredible success in its development, and family values have played a big role in this.
In North Korea, as in other countries, ancient traditions were passed down from one generation to another, but over the years they have been preserved and have not changed at all. Thanks to family values, which are very reverently guarded here, North Korea has preserved its culture.
Marriage is a union of two people who are ready to create a new family, raise children so that they can achieve a lot in their lives. This is a big responsibility that those who are going to get married should first of all think about.
Everyone thinks that this will be the only marriage for life, but most often everything happens quite the opposite and at present, few people can boast that they had one single and happy marriage in their life.
In North Korea, marriage is taken really seriously and families are created once and for all. To do this, both young people carefully consider the moment of official marriage. There are very few divorces in the country, which puts North Korea in one of the first places among the many countries that are given in the statistics. Divorce in North Korea is tantamount to a global catastrophe that can harm the entire family.
In order to get a divorce, you need a really serious reason, because it can cause irreparable damage to the career of one of the spouses or both at once. In addition, it is difficult for a divorced man to marry again, and there is nothing to say about a divorced woman. People who could not save their family will not be able to move further up the career ladder and it is difficult to trust them in a second marriage.
Even worse is the situation in North Korea with adultery. Having a mistress or a lover on the side is a criminal offense that can long time to imprison both culprits, which also does not give pluses to either one or the other.
At present, of course, this law is not valid, but all the same, the spouses remain faithful to each other, out of personal motives of honor and dignity. Adultery is something of a kind of fantasy and no one even thinks that it is possible to have some kind of relationship on the side.
The arrival of a child in a family is a celebration, and in North Korean families, children have a special meaning, because they will have to continue to help their parents in their old age. Children live in the same house with their parents until they have their own families. However, in any case, one of the older children still remains in the parents' house, who will have to take care of the parents until their very old age.
The upbringing of children in North Korea is very strict, because how well a child is brought up will depend on whether he becomes a worthy citizen of his country and whether he can contribute to society. The irresponsible and negligent attitude of parents to the upbringing of children is condemned by the whole society.
Children should obey their parents, respect them and take care of them. In addition, every child is brought up in love for work. All Koreans are very hardworking and they are not afraid of even the hardest work, they work very hard and as a result, we see a high and rapid development of the country's economy.
Comparison includes some European countries in which divorce is very frequent, as a result of which there is a large number of incomplete families. In this case, the government spends a lot of money in order to provide benefits to single-parent families, single women with children. Although all these funds could be directed to the development of the economy.
In North Korea, on the other hand, because of the minimum divorce rate and hard-working two-parent families, the government can afford to raise the level of the economy, because people are willing to work and earn their living. Children, leaving their parental home, fully provide for themselves and their own family, not counting on the help of their parents, although parents are always ready to lend a helping hand in difficult moments of life. It also makes no sense to ask for help from the government, when a perfectly healthy and capable person can fully provide for himself.
In addition, in North Korea, there is no need for the existence of nursing homes, which also require additional costs from the government. There is absolutely no need to open such establishments in a country where children support their elderly parents and fully provide for them.
As for education, parents in North Korea decide this issue in advance, even before the child enters the age when it will be necessary to acquire knowledge. Of course, the opinion of children matters, but more often than not, they agree with the wise decisions of their parents about what profession is best to get.
Professionals with complete higher education will always be needed, and therefore every parent tries to do everything possible to ensure that the child receives the best possible education.
Such an attitude to the family and to the well-being of the country will help to survive any crisis, which in most countries will force a sharp review of all expenses. The country will have enough budget to help citizens survive difficult times.