The Culture Of North Korea

A culture is the body of ideas, ways of looking at the world, values, and standards for conduct and behavior that a given people or nation hold in common. It includes the range of meanings that people assign to their own perceptions and behavior, as well as to the natural world around them. We can define the elements of that culture, and understand how they fit together as a culture, by examining that people's customs, language, religion, material artifacts, and social and political institutions.

The government can easily become blinded by money and ignorance. The people should be the ones creating the rules and laws for which they need to abide by. While the government officials are of a higher power, which is a reason that is used to support why the government should be making the regulations, this can blind said officials from reality. They can become only concerned for what the nation itself is, rather than what the people are, without realizing that what makes up a nation is the people. Without the people, there would not be a nation. Only a foundation of what could be. When citizens are forced into submission by the government, they become unhappy. A prime example of this is in “Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea”.

For my AP Human Geography book report I chose to read Nothing To Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick. This book was published in New York in 2010 and has 296 pages. Demick is The Los Angeles Times correspondent on both of the Koreas and has won many awards regarding her work there. This book follows 6 defect North Koreans throughout their lives. Each Korean is has a different background but each is from Chongjin. The six people Demick follows are Mrs. Song, Oak-hee, Mi-ran, Jun-sang, Kim Hyuck, and Dr. Kim. Mrs. Song is a patriotic and hard working Korean who thoroughly believes in the leadership and system. Oak-hee, on the other hand, is her daughter who questions the system but still works for it. Then there is Mi-ran who

Culture: Culture refers to values, languages, symbols, norms, beliefs, expectations that members of a group possess and the good things they produce and use in their life. Culture is the thing that all the members of a group or society follow.

When defining culture, one can say that culture means: a particular form or stage of civilization as that of a certain nation or period; development or improvement of the mind by education or training; or the behaviors and beliefs characteristics of a particular social, ethnic, or age group (Culture). All of

1- Based on the definition of Ricky W. Griffin, Michael W. Pustay in their book international business a managerial perspective in chapter four they defined culture in saying, culture is the collection of attitudes, beliefs, values, customs, and behaviors that distinguish one society from another. A society’s culture decides the rules that govern how firms operate in the society. many characteristics of culture are worth noting for their relevance to international business.

Understanding how North Korea as a country defines itself in a changing world. Where do they derive their customs and practices, political standings and military power? Define North Korea’s history leading into the modern age and define its culture and characteristics and how they interact with the world today. Understanding a subject as broad as the term culture begins where the culture began with the birth of civilization and the people that influenced it. There are many factors that play a role in the shaping of a nation none so much as turmoil and conflict and the Korean peninsula saw its fair share for the better part of a millennia. A complete statistical breakdown of North Korea shows a struggling nation that strongly depends on

A culture is the characteristics that relate and reflect on a particular group of people. This may include language, religion, music/arts, beliefs, values, and, overall, their way of life.

North Korea was born when Korea was split in half. The northern half being dominated by communism while the southern portion became western oriented. Although this may be true, North Korea named itself the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, despite it being a totalitarian communist government. For example, the elections held in North Korea are non-competitive since North Korea is a single-party communist state currently led by Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un. Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un, ruled with an iron fist— people who tries to leave North Korea without state permission gets criminalizes and gets forcibly returned. And those who get repatriated face interrogation, torture, and consignment to political prisoner or forced labor camps. Additionally,

Culture is defined as a whole basis of knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, and customs that define a person or group of persons. Culture differs is so many ways and that culture is what defines each of person as an individual. This concept comes from the cultural that was taught and developed from after birth and through our adolescent years. Our culture is the foundation of who we are. It identifies the lifestyle and pursuits that are practiced in the group of people we interact with in our society. Culture beliefs, values, and practices are learned from birth.

Everyday Life in North Korea is mainly about how the people of North Korea are trying to adapt to life after the Japanese rule. Most importantly they had three reforms that attempted to assist with the adaptation after Japanese rule. One of which was the reform over land. This reform was to reassign the land that the Japanese had previously divided. The peasant people who were the most vocal over their disagreement over previous land laws pushed the reform. With new authority over their lives the people became very satisfied with life in general and also happy with the direction the authority was taking the peopl and their country. I would like to know if the people are still satisfied with the division of land after the reform or if some people

Ideology can be looked at different perspectives of the way people think about it. Some people think that ideology is bad, while some people think it is good. Ideology takes a very harmful way in Christianity; Pope Francis explains to Christians that ideology drives away the church and the people. In his perspective of mind, ideology is a “serious illness.”(Dolan) In some other places such as North Korea, ideology is a “dangerous belief system.” North Koreans Ideology is most commonly referred as “Juche,” this ideology is harmful to people because most people would like to praise people who do good things, but in North Korea people have to pray to a dictator who is capable of killing, torturing, and murdering his own people.

There are a plethora of definitions which encompass culture. Dictionary.com Unabridged (2017) defines culture as the quality in a society, or an individual, that arises from a concern for what is regarded as excellent. Five characteristics of culture may include: a particular form or stage of civilization, the fine arts, scholarly pursuits, etiquette, and/or the drive towards excellence. The author of this essay adds to the definition to include culture in present day as: All interactions between a member of society and society.

Manners represent an individual by the way they dress, behave, communicate, and their etiquette, while customs refer to the traditional way that a culture is practice individually, or by a group of people. Workers are expected to bow to their seniors when they greet them, and to use only formal language to their seniors, as it is rude to speak informally to someone of higher rank. In Korean businesses, meetings are often held in evenings at a restaurant or bar. Drinking is part of the Korean culture, as Koreans believe that drinking helps to bond colleagues in the company, and an offered drink must never be refused as it is considered to be rude. Along with drinking, Karaoke is a popular activity after meetings. People who attend the meeting are usually expected to sing a solo song.

Culture can be defined in many ways due to the fact that everyone can have their own distinct and traditional beliefs and values. “ Culture is fluid, it is not a static entity which one takes out of the box on occasion. It is with us daily” (Cultural Handout). Someone’s culture is set as the characteristics of the group practices in language, religion, types of food, social traits and habits, and the distinct arts and music. There are a variety of different cultures for example, Western Culture, Eastern Culture, Latin Culture, Middle Eastern Culture, and African Culture. All of these different cultures have their own ideas, values, and individualism, laws that are implied, civil rights, and even technology. In our, “ Culture Handout” culture is defined as the tool of the mind, “ it is an individual’s way seeing and interacting within the world. It encompasses one’s values systems, beliefs, and perceptions of the world around them. Race, socio-economic class gender, sexual orientation, ability, geographic location, age, religion language, etc. all impact the formation of culture, but these various context are not culture” (Cultural Handout).