Have you ever wondered what schools in North Korea look like? I sure did.

As I’m researching various education systems for my game, (spoiler warning) I want to implement one that will closely resemble that of communist and totalitarian countries or the way they used to study during the war times. Since I’m a sucker for dystopias and particularly North Korea, which serves as a huge inspiration for me, I decided to dig into the topic of schooling in North Korea. And since one of the most important goals of Inkwell Institute is “to educate and raise a group of obedient and rule-abiding patients” (according to Mr. Buba), I decided to incorporate some of the information I found about North Korean education into your lovely brains.

As you read on, you will learn how to solve unusual math problems featuring “American bastards” and read a unique story about a starving young girl.

The recourses I gathered are be available for my supporters on my Ko-fi~

North Korean Education

Let’s start grandiose, with a revolution. North Korean education system went through a long history of reforms, major ones taking place in the 20th century. The most recent reform occurred in 2012, extending compulsory education from 11 to 12 years — which matches modern South Korea's system. After Kim Jong Il’s death, Kim Jong Un incorporated computer science classes into the reformed school system. While education is officially free in the country, corruption thrives — be it private tutoring or bribery. Textbooks undergo huge censorship as well: words such as “I”, “friend” and recently “reunification” are emitted, and their foreign language textbooks are written and produced by North Koreans themselves. This is to ensure that no external information enters the young students’ minds.

Every classroom must have the portraits of Kims, and in case of emergency, these are the first things to be saved (as I’m sure the majority of you already know). Since North Korea and Russia have been “friends” ever since WW2, the Korean kids still wear soviet uniforms (as a person who comes from the post-soviet environment, it’s a bit weird to see North Koreans wearing pioneer ties 😅).

The main goal of North Korean schools is to raise a country of obedient and handy nation and wire “patriotic beliefs” into their brains from a very young age. They are taught the Juche doctrine, an ideology introduced by Kim Il Sung, which core idea is that North Korea is a country that must remain separate and distinct from the world, dependent solely on its own strength and the guidance of a godlike leader. (cited from Vox)

I was surprised to find out that one of the main subjects in North Korea are IT and science. Thanks to that, many Koreans know programming languages and speak excellent English. North Koreans prosper in IT and computer science, and recently they won a hacking competition hosted by a US-based firm. (from NK news)

Besides English, other major languages they study include Chinese, German, and Russian. One of the first phrases students are taught to say is: “Long live Great Leader Generalissimo Kim Il Sung”, even before “Hello” and “How are you?”

Yes, North Koreans view Americans as their biggest enemies but despite that, they speak excellent English. I couldn't help but laugh when I read the math problems they're required to solve: “There are 4 American bastards and 2 of them were killed. How many American bastards are left to kill?”

What’s more, from birth the kids are taught that they are surrounded by enemies: American imperialists, Japanese militarists and the South Korean “gang of traitors” (portrayed as rats in the Squirrel and Hedgehog animated series).

I found a North Korean English textbook that told the story of a young South Korean. She and her family were poor, her father was killed by “the US beasts” and she hadn’t eaten for three days. Then, a US army jeep ran over her and she was seriously wounded. The text ended with the statements “Such barbarous atrocity can often be found in the southern part of our country” and “We must drive out US beasts and reunify our country to live happily under the warm care of the respected General Kim Jong Il”.

To ensure comprehension, the text was followed by questions such as:

1. By whom was her father killed?, and
2. How many days had she skipped her meals?, and to top it all of
3. What must we do to reunify the country?

Fun, huh? Tell me how many questions did you answer correctly.

So as you can see, they plant seeds of negative thinking into the kids’ brains from a very young age, alongside an unhealthy love for their country, especially for the leaders. In addition to Math, Korean language and Sports they study such subjects as: “The Childhood Years of the Beloved and Respected Leader Generalissimo Kim Il Sung”, “Revolutionary Activities of the Heroine of the anti-Japanese Struggle Mother Kim Jong Suk” and “Revolutionary Activities of the Beloved and Respected Leader Marshal Kim Jong Un”. And failing these subjects is an absolute no-no. They can get a bad grade in Math, Science, Physics, but if they fail any of these main subjects… well, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Escape-Camp-14-Remarkable-Odyssey/dp/0143122916" target="_blank" ]<camp="" 14]<="" a=""> </a>

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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Escape-Camp-14-Remarkable-Odyssey/dp/0143122916" rel="nofollow noreferrer" ]="" <="" p="">But all their history books are full of lies. They are packed with legends that convey the divine acts of the Kim family. For example, it is believed that Kim Il Sung was born near Mt. Baekdu, defeated the Japanese at the end of the occupation of Korea with a single swipe of his finger, and didn’t urinate or defecate. While the South Koreans are taught it was their northern neighbors who invaded their country in 1950, the North Koreans are taught the opposite. They also rewrite the history of other countries, for example, the </a>General Sherman Incident in 1866. (doesn’t it remind you of one particular book? 👀)

One tradition fascinated me when I first read about it: self-criticizing sessions, or Saeng-hwal-chong-hwa (생활총화). According to this tradition, North Koreans must report any mistakes and/or crimes they committed or saw somebody else commit. Wait, wasn’t there something similar in 1984?

There are some major universities in North Korea and even some English and international schools where people from other countries can study. However, if you’d like to study in one of the major North Korean universities, sike! there is no application information available. Only “the best of the best” and most trustworthy can enroll in these sacral institutes. And yes, you’ve read it right, English and international schools. There is a short post written by Alek Sigley about his daily life as a foreign student in North Korea. Besides that, some teachers who taught in North Korea documented their journeys as well.

I was curious to read about North Korean research papers, and what I found may not be so surprising anymore. The research articles must begin with such phrases as: “The Great Leader respected comrade Kim Il Sung taught the following…”, “The Great Guide respected comrade Kim Jong Il instructed the following…” or “The Beloved and respected comrade Kim Jong Un said the following…”. This rule is followed in every article, including science subjects and mathematics. First a quote from a Kim and only then may they begin their research.

When a foreigner visits North Korea, they are assigned a tour guide to show them all the monuments in Pyongyang, including in schools. But these tour guides are carefully chosen by the government. Only the best and most trustworthy students can be assigned the role of a guide, or they can choose to join the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

When Michael Palin from Channel 5 visited a North Korean school, he asked the students who they wanted to become when they grew up. One of them answered “I want to enter the army” and the other one said, “I want to be a teacher who is loyal to the respected Marshal Kim Jong Un”. And hearing Michael’s confused tone of voice is totally worth the watch 😅

Philosophical section

The majority of the world population sees the North Korean regime as evil and inhumane, but in recent years, my brain started to be critical of this opinion. I don’t want people to misunderstand me, and I have no intention of being judged, hence my wish is that I’d like you to read this section thoroughly and think about what I write here. Not just scan through the text, but genuinely engage in it, stop and think about it, and let it marinade in your head for a long time. But these are just some thoughts that appear in my mind from time to time, so take it with a grain of salt and don’t judge me.

I’ve started asking myself this question: Is North Korea really as bad as we all see it? I mean, we’re all shocked by the news about North Korea which state that it poses a potential threat to the whole world, that it destroys its own nation, and that the people there are subjected to harsh living conditions. But North Korea seems “bad” for us because we are used to living a different life — a completely different life which is a polar opposite to the life in North Korea. And we are used to it. But the people who live there haven’t seen a different life. They have never experienced distinct living conditions, and the same goes for us. They believe what they are taught (just as we do) they live in the conditions they live in (just as we do) they can’t imagine a different life (just as we can’t).

And to think about it: If there is a fire in a North Korean’s house, all they have to do is to save the portraits. They don’t have to care about other possessions much, the main thing is to save the portraits and they’ll be rewarded for that. They are taught to love and serve their country, which we call “propaganda” with a negative undertone, but if you think about it, we all are taught propaganda. We don’t have the chance to develop our own beliefs and opinions, because everything we believe is bits and pieces of information we heard somewhere, read somewhere, or gathered somewhere. We view the North Korean regime as extremist, but they view the American regime as extremist as well. We believe they are told lies about other countries, but how do we know we are not being lied to? What if what we’re told about North Korea is all lies, and they live in paradise and utopia on Earth, while it’s us who struggle in 9 circles of hell?

And if not, then how do we know [God, Earth, {insert what you believe in}] was not intending us humans to live as they do in North Korea? What if we are supposed to live like in North Korea, but instead we are violating the rules of [God, Earth, {insert what you believe in}]?

And that reminds me: what if we’re told how they live are lies? How do we know what we study is not a lie? We didn’t live during WW2, how do we know it happened for real? We didn’t live in the 19th century, how do we know the industrial revolution took place? And even if it did, how do we know it happened during the 19th century? I wouldn’t rely on written documents and photographs so much, because Manuscripts of Dvůr Králové and Zelená Hora were also believed to be real.

What I want to say is that as humans, we are opposed to the idea of the atypical. We are all scared of changes. I believe the majority of people living in [the USA, Europe, etc.] wouldn’t want to live under different conditions, because we are used to the conditions we currently live in. And we wouldn’t want to change them because we are used to them. The same goes for North Koreans. They wouldn’t want to live under different conditions, because they are used to the conditions they currently live in. And they wouldn’t want to change them because they are used to them.

Don’t get me wrong, if I were asked if I wanted to live as North Koreans do, I would certainly scream at the top of my lungs “NO!” (especially after reading all the horrors they have to face). But it’s merely because I am used to living the life I currently live. But they are used to living different lives to ours. I believe that If you asked a North Korean whether they’d like to live like Americans [bastards], they’d also scream “NO!” as loud as they could. However, if I’d imagined myself in the shoes of a North Korean, I wouldn’t know a different life, so I wouldn’t want to live a different life.

Writing philosophical thoughts is challenging, as there's always a high risk of being misunderstood. That's why I encourage you to read my thoughts carefully and reflect on them deeply. Allow these ideas to marinate in your brain, and let your own opinion time to develop. Even if it’ll take you years or even decades.

But the main point I want to get across is: “All of us live differently, and let’s not judge others by the way they choose to live. And be critical of every information you are given”.

Feel free to share your theories 🤗👽

This post originally appeared on my Ko-fi page. To check the resources I used, click me (for a surprise link 👀).