Suggestion for DPRK
Suggestion for DPRK
Do you have any suggestion for sources (books, website etc.) about DPKR? I would love to learn more about their political organisation and about social and everyday life.
Edit: thank you everyone for the suggestions!
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Socialist Constitution of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (2019) - DPRK's constitution on Wikisource
DPRK Socio-Economic, Demographic and Health Survey 2014. - Survey co-authored by the United Nations Population Fund and the DPRK’s Central Bureau of Statistics (Related: UNFPA summary of DPRK census population data from 2008).
North Korea’s Surprisingly Robust Healthcare System - Article in Global Asia
ProleWiki page on DPRK - ProleWiki page giving info on DPRK
Books
Modern Korea: The Socialist North, Revolutionary Perspectives in the South, and Unification - Book by DPRK author about the revolution and socialist construction up to 1970
Modern History of Korea - A history book from DPRK
North Korean Journey: The Revolution Against Colonialism - Book by historian from the US who visited DPRK
Sanctions of Empire - A zine by Nodutdol about the sanctions placed on DPRK and other nations. (PDF)
Socialist Education in Korea: Selected Works of Kim Il-Sung (PDF) - "Socialist Education in Korea delves into the history and educational praxis of North Korea in a way that is rarely studied in the US, as this work counters many of the western media narratives against North Korea."
Videos (in English or with English subs)
Hong Kong student delegation to DPRK - Students from Hong Kong hanging out with students from north Korea
North Koreans Talk! New Years Resolutions from North Koreans (2020) - "New Years Eve in North Korea I spent asking North Koreans what their New Year's Resolutions for 2020 are."
May day celebration 2017 - Watch some foreign tour guides hang out with Koreans at a May day celebration event. (More videos from them)
“My Experience at PUST(North Korea)” - A foreign English teacher at a school in DPRK made a documentary about their experience (it was an all male students school at the time but now has male and female students. Here is a student being interviewed)
“I met North Koreans on the Trans-Siberian Railway” - South Korean randomly meets some north Koreans on a trip abroad, turn on subtitles to see their conversation in English
Eid Al-Fitr in North Korea - Video of people in a mosque in DPRK
Pyongyang Centre for the Deaf and Blind - Visit to the center, and here is an article about it.
Night walk through the Ryomyong Street in Pyongyang - "One of the most recognizable newly build apartments in the capital of DPRK."
Video of Pyongyang Public Transport (2019) - Just a video of public transport, as the title says.
Videos (in Korean)
Episode of a south Korean TV show where some people visit north Korea, "Walk Into Pyongyang" - Unfortunately there are not English subtitles, but you could try the auto-translate subs feature on YouTube. But you can see countryside and street scenes and see the tone of interactions between people even if you may not understand Korean. It shows their visit without trying to portray north Korea as scary.
[Docuseries] A north-south Korea joint production about north and south Korean cities, "두 도시 이야기" (Tale of Two Cities) - A post I made with links to episodes of this docuseries. I also summarized an episode here: [Video] "What does Childrens' Day look like in north Korea?"
South Korean family on a road trip meets some North Koreans working in Russia - Just a friendly conversation between north and south Koreans randomly meeting in Russia (the north Koreans spotted the south Koreans pulled over at a gas station, and pulled over to greet them and had a chat, mentioned that they work in Russia but return to DPRK yearly)
Video channels, playlists, etc.
DPRK Explained - A YouTube channel which explains various things about DPRK.
DefendKorea - "Sharing information from the DPRK and countering the regime-change narrative in favor of peace, reconciliation, and reunification of Korea."
푸옹 Phuong DPRK Daily - "Daily uploads of videos related to the DPRK, news, revolutionary politics, daily life, history, culture, etc. This channel is private and has no official ties to the DPRK."
SAO Documentary - A group of people on various trips to DPRK filming as they go.
DPRK 360 - Various videos of DPRK. It also has a website with blog posts and panoramic photos of DPRK.
Our Daily Life in North Korea - Videos by Jaka Parker, who I believe is a diplomat who previously lived in DPRK with his family for a while. He has other playlists too such as North Korean Store.
Podcasts
Podcast of KEEP delegation discussing former DPRK visits - Several people in the Korean diaspora who travelled to DPRK on multiple trips a few years ago talk about their experiences going there and about the misconceptions they had about DPRK and discussions they had with DPRK people. Currently they are now involved in activism to undo the US travel ban against north Korea so they can continue their delegation trips.
The modern history of Korea with Ju-Hyun Park, Part 1 - Talks about Korea’s modern history before the division. Discusses the Japanese colonial period and independence struggle, and the beginning of US occupation. Part 2 - Discusses Korea post-division, talks about the Korean war and the history of DPRK and south Korea since then.
The Friendship is Strong: Talking About North Korea - Xiangyu (anti-imperialist rapper) discusses going to DPRK and also talks about working for Young Pioneer Tours.
Blowback Podcast season 3 covers Korean war history, it's very worth learning about Korean history as a whole to really understand DPRK.
Articles, blogs, photos
Young Pioneer Tours - This website has several articles about DPRK, usually with photos too, but they're not really listed anywhere that I know of on the site. But if you use a search engine and include the site name you can probably find articles by them on various topics. Examples of some articles: Sariwon Folklore Village, Golden Triangle Bank, Guide to Wonsan, Domestic North Korean Flights, North Korean Traffic Girls, Vegan Food in North Korea, Tae’an Friendship Glass Factory, North Korean Cuisine, Kwangbok Department Store and Supermarket
Explore DPRK - A website with various info. "As an International Friendship Initiative, we strive to promote mutual understanding and cultural exchange between the people of DPRK and the rest of the world. Our website serves as a platform to share knowledge, experiences, and insights about DPRK with the global community."
DPRK 360 - "Since 2013, Aram Pan has been visiting the DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) and capturing many aspects of their culture and everyday life."
Avax News, photos tagged "DPRK" - Various pages of photos, when you click "details" you can see multiple photos per post. You can of course try other search terms too.
Korean-language articles (sorry that I don't know an English version of these, but machine translation can help give the main points if you are okay with that):
“Understanding North Korea” - Article series by Tongil Times, especially their 북현대사 (“North Modern History”) series is informative.
“North Korea through the constitution” - Series by Sovereignty Research Institute.