On My Way To Korea

Ever since learning Korean, I have had an immense interest in North Korea.  It’s a very unique country, the only one of it’s kind in the world left today.  Hopefully, I’ll see unification in this lifetime with democracy and capitalism winning in a non-violent manner.  What will really happen, who knows.  Okay, so this is the first post in a series of posts that showcase various propaganda posters put out by North Korea.  The first post contains posters featuring the women in the country.  The next set of posts will be posters targeted towards children, against the USA and other general topics.  I had a few goals when I set out to create this set.  First, I wanted to make the most comprehensive collection of propaganda posters.  I have about 86 posters, so you can see why I decided to split it up.  Second, I wanted to provide translations for all those who are interested in knowing what they say.  Please remember, I’ve never actually been to Korea so I have to rely on my knowledge and dictionaries to come up with the translations.  If I translate anything wrong, you can notify me in the comments and I’ll fix it.  I’ve already noticed some North Korean dialect (you can learn more at the Korean Wiki Project) used in the posters.  I personally love learning different dialects, North Korean being the one I’m most interested in.

For those interested in North Korean, some of the language differences and North Korean-specific terminology you see in the posters are:

• ㄹ is never changed to ㅇ in North Korean, like 분렬 would normally be 분열 in the South Korean
• North Korean composite words don’t add a ㅅ between Korean-roots
• Quotes are places inside 《 and 》
• There aren’t as many spaces between words that are connected to have one meaning.  South Korean usually adds spaces between almost every word.
• 정춘실 운동 is a campaign for socialism performed by 정춘실 (Choon-shil Jeung) and is therefore not found in South Korea.
• 조국 is a word to describe the entire country of Korea, though it literally means “motherland”
• 선군 means military-first (as in priorities) and is usually used in the context of a political strategy
• 주체 (Juche) is the idea that you don’t have to depend on other people
• For more information on the ideologies of Juche and Seon-gun, see this post which takes the explanation directly from the North Korean media.
• 4 Great Main Principles (4대제일주의) = Leader (수령) + Ideas (사상) + Army (군대)+ Regime (제도)
• Three revolutions (3대혁명) = Culture revolution (문화혁명) + Technological revolution (기술혁명) + Ideology revolution (사상혁명)
• Four Great Main Principles (4대제일주의) = Leader (수령) + Ideas (사상) + Army (군대)+ Regime (제도)
• 우 = 위, 테제 = 주제, 원쑤 = 원수, 미제 = 미국 제국, 돐 = 돌
• 선전물 = propaganda

I am a student learning Korean, so I may get some translations wrong.  Please, for myself and those reading, help me correct terminology that I have interpreted wrongly.  Thanks!

Pages in this series

North Korean

1. Women
2. Children
3. Anti-USA 1
4. Anti-USA 2
5. Army
6. Juche and Seon-gun
7. Great Leader
8. Other 1
9. Other 2
10. Anti-USA 3
11. Great Leader 2
12. Juche and Seon-gun 2
13. Other 3
14. Other 4
15. Other 5
16. Other 6
17. Other 7

South Korean

1. Extreme
2. Other 1
3. Other 2
4. Original

Here’s the first set of posters which feature women:

Top: Grandmother (할머니)
Bottom: Let’s quickly end the agony of division (하루 속히 끝장내자 분렬의 비극을!)

Bandanna: Leave, USA army! (미군나가라)
Ribbon: We will execute the American army who murdered Min-seun Shim and Hyo-soon Shin
신호순 심민선 살인 미군 처형하리라
Bottom: Let’s drive out the American invaders, the root of unhappiness and suffering!
불행과 고통의 화근- 미제침략군을 몰아내자!

Top: To everyone who can be found, (온나라의 이르는곳마다에서)
Bottom: let’s fish in great numbers! (양어를 대대적으로 하자!)

<Same as previous poster> (온 나라 도처에서 양어를 대대적으로 하자!)

Top: In your family, (가정들에서)
Bottom: let’s conserve every drop of water! (한방울의 물이라도 절약하자!)

Top: Prevent and prevent (방역 또 방역)
Bottom: Let’s thoroughly establish a system of animal disease prevention
수의예방체계를 철저히 세우자!

Let’s plant and cultivate more sunflowers! (해마라기를 더 많이 심고 가꾸자!)

Let’s raise a great number of goats in every family!
모든 가정들에서 염소를 대대적으로 기르자!

Top: Through the complete diligence of the Health force,
보건일군들은 헌신적인 노력으로
<on the building it says “Hurray for the county’s socialist system!“>
<나라 사회주의제도 만세!>
Bottom: let’s promote the superiority  of the social health system!
사회주의보건제도의 우월성을 더욱 높이 발양시키자!

Plant rice in the correct season (모내기를 제철에 질적으로!)

Top: Follow “Choong-shil Jung’s campaign” with all our heart,
《정춘실운동》을 힘있게 벌려
Bottom: Let’s manage our own self and things well!
자체의 원료기지를 튼튼히 꾸리자!

Strongly manage the livestock for the neighborhood,
지방들에 축산기지를 튼튼히 꾸려
Let’s raise a lot of livestock through multiple methods!
여러가지 방법으로 집집승을 많이 기르자!

Let’s produce fertilizer in large amounts!
흙보산비료를 대대적으로 생산하자!

Next, we’ll be looking at the posters targeting children.