Children at the Center of Society: Prospects for the Study of Childhood in North Korea

• Published in: North Korean review Vol. 20; no. 1; pp. 74 - 86
• Main Author: Trifoi, Bianca
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Jefferson McFarland & Company, Inc 01.04.2024
• Subjects: Child abuse & neglect; Childhood; Children; Children & youth; Childrens literature; Cold War; Education policy; Families & family life; Historical text analysis; Human rights; Interpersonal communication; Modernity; Modernization; Society; State-society relations; South Korea; North Korea
• ISSN: 1551-2789; 1941-2886
• DOI: 10.2307/NKR.20.1.74

Purpose-This article argues that the study of children and childhood is important to the study of North Korea as part of a broader movement to engage with North Korean history culture, and society more seriously. Approach-This article reviews recent scholarship on the history of childhood as well as analyzes North Korean primary sources to illustrate why the study of children and childhood is important to understanding North Korea. Findings-Studies utilizing available North Korean primary sources can help us understand a great deal about North Korean history and contemporary issues despite limited access to government documents or reports. Concerns regarding children reflect concerns about society as a whole, and can be analyzed through a variety of sources, such as childrens literature. Originality-Using the approaches of existing scholarship, this article analyzes issues of North Korean childrens magazines AdongMunhak and Kkotbongori to illustrate how state and society interactions were and are communicated to children in North Korea past and present, and it calls for authors to study childhood in North Korea in more detail.