North Korea marked the
64th anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean
War yesterday with a large rally in Pyongyang, and by maintaining its stance
that the war was caused by an allied U.S.-South Korean invasion across the 38th parallel. A spokesperson for the
Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland (CPRF) alleged: “The
whole world knows that the Korean War was planned and provoked by the U.S. and
South Korea.”
In North Korea, the Korean War (“6.25 War” in
South Korea) is officially referred to as the “Great Fatherland Liberation War.” Accordingly, June 25th is memorialized as the day the U.S. launched its “war of aggression.” From
this date until July 27th, the date when the Korean War armistice was signed, which is celebrated as Victory Day in the North, events harshly critical of
the U.S. and South Korea are held to maintain collective memory and foster
loyalty to the Kim regime.
At the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia
released Korean War-related documents to the South Korean government that made
it impossible for the North to any longer deny the role of aggressor. As a result, and as more and more people inside North Korea get access to information from the outside, many have stopped believing in this mythical history. Nevertheless, Pyongyang faces the need to try and keep the lie alive.
Last year on June 25th, Uriminzokkiri (through
which North Korea targets the South with propaganda) asserted that the “hard-won victory of our nation against the U.S., which boasted
worldwide superiority, will long be remembered as a miracle amongst miracles.”
Looking further back, on the 61st anniversary
of the war in 2011, Workers’ Party
publication Rodong Sinmun published an article designed to fuel
anti-Americanism, asserting, “During
our brief strategic retreat in the Great Fatherland Liberation War, the U.S.
imperialists occupied Pyongyang City, slaughtering 15,000 of our patriots and
innocent civilians in an unforgivable crime.”
The quintessential North Korean event held
in remembrance of the country’s version of the war (see image) is the “U.S. imperialists condemnation rally.” During these rallies, which go on nationwide, American soldiers are
portrayed as “our mortal
enemies,” “wild dogs,” and “demons.”
Specific details of U.S. soldiers indiscriminately slaughtering North Korean
civilians are recalled and denounced, and slogans calling for the removal of
the United States from the Korean Peninsula by force are displayed.
These meetings are carried out in
conjunction with anti-American art exhibits in many counties across the nation.
In particular, people go in groups to visit Sinchon in South Hwanghae Province,
home to a large museum about American atrocities.
The Sinchon region is known as the “land of death” because
during the war it saw the deaths of 1/4 of the local population at the hands of
American soldiers. The museum was built upon Kim Il Sung’s orders for the 10th anniversary of the outbreak of the war in 1960, and is used as
a center for the spreading of anti-American sentiment.
“In North Korea,
the state often points out that ‘it was a typical Sunday’ when the war broke out, especially emphasizing the word ‘Sunday’. Sunday is
underscored because people do not work on that day, meaning that they couldn’t
be mobilized. This is how the North tries to assert that they did not invade
the South,” a senior
defector told Daily NK.
“Every year in June,
schools hold poem recitations and writing contests in addition to U.S.
condemnation meetings and meetings with veterans to foster animosity towards
the U.S.,” he went on. “Veterans of the war are pushed to take an active role in these
meetings for propaganda purposes.”
“Because people
have been brainwashed for more than fifty years, they have no choice but to
believe what the state says,” he concluded. “Although some are now
coming into contact with South Korean radio and videos and with relatives overseas,
they pretend to believe the state in fear of attracting suspicion.”
