North Korean authorities have recently stepped up their ideological indoctrination of teachers after an inspection last year found serious levels of “anti-socialist” and “non-socialist” behavior, Daily NK has learned.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a Daily NK source in South Pyongan Province said Monday that the Science and Education Department of the Workers’ Party of Korea “issued a nationwide order to step up ideological indoctrination and punishment of teachers.”
He said the order “calls for preparing students as people who possess and embody healthy spiritual and ethical traits, but at its core, it calls for cracking down on the teachers who use the language of the puppet state,” referring to South Korean words, phrases, and speech styles.
The party issued the order because the year-end general inspections of the education departments of the provincial people’s committees revealed a serious level of anti-socialist and non-socialist behavior on the part of teachers. That is to say, the general inspection of the education sector took serious issue with the use of South Korean speech styles, expressions, and words.
“Last year’s general inspection of education bureaus criticized teachers for using many puppet state-style expressions in their lesson plans,” the source said. “It also criticized teachers for often using puppet state-style expressions in class without knowing it.”
He added that the order mentioned that “problematic teachers would be dismissed or subjected to revolutionary punishment or forced labor.”
By mentioning the punishment of teachers last year for using the South Korean language, the authorities are putting teachers on alert while creating fear of retribution, the source said.
Most teachers are young and consume South Korean cultural content
In the recent order, the North Korean authorities also told teachers that they must “cultivate students into revolutionary talents who are endlessly loyal to the party and faithfully serve the Fatherland and the people.” The source said that within the party, “they really feel that they must decisively raise the quality level of teachers’ political and ideological indoctrination.”
The goal of education in North Korea is to cultivate communist revolutionary talent based on the Juche ideology and workers to build socialism. In essence, the authorities are trying to crack down on teachers – who play a central role in this educational environment – because they believe that ideological deviations on the part of teachers could negatively affect future generations.
“Most elementary, middle, and high school teachers are young and want to follow the latest trends, so they watch a lot of South Korean TV shows and frequently listen to South Korean music,” the source said. “The government is also aware of this, so it must be trying this and that [to bring them into line].”
North Korea enacted the Pyongyang Cultural Language Protection Act last year, which levies punishments against those who use the South Korean language, even the death penalty in serious cases.
Translated by David Black. Edited by Robert Lauler.
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