{"id":43893,"date":"2020-02-21T14:00:21","date_gmt":"2020-02-21T05:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/?p=43893"},"modified":"2026-04-05T15:42:50","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T06:42:50","slug":"north-korea-orders-reorganization-countrys-caste-system-songbun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korea-orders-reorganization-countrys-caste-system-songbun\/","title":{"rendered":"N. Korea orders reorganization of the country&#8217;s caste system"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered the Ministry of People\u2019s Security (MPS) last month to reclassify the \u201cbirth <em>songbun<\/em>\u201d and \u201csocial <em>songbun<\/em>\u201d of all North Koreans, Daily NK has learned.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kim\u2019s move appears to be part of an effort to get a better handle on the \u201cideological consciousness\u201d of the country\u2019s more liberal-minded younger generation with a view to more efficiently exert control over them.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIn mid-January, the MPS&#8217;s Bureau 8 received an order from Kim to reorganize the <em>songbun<\/em> system,\u201d a source in North Korea told Daily NK on Feb. 18. \u201cThe MPS immediately prepared the necessary steps to do this and began implementing them from the beginning of this month.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The MPS is charged with general policing duties in North Korea. The agency&#8217;s Bureau 8 organizes and manages the personal information of all North Koreans, including births, marriages, and deaths. The bureau has reportedly started the reclassification process in Pyongyang and the agency\u2019s officials are currently classifying the city\u2019s residents into one of 12 categories.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>INESCAPABLE <em>SONGBUN<\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Birth <em>songbun<\/em>, or family ancestry, refers to the <em>songbun<\/em> of an individual\u2019s parents at the time of their birth. Social <em>songbun<\/em>, otherwise known as an individual&#8217;s job category, is the <em>songbun<\/em> of an individual\u2019s parents when the individual reaches adulthood (and obtains formal citizenship). <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Birth and social <em>songbun<\/em> both group people into one of four categories: soldier, office worker, worker, or farmer. North Korean officialdom treats residents discriminatory on the basis of which category they belong to.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWhen people are assigned to positions in the party [Workers\u2019 Party of Korea], government or the military, <em>songbun<\/em> becomes an important yardstick of appraisal,\u201d the source explained. \u201cBirth and social <em>songbun<\/em> provide officials with a way to understand where the person came from and the potential they have for development in the society.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kim ordered that individuals be grouped into one of twelve categories, which appears to be aimed at allowing officials to quickly understand the \u201cideological status\u201d and \u201cinclinations\u201d of individual North Koreans.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Daily NK sources explained that there were originally just 10 categories, but that Kim created two more: \u201cideologically wavering\u201d and \u201ccomplainers and discontents.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThe authorities think that the solidarity of the nation could collapse if young people become susceptible to the \u2018yellow winds\u2019 [capitalism],\u201d and view this issue as a very serious one facing the country,\u201d one source said. \u201cThey view it more necessary than ever to carefully monitor the ideological inclinations of the younger generation because they never experienced the hardships of the revolution.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">North Korea\u2019s so-called \u201c<em>jangmadang<\/em> generation,\u201d which was forced to rely on their own wits to survive and had no need for the government\u2019s public distribution system, have in recent years become a main pillar of North Korean society. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As Kim&#8217;s recent <em>songbun<\/em> reclassification order suggests, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">North Korean officials have recognized this change in their society and have begun efforts to clearly and accurately understand the ideology and consciousness of this younger group of people.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">North Korea\u2019s moves to reclassify the <em>songbun<\/em> of its population is ultimately, however, aimed at ensuring they remain loyal to the state. The younger generation has shown a greater affinity toward \u201cindividualism\u201d and \u201ccapitalism\u201d than previous generations, which were more outwardly loyal to the WPK and the state and more willing to sacrifice for their country.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>NO STONE LEFT UNTURNED<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Departments dealing with resident registration in each of Pyongyang\u2019s police stations and in its Public Security Bureau are reportedly in the midst of the <em>songbun<\/em> reorganization process. Local police officials with intimate knowledge of local residents, police informants, and the heads of <em>inminban<\/em>s are working together to classify the city\u2019s residents into one of the twelve categories.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cAfter Pyongyang officials finish reordering the <em>songbun<\/em> of the city\u2019s residents, the central government will likely start the process anew on residents living outside of the city in the provinces,\u201d the source added.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">North Korean officials have also reportedly changed the regulations surrounding the storage of \u201cdeath reports.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cOriginally, the authorities kept death-related documents for just three years, but the central government recently ordered that officials should keep summaries of the documents on file forever,\u201d a source told Daily NK.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThat way, officials will be able to trace the family background of the deceased person and track their \u2018ideological roots,\u2019\u201d he added.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em>*Translated by Alek Sigley\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><i>Please direct any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/%EA%B9%80%EC%A0%95%EC%9D%80-%EC%9D%B8%EB%AF%BC%EB%B3%B4%EC%95%88%EC%84%B1%EC%97%90-%EC%A3%BC%EB%AF%BC-%EC%84%B1%EB%B6%84-%EC%9E%AC%EC%A0%95%EB%A6%AC-%EC%A7%80%EC%8B%9C%EC%9D%B4%EC%9C%A0\/\"><em>Read in Korean<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered the Ministry of People\u2019s Security (MPS) last month to reclassify the \u201cbirth songbun\u201d and \u201csocial songbun\u201d of all North Koreans, Daily NK has learned.\u00a0 Kim\u2019s move appears to be part of an effort to get a better handle on the \u201cideological consciousness\u201d of the country\u2019s more liberal-minded younger [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":171,"featured_media":41461,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wikipediapreview_detectlinks":true,"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[786,1430],"class_list":["post-43893","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-ideology","tag-youth"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.7 (Yoast SEO v28.2) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>N. Korea orders reorganization of the country&#039;s caste system - North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered the MPS last month to reclassify the \u201cbirth songbun\u201d and \u201csocial songbun\u201d of all North Koreans.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korea-orders-reorganization-countrys-caste-system-songbun\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"N. 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