{"id":50150,"date":"2021-12-20T14:41:27","date_gmt":"2021-12-20T05:41:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/?p=50150"},"modified":"2026-04-02T16:38:33","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T07:38:33","slug":"reading-north-korea-through-trash-washed-up-south-korea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/reading-north-korea-through-trash-washed-up-south-korea\/","title":{"rendered":"Reading North Korea through trash washed up in South Korea"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A recently published book is drawing attention for analyzing conditions in North Korea by examining North Korean trash that washed up on South Korea\u2019s Five West Sea Islands. The author of the book says you can get a glimpse of North Korean product branding and design, factory conditions, and even North Korean political propaganda from its discarded wrappers.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_50151\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-50151\" style=\"width: 224px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-50151 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/\u1107\u116e\u11a8\u1112\u1161\u11ab-\u110a\u1173\u1105\u1166\u1100\u1175_\u1109\u1165\u1112\u11625\u1103\u1169-696x931-1-224x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"224\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/\u1107\u116e\u11a8\u1112\u1161\u11ab-\u110a\u1173\u1105\u1166\u1100\u1175_\u1109\u1165\u1112\u11625\u1103\u1169-696x931-1-224x300.jpg 224w, https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/\u1107\u116e\u11a8\u1112\u1161\u11ab-\u110a\u1173\u1105\u1166\u1100\u1175_\u1109\u1165\u1112\u11625\u1103\u1169-696x931-1-314x420.jpg 314w, https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/\u1107\u116e\u11a8\u1112\u1161\u11ab-\u110a\u1173\u1105\u1166\u1100\u1175_\u1109\u1165\u1112\u11625\u1103\u1169-696x931-1.jpg 696w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 224px) 100vw, 224px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-50151\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cover of Dong-A University professor Kang Dong-won\u2019s book \u2018Picking Up North Korean Garbage in the Five West Sea Islands \/ Photo: Kang Dong-won<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>North Korea expert Kang Dong-wan, a professor at Dong-A University, recently published his book \u201cPicking Up North Korean Garbage in the Five West Sea Islands,\u201d which analyzed North Korean trash that washed up on the South Korean islands of Baengnyeong, Daecheong, Socheong, Daeyeonpyeong and Soyeonpyeong between September of 2020 and October of 2021.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kang said he combed through the trash that washed up over the course of a year, collecting 1,414 discarded wrappers of 708 kinds from North Korea during that period. The number 708 refers to the total number of unique products with different brands or factories of origin, while the number 1,414 includes multiple examples of the same product.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kang said there were really quite a lot of products that have washed up on South Korean shores, from confections and drinks to other foodstuffs, sundries, and medications. He called the gathered trash \u201cprecious materials\u201d and \u201ctreasures\u201d useful for reading North Korean society.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kang\u2019s book analyzes the trash by putting it in the following categories: confections, baked goods, drinks, dairy products, foodstuffs, seasonings, liquor and cigarettes, medical supplies, and sundries.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_50152\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-50152\" style=\"width: 409px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-50152 \" src=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/\u110f\u1175\u1110\u1175.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"409\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/\u110f\u1175\u1110\u1175.jpg 741w, https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/\u110f\u1175\u1110\u1175-300x220.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/\u110f\u1175\u1110\u1175-80x60.jpg 80w, https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/\u110f\u1175\u1110\u1175-696x510.jpg 696w, https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/\u110f\u1175\u1110\u1175-573x420.jpg 573w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 409px) 100vw, 409px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-50152\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">\u2018Galaxy Candy with Strawberry Cream Inside\u2019 by Pyongyang Wheat Flour Factory. The wrapper features cat drawings similar to a Japanese fictional character. \/ Image: Kang Dong-won<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One particularly conspicuous product is \u201cGalaxy Candy with Strawberry Cream Inside\u201d by Pyongyang Wheat Flour Factory, which North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited in 2016.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The candy wrapper is covered in bright drawings and colors, including some cat characters that are similar to Japan\u2019s famous \u201cHello Kitty\u201d character.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Slightly altering the original Hello Kitty design, the package very likely violates intellectual property rights. The North Koreans appear to have taken advantage of the closed nature of its society and subsequent lack of international IP disputes to copy the design.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The package of the \u201cFried Banana Snack\u201d by Sonhung Food Processing Factory even features the Disney character Winnie the Pooh.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kang found that several wrappers emulated South Korean instant noodle and snack brands. He claims that if you examine the wrappers of products made in North Korea, some conspicuously copy the designs of analogous South Korean products. Kang further says the wrappers displayed similar color schemes, particular designs or content, with snack wrappers frequently displaying this tendency in particular.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_50154\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-50154\" style=\"width: 358px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-50154 \" src=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/\u1105\u1161\u1106\u1167\u11ab.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"358\" height=\"353\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/\u1105\u1161\u1106\u1167\u11ab.jpg 741w, https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/\u1105\u1161\u1106\u1167\u11ab-300x296.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/\u1105\u1161\u1106\u1167\u11ab-696x687.jpg 696w, https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/\u1105\u1161\u1106\u1167\u11ab-426x420.jpg 426w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 358px) 100vw, 358px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-50154\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">North Korean instant noodle wrappers that resemble South Korean instant noodle products \/ Photo: Kang Dong-won<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to Kang, in capitalist market economies, product wrapper and design naturally consider consumer choice. However, he expressed surprise that North Korean product wrappers also included product names, designs and even characters that suited the characteristics of the product. Kang said that this ended his thinking that a socialist nation like North Korea makes &#8220;simple-minded&#8221; products.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He said if North Korean product wrappers had been simple plastic wrappers devoid of color, he would not have noticed. Kang further states that we can see the current state of North Korean design and branding through its wrappers with unique fonts and characters that demonstrate the characteristics of each product.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The book also includes a comparative analysis of trash from various North Korean dairy, medical, and food additive products.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"td-post-header\"><em>Please direct any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.<\/em><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"td-post-header\"><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/%ec%83%9d%ed%99%9c%ec%93%b0%eb%a0%88%ea%b8%b0%eb%a1%9c-%eb%b3%b8-%eb%b6%81%ed%95%9c-%ea%b3%b0%eb%8f%8c%ec%9d%b4-%ed%91%b8%c2%b7%ed%97%ac%eb%a1%9c%ed%82%a4%ed%8b%b0%ea%b0%80-%ec%99%9c\/\">Read in Korean<\/a><\/em><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A recently published book is drawing attention for analyzing conditions in North Korea by examining North Korean trash that washed up on South Korea\u2019s Five West Sea Islands. The author of the book says you can get a glimpse of North Korean product branding and design, factory conditions, and even North Korean political propaganda from [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":50154,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[644],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-50150","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-analysis-and-opinion"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.7 (Yoast SEO v28.8) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Reading North Korea through trash washed up in South Korea - North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026<\/title>\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\/reading-north-korea-through-trash-washed-up-south-korea\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Reading North Korea through trash washed up in South Korea\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A recently published book is drawing attention for analyzing conditions in North Korea by examining North Korean trash that washed up on South Korea\u2019s Five West Sea Islands. The author of the book says you can get a glimpse of North Korean product branding and design, factory conditions, and even North Korean political propaganda from [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/reading-north-korea-through-trash-washed-up-south-korea\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-12-20T05:41:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-02T07:38:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/\u1105\u1161\u1106\u1167\u11ab.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"741\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"731\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mun Dong Hui\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mun Dong Hui\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/reading-north-korea-through-trash-washed-up-south-korea\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/reading-north-korea-through-trash-washed-up-south-korea\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Mun Dong Hui\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f849d1af9f17b1e55ff69fe16696b107\"},\"headline\":\"Reading North Korea through trash washed up in South Korea\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-12-20T05:41:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-02T07:38:33+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/reading-north-korea-through-trash-washed-up-south-korea\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":640,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/reading-north-korea-through-trash-washed-up-south-korea\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2021\\\/12\\\/\u1105\u1161\u1106\u1167\u11ab.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Analysis &amp; 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