북한사회의 과시적 소비문화에 대한 탐색

Abstract

This article examines why, how, and under what social context the phenomenon of conspicuous consumption occurs in North Korea. North Korea has eliminated the class structure of the feudal era that was established in the past and has been implementing a stratification process for decades, focusing on the classes that contributed to the socialist revolution. However, because it has strictly pursued a culture where “everyone lives similarly well,” the government has strived to maintain low prices for essential food items and encouraged a frugal consumption culture. What is noteworthy is that after the economic difficulties in the mid-1990s, the government's responsibility for ‘low prices’ was removed, and the government gradually provided a social structure that allowed individuals to earn money according to their abilities and a material culture that allowed them to consume according to their abilities. The role of has moved. The North Korean government faces the task of stabilizing the system from external threats and boosting the economy by promoting the domestic market. Even though it may seem like it only strengthens the national ideology, it encourages consumption among the people and manages the internal economy. People have come to value consumption as a sign of their ‘ability’ and how well they have adapted to the changed world, and this consumption culture shows that North Korea’s income imbalance and class differentiation have expanded further than in the past. Communist values and disciplines adapt to a certain extent to the environment North Korea faces, and within them, the conflicting forces of the market are already interconnected and coordinated. What is clear is that even if some of the newly emerging wealthy class, or donju, are discovered, there are limits to their ability to acquire social status, and because the existing power elite class is being reproduced and earning a relatively stable income based on social status, the problem of class inequality still remains. The point is that it continues.