1945~1950년 북한의 과학기술과 근로인민 형성에 대한 인식

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the way the acceptance of Soviet scientific technology has been associated with people-making in North Korea. North Korea has been trying to adopt the products of advanced cultures, including scientific technologies from the USSR, in order to promote the superiority of its regime in the process of the regime competition between the South and North Koreas, and to make people acknowledge the legitimacy of its rule. North Korea saw the successful regime construction of the USSR as a model, and the USSR also worked on spreading its scientific technology and culture as “prototypes” in order to consolidate its status. North Korea’s leaders and intellectuals observed the USSR enthusiastically, as they felt that the Soviet people and culture reflected the superiority of socialism. Moreover, they believed that North Koreans could become “new men” by accepting the country’s scientific technology. They realized that creating a harmonious whole between machines and workers in high-tech factories was the ideal type of socialist society. However, due to the condition of North Korea, they tried to “make people scientific” by supplying and spreading scientific technologies. They believed that learning scientific technologies could support workers on industrial sites. Workers were therefore perceived as the most exemplary people during the two-year plan of 1947 and 1948. After the establishment of a divided government, “Soviet tailorism”, which promoted the most rational and scientific form of production by focusing on the body, was required for industrial labor, and was introduced in earnest to justify rationalization efforts.