고난의 행군기 이후 북한당국의 여성담론 분석

Abstract

Since the arduous march time to the present, there is much evidence that says DPRK’s society has gone through several changes due to food shortage, financial difficulties, and differentiation and development of indigenous market, even though DPRK authorities have insisted on their own of socialism. Especially, the collapse of its distribution system which used to be at the center of DPRK’s official economic operation system has pushed the socially weak class - women - to go on the street to work to make a living. As it is the case, there is a large possibility that the living conditions of the DPRK women would have changed significantly. This research starts with the question of “What should the women’s discourse be composed of under Kim Jong-il’s regime when there is a huge possibility of changes in DPRK women’s living conditions?” This research has collected 117 women-related slogans and 24 editorials ‘Roading Sinmun’ of the last ten years, and extracted and analyzed the pattern of ‘the standard stories’. After the analysis of slogans and editorials of ‘the standard stories’, there were two different kinds of patterns; ‘Kim Jung Sook’ type, combatant-wife-mother type, and the general women type combatant-wife who serves the general-mother. The DPRK authorities think of women’s role as either ‘women’s issue’ or ‘Nursing and Upbringing of Children’. And instead of awarding ‘the title of hero’ to those who perform an excellent role in both areas, the authorities reward the title to women who play an outstanding role in one of the two areas. Women’s policy in DPRK is just aimed at women but it is not for the sake of women. Women’s discourse in DPRK is a typical way of indoctrination which is based on the kernel of ‘Military First Ideology’. Likewise, it seems that women were in charge of one part responsible for ‘Mass Labor Service Campaign to Strong’ and ‘Prosperous Nation Building’. Therefore, under Kim Jung-il’s leadership over the past ten years, women’s policy in DPRK has failed to reflect the rapid changes in the sense of values among women since the last economic crisis. Women’s discourse in DPRK makes the demand that women is not the subject but the object to do all for ‘the Suryong’.