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Telecommunications in North Korea refers to the communication services available in North Korea. North Korea has not fully adopted mainstream Internet technology due to some restrictions on foreign interventions.
Kim Jong Il was a North Korean politician who was the second supreme leader of North Korea. He led North Korea from the death of his father Kim Il Sung in 1994 until his death in 2011, when he was succeeded by his son, Kim Jong Un. Afterwards, Kim Jong Il was declared Eternal General Secretary of the WPK.
The contemporary culture of North Korea is based on traditional Korean culture, but has developed since the division of Korea in 1945. The Juche ideology conceived by Kim Il Sung (1948–1994) asserts Korea's cultural distinctiveness and creativity, as well as the productive powers of the working masses.
The music of North Korea includes a wide array of folk, hip-hop, light instrumental, political, and classical performers. Beyond patriotic and political music, popular groups like Pochonbo Electronic Ensemble and Moranbong Band perform songs about everyday life in the DPRK and modern light pop reinterpretations of classic Korean folk music. Music education is widely taught in schools, with President Kim Il Sung first implementing a program of study of musical instruments in 1949 at an orphanage in Mangyongdae. Musical diplomacy also continues to be relevant to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, with musical and cultural delegations completing concerts in China and France in recent years, and musicians from Western countries and South Korea collaborating on projects in the DPRK.
The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) is the state news agency of North Korea. The agency portrays the views of the North Korean government for both domestic and foreign consumption. It was established on December 5, 1946, and now features online coverage.
The Pyongyang International Film Festival is a biennial cultural exhibition held in Pyongyang, North Korea. Until 2002, the film festival was reserved to "non-aligned and other developing countries".
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Pyongyang is a diocese of the Latin Church of the Roman Catholic Church in North Korea. Its only official bishop, Francis Hong Yong-ho, was imprisoned by the government of the North Korea led by Kim Il-sung in 1949 and later disappeared. The Archbishop of Seoul acts as the Apostolic Administrator for Pyongyang.
The cinema of North Korea began with the division of Korea and has been sustained since then by the ruling Kim dynasty. Kim Il-sung and his successor Kim Jong-il were both cinephiles and sought to produce propaganda films based on the Juche ideology.
The mass media in North Korea is amongst the most strictly controlled in the world. The constitution nominally provides for freedom of speech and the press. However, the government routinely disregards these rights, and seeks to mold information at its source. A typical example of this was the death of Kim Jong Il, news of which was not divulged until two days after it occurred. Kim Jong Un, who replaced his father as the leader, has largely followed in the footsteps of both his grandfather, Kim Il Sung, and his father. However, new technologies are being made more freely available in the country. State-run media outlets are setting up websites, while mobile phone ownership in the country has escalated rapidly. "There is no country which monopolizes and controls successfully the internet and information as North Korea does," said Kang Shin-sam, an expert on North Korean technology and co-head of the International Solidarity for Freedom of Information in North Korea, a nonprofit based in South Korea. North Korea has about four million mobile-phone subscribers circa 2022—roughly one-sixth of the population and four times the number in 2012, according to an estimate by Kim Yon-ho, a senior researcher at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies.
Songun is the "military-first" policy of North Korea, prioritizing the Korean People's Army in the affairs of state and allocation of resources. "Military-first" as a principle guides political and economic life in North Korea, with "military-first politics" dominating the political system; "a line of military-first economic construction" acting as an economic system; and "military-first ideology" serving as the guiding ideology.
James Joseph Dresnok was an American defector to North Korea, one of seven U.S. soldiers to defect after the Korean War.
The Kites Flying in the Sky is a 2008 North Korean film. Directed by Phyo Kwang and Kim Hyon-chol, the film is based on the true story of a former marathon champion who devotes her life to caring for orphans.
Ten Zan: The Ultimate Mission is a 1988 science fiction action film written and directed by Ferdinando Baldi under the pseudonym "Ted Kaplan". The film stars Frank Zagarino, Mark Gregory, Romano Kristoff, and Sabrina Siani. It was Baldi's final film before his death in 2007.
The 13th World Festival of Youth and Students (WFYS) was held from 1–8 July 1989 in Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea, and was organized by the World Federation of Democratic Youth. It was the largest international event staged in North Korea up until then.
Choe Thae-bok was a North Korean politician. He was a member of the Politburo and the Secretariat of the Workers' Party of Korea, and was chairman (speaker) of the Supreme People's Assembly for nearly 21 years, from 1998 to 2019. He was considered an advisor to Kim Jong Il, as well as a popular member of the core leadership. He spoke fluent English, German and Russian in addition to Korean.
Comrade Kim Goes Flying is a 2012 North Korean romantic comedy feature film, set and filmed in Pyongyang, North Korea.
Yang Yong-hi is a Japanese-born Korean film director. Yang has directed multiple films, particularly focusing on her cultural and familial experiences in modern North Korea.
North Korean cuisine is the traditional culinary practices and dishes of North Korea. Its foundations are laid by the agricultural and nomadic traditions in southern Manchuria and the Korean Peninsula. Some dishes are shared by the two Koreas; however, availability and quality of Northern cuisine is much more significantly affected by sociopolitical class divides.
The Zainichicinema refers to the transnational film industry of Japan, South and North Korea. With the main theme on the struggles or experiences faced by the resident Korean community or individuals in Japan, the Zainichi cinema is characterized by a wide range of film genres, which encompass melodramas to Yakuza films.
References
- 1 2 3 Havis, Richard James. "Peering Into A Closed World Archived 2 June 2010 at the Wayback Machine ". Asiaweek, 19 May 2000. Retrieved on 31 October 2008.
- ↑ "Screening results of 6th Pyongyang film festival Archived 9 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine ". Korean Central News Agency, 1998. Retrieved on 31 October 2008.
