Everyday Life in the North Korean Revolution, 1945-1950

Suzy Kim

Description

During the founding of North Korea, competing visions of an ideal modern state proliferated. Independence and democracy were touted by all, but plans for the future of North Korea differed in their ideas about how everyday life should be organized. Daily life came under scrutiny as the primary arena for social change in public and private life. In Everyday Life in the North Korean Revolution, 1945-1950, Kim examines the revolutionary events that shaped people's lives in the development of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. By shifting the historical focus from the state and the Great Leader to how villagers experienced social revolution, Kim offers new insights into why North Korea insists on setting its own course.Kim's innovative use of documents seized by U.S. military forces during the Korean War and now stored in the National Archives-personnel files, autobiographies, minutes of organizational meetings, educational materials, women's magazines, and court documents-together with oral histories allows her to present the first social history of North Korea during its formative years. In an account that makes clear the leading role of women in these efforts, Kim examines how villagers experienced, understood, and later remembered such events as the first land reform and modern elections in Korea's history, as well as practices in literacy schools, communal halls, mass organizations, and study sessions that transformed daily routine.

Sujets

• Histoire
• Sociology
• Ethnic studies
• Types of rural communities
• North Korea
• Korea
• History of Asia
• Corée du Nord
• Corée

Informations

• Publié par: Cornell University Press
• Date de parution: 07 août 2013
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780801469367
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

Everyday Life in the North Korean Revolution, 1945–1950

Everyday Life in the North Korean Revolution, 1945–1950

Suzy Kim

Cornell University Press Ithaca and London

Cornell University Press gratefully acknowledges receipt of a grant from the Association of Asian Studies First Book Subvention Program, which aided in the publication of this book.

Copyright © 2013 by Cornell University

All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher. For information, address Cornell University Press, Sage House, 512 East State Street, Ithaca, New York 14850.

First published 2013 by Cornell University Press Printed in the United States of America

Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data Kim, Suzy, 1972– author.  Everyday life in the North Korean revolution, 1945–1950 / Suzy Kim.  pages cm  Includes bibliographical references and index.  ISBN 9780801452130 (cloth : alk. paper)  1. Revolutions—Social aspects—Korea (North)—History—20th century. 2. Korea (North)—History—20th century. 3. Korea (North)—Social life and customs—20th century. I. Title.  DS935.55.K567 2013  951.9304—dc23 2013004294

Cornell University Press strives to use environmentally responsible suppliers and materials to the fullest extent possible in the publishing of its books. Such materials include vegetablebased, lowVOC inks and acidfree papers that are recycled, totally chlorinefree, or partly composed of nonwood fibers. For further information, visit our website at www.cornellpress.cornell.edu.

Cloth printing

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Contents

List of Illustrations

List of Tables

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1. Revolutions in the Everyday

2. Legacies: Fomenting the Revolution

3. Three Reforms: Initiating the Revolution

4. The Collective: Enacting the Revolution

5. Autobiographies: Narrating the Revolution

6. Revolutionary Motherhood: Gendering the Revolution

7. “Liberated Space”: Remembering the Revolution Conclusion

Appendix: Sample Curricula Notes Index

vii ix xi

1 14 42 71 105 140 174 204 240

251 255 303

Illustrations

1.1.KoreanSoviet friendship (n.p., n.d.)

2.1.raeyrstefiitteComm’esoelpecPvonihtrgmaHn˘oyrPgNo anniversary of liberation (1946)

3.1.“Let’s learn even while we work” (n.p., n.d.)

3.2.Campaigning for election (n.p., n.d.)

3.3.Woman casting vote in ballot box behind screen (n.p., n.d.)

14

42 71 88 90

3.4.and3.5People celebrating the election in diverse attire, 91including a costume imitating Charlie Chaplin (1946) 4.1.105Children’s league meeting (n.p., n.d.) 4.2.People reading wall newspapers (n.p., n.d.) 126 5.1.Photo from Kim Hoch’o˘l’s resume (1948) 140 6.1.174“Women’s league organizing in liberated territory” (n.p., n.d.) 7.1.ersisoningleavrPouSeniusug(Alumead˘oSnosirPn)4542016t19, 7.2.223n˘ojrapeaT“ndPeopltisansa”n(d.).’esrAym

Tables

2.1.Organization of People’s Committees, November 1945

2.2.Overview of provincial People’s Committees in North Korea, 1945

2.3.Population figures in North Korea, 1947

3.1.Class breakdown of peasants in Inje County by township, July 1947

3.2.Results of the land reform: Confiscated land, 1946

3.3.Results of the land reform: Redistribution of confiscated land, 1946

3.4.Land confiscated according to Land Reform Law in Inje County

3.5.Land distributed according to Land Reform Law in Inje County

3.6.Class background of representatives elected in the elections of 1946 and 1947

3.7.Party affiliation of provincial, city, and county People’s Committee representatives elected in 1946

3.8.Party affiliation of township and village People’s Committee representatives elected in 1947

3.9.Party affiliation of People’s Assembly members in 1947

3.10.Level of schooling among Koreans before liberation, May 1944

3.11.First literacy campaign graduation test results for Inje County, 1948

3.12.Results of the threeyear literacy campaign in Inje County

45

47 48

74 78

79

80

81

96

97

97 97

99

101 103