Ask a North Korean: What is the 'songbun' system like under Kim Jong Un?



Ask A North Korean Ask a North Korean: What is the ‘songbun’ system like under Kim Jong Un? "The songbun system exists in name only for many" Tae-il Shim September 5, 2019 SHARE COPY LINK FACEBOOK X LINKEDIN MASTODON Nk News/Morsky Studio Greetings NK News readers, and welcome back to Ask a North Korean — the feature where you send in your questions and have them answered by our North Korean defector writers. This is Tae-il Shim’s third piece for NK News — you can read his first here and second here. Today’s question is from Michael from Los Angeles, who asks: “Has Kim Jong Un relaxed the songbun system and if so to what degree?” Songbun refers to the North Korean social classification system where one’s status is determined by the actions of their paternal ancestors during the Japanese © Korea Risk Group. All rights reserved. No part of this content may be reproduced, distributed, or used for commercial purposes without prior written permission from Korea Risk Group. Get the Daily Update Start your day with the North Korea stories that matter most – as selected by Trending

Ask A North Korean

Ask a North Korean: What is the ‘songbun’ system like under Kim Jong Un?

"The songbun system exists in name only for many"

Tae-il Shim September 5, 2019

Ask a North Korean: What is the ‘songbun’ system like under Kim Jong Un?

Greetings NK News readers, and welcome back to Ask a North Korean — the feature where you send in your questions and have them answered by our North Korean defector writers.

This is Tae-il Shim’s third piece for NK News — you can read his first here and second here.

Today’s question is from Michael from Los Angeles, who asks: “Has Kim Jong Un relaxed the songbun system and if so to what degree?”

Songbun refers to the North Korean social classification system where one’s status is determined by the actions of their paternal ancestors during the Japanese