The extraordinarily normal life of a North Korean woman from a rural town



Columns The extraordinarily normal life of a North Korean woman from a rural town Move from countryside to career to housewife typifies apolitical path of majority that rarely questions DPRK society Andrei Lankov June 3, 2022 SHARE COPY LINK FACEBOOK X LINKEDIN MASTODON Three women strolling in Pyongyang, Sept. 2019 \| Image: NK News It’s easy to overestimate the importance of politics in North Korean society and forget that for the majority that lives in the country, the Kim state is a marginal concern. Most North Korean people go to work or school, date, enjoy leisure time (usually with a few beers) and live their lives seldom questioning the society they were born in. Kim Young-sook (a pseudonym) was one such person, a daughter of a well-to-do family, reasonably successful in all her undertakings and, I would say, pretty typical. It’s easy to overestimate the importance of politics in North Korean society and forget that for the majority that lives in the country, the Kim state is a marginal concern. Most North Korean people go to work or school, date, enjoy leisure time (usually with a few beers) and live their lives seldom questioning the society they were born in. Kim Young-sook (a pseudonym) was one such person, a daughter of a well-to-do family, reasonably successful in all her undertakings and, I would say, pretty typical. Try unlimited access Only $1 for four weeks Unlimited access to all of NK News: reporting, investigations, analysis Year-one discount if you continue past $1 trial period The NK News Daily Update, an email newsletter to keep you in the loop Searchable archive of all content, photo galleries, special columns Contact NK News reporters with tips or requests for reporting Get unlimited access to all NK News content, including original reporting, investigations, and analyses by our team of DPRK experts. Subscribe now All major cards accepted. No commitments – you can cancel any time. © 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 And how should we address you in correspondence? One more step! Please check your inbox, for an email we just sent you, and click on the confirmation message in it to get subscribed to our Daily News Update. Trending

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The extraordinarily normal life of a North Korean woman from a rural town

Move from countryside to career to housewife typifies apolitical path of majority that rarely questions DPRK society

Andrei Lankov June 3, 2022

The extraordinarily normal life of a North Korean woman from a rural town

Three women strolling in Pyongyang, Sept. 2019 | Image: NK News

It’s easy to overestimate the importance of politics in North Korean society and forget that for the majority that lives in the country, the Kim state is a marginal concern. Most North Korean people go to work or school, date, enjoy leisure time (usually with a few beers) and live their lives seldom questioning the society they were born in.

Kim Young-sook (a pseudonym) was one such person, a daughter of a well-to-do family, reasonably successful in all her undertakings and, I would say, pretty typical.

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The extraordinarily normal life of a North Korean woman from a rural town

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