Street snaps of the streets of Seoul and Pyongyang show that clothing styles among South Koreans and North Koreans are drastically different. In this Research Review, Hyun-Sook Choy, Honorary Professor and Former Dean of the Graduate School of Fashion at Dongduk Women’s University explains the trajectory in which fashion in North Korea has change...

Prior to the collapse of the Soviet Union, an extensive number of cultural exchange visits were made between the Soviet Union and North Korea in various fields including the arts. Mutual visits paid by delegates of the respective countries served as an opportunity to introduce cultural techniques and receive training by experts of the other country...

North and South Korea had the same traditional culture before they were separated. After their division, each had developed its own culture stemming from the shared tradition. One example of divided cultural elements is “mass games” or “mass gymnastics”, which have similar characteristics but different meanings. In South Korea, mass games h...

Western-style circus performances were first introduced to Korea by Japan. The circus enjoyed its popularity in South Korea until the proliferation of mass media. The short history of circus in South Korea has been buried in oblivion, as it was not included as part of the governmental effort to preserve traditional culture during 1980s. In this spe...

North Korea’s gymnastics has been used as a means to consolidate its education on political ideology of the socialist system. North Korea's art performances which are in the form of large-scale gymnastic or mass games involving youth, students, and workers have been carried out for its internal governance and charm offensive. The author underline...

The different landscapes of North and South Korea are the result of more than 60 years of separation on the Korean Peninsula. In this research review, Changmo Ahn, Professor of Architecture at Kyonggi University explains how ‘architecture mirrors the time,’ or in other words, how differences in ideologies led to stark differences in the archite...

Kim So Wol (1902-1934), widely known for his beautiful yet sorrowful verses in his poems including “Azalea,” has been long beloved by his readers. In this Research Report, Dr. Yee Jisun, Research Fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification, dives deep into how the poet’s works have been received and interpreted in North and South K...

While it may come as a surprise to foreigners unfamiliar with the topic of design in North Korea, North Korea has in fact cultivated its own long heritage of industrial designers who design a variety of items, ranging from stamps to brand logos. According to Hee Sun Choi, Adjunct Professor in the Department of Design at Chung-Ang University Graduat...

Minjok has historically referred to a group that shared history, culture, and the same ancestors that have founded the country. Upon the liberation of the Korean peninsula, Korea strived to rebuild Minjok Culture, so that it could unite the nation and remove pro-Japanese remnants and traces of feudalism. However, according to Dr. ...

How is division, in a divided country like Korea, manifest in the field of literature? Examining the history of division in the concept of national literature, this Special Report delves into the differences between the perception and forms of literature in the two Koreas and the importance of studies in this field. According to Kim Seong-su, Profe...