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A New Spring in the Paekhak Plain: the First Contemporary TV Drama of the Kim Jong Un Era

A recent North Korean TV drama has drawn significant attention. Titled “A New Spring in the Paekhak Plain,” the 22-episode series premiered the first two parts on April 16, 2025, and concluded on June 24.

“A New Spring in the Paekhak Plain” is the first North Korean TV drama in two years since “Memoir of a Prosecutor” (2023). Notably, it is the first ever North Korean drama to depict contemporary life. Although several films and dramas have been produced in the Kim Jong Un era, none have used present days as a background. “The Front without Gunfire” (2014) and “Bulletproof Wall” (2015) were set during the Japanese colonial period, while “Memoir of a Prosecutor” (2023) depicted the Korean War.

“A New Spring in the Paekhak Plain” revolves around the present day in a village called Paekhak-ri. As the drama depicts the contemporary North Korean countryside, it reveals various forms of corruption and harsh realities of rural life, centered on grain production. The drama presents an unfiltered look at the countryside to explain the necessity of North Korea’s policy agenda. The drama reflects major policy orientations and details in the Kim Jong Un era. Issues such as the “authoritarianism of officials”, corruption, “bluffing in agriculture”, scientific farming, science and technology dissemination office, the emphasis on science and technology and on youth, the construction of rural housing, the establishment of standard pharmacies, the reality of education in rural schools, teachers’ avoidance of rural posts, marriage based on social classes, and the shortage of rural housing are all laid bare.

A Self-Critical Portrayal of Countryside Reality

The theme of “A New Spring in the Paekhak Plain” is “rural construction in the new era”—that is, progress in the countryside befitting the Kim Jong Un era. In the drama, Paekhak-ri was once a model village, exemplary throughout the country. Now, however, it has degraded into a problem-ridden farm without vitality. The story follows the protagonist, Kim Hyong Sop, a newly appointed local Party Secretary in Paekhak-ri, as he works to transform the nation’s most backward cooperative farm back into a model for the nation.

The theme seems unremarkable on the surface. However, the drama is noteworthy for its candid portrayal of the North Korean countryside. The fundamental mission of North Korean literature and art is to present the Party’s policies to the people. This mission has been a significant shackle of North Korean art and literature. Engagement in internal criticism or depiction of social reality in a negative light was out of the question.

Yet, “A New Spring in the Paekhak Plain” is astonishingly detailed in its depiction of official corruptions, farmers’ distrust of Party policies, administrators’ bureaucratic tendencies, illegal transactions utilizing private economic networks, the poor educational and public health environment in the countryside, conflicts between Party and administrative officials, and the chronic “bluffing” of agricultural officials. Of course, the drama resolves them with a happy ending. However, the problems highlighted in the drama are the reality of North Korean society.

First is the farmers’ distrust of Party cadres. Kim Hyong Sop wonders why the cooperative farm, once so productive, has lost its energy and become a problem. An old farmer named Ku Wol Ya, who has worked the land for decades, tells him, “It’s because of the cadres’ bluffing.” He explains that Party cadres would initially promise a large share of the harvest to the farmers, only to demand that farmers give up this and that for the state the day after the distribution. Because of this, the farmers stopped trusting the cadres’ words, and the farm became dysfunctional. He advises, “To fix the farm, you must first understand why it fell apart. The local Party Secretaries are the cause. They don’t know the first thing about farming, so the only things that get worn out are the land and the farmers. Second, don't deceive us. How can farmers have any motivation when you promise a share and then take it back? Deceiving the farmers below and the state above—this ‘bluffing’ has made the farmers lose all heart and just go through the motions.”

Hyong Sop is shocked to hear that the problem with the Paekhak-ri farm lies not with the farmers but with the local Party Secretaries. He decides to first win the farmers’ hearts by eliminating the practice of bluffing. He asks the farmers to “frankly raise any suggestions on how to get rid of bluffing on the farm.” Pledging to “stop bluffing and keep promises to the masses,” he promises that “the entire distributed share will be given to you.”

Second is the distrust of scientific farming. The farmers do not have much faith in the scientific farming methods that the Party emphasizes for increasing food production. A veteran team leader, Kyong Hwan, who has farmed in Paekhak-ri for a long time, complains, “Cadres who’ve never farmed a day in their lives just tell us to farm exactly as the Party orders, which doesn’t match reality.” Hyong Sop, despite being the local Party Secretary, confesses, “I don’t know much about farming,” and asks for their guidance.

Following Party policy, Hyong-sop plants wheat and barley, but the yield is less than half of that of other farms. He blames himself, saying, “I thought just increasing the acreage was enough, without any scientific measures.” It was the result of blindly following orders without genuine conviction or a concrete plan for scientific farming.

Third is the widespread evasion of rural life. The protagonist, Kim Hyong Sop, does his best from the moment he arrives in Paekhak-ri to uphold the Party’s policy of increasing food production. But the countryside he encounters is different from what he expected. The farmers distrust the local Party Secretary because they assume he will leave soon anyway.

When Kim Hyong Sop arrives, the farmers think, “He’ll be gone in no time.” They believe his hard work is just a way to win them over and produce results, which he will then use to secure a promotion and leave for the city. Hyong Sop’s wife feels the same way. She is initially devastated by the news of her husband’s transfer to Paekhak-ri but is relieved when she hears a rumor that he will “be back after two or three years with a promotion.” She is that desperate to avoid living in the countryside.

The reasons for evading rural life are the poor educational and medical environments. Once Hyong Sop understands the farmers’ feelings, he decides to move his family to the village. His wife, however, objects. “I can manage, but not our son, Jin Song,” she protests. Her protest is due to their son’s college admissions. She fears that if he attends a rural school, his grades will drop and he will have a harder time getting into university. Indeed, the academic performance of graduates from Paekhak-ri has been below par. The previous year, only three out of twelve students who took the university entrance exam passed. The reason for the low scores is the quality of the teachers. There is a severe shortage of skilled science teachers in particular. After transferring to Paekhak Senior Middle School, Jin Song himself rebels, declaring, “I’m not going to a hick school like this.”

The public health environment is also poor. Hyong Sop’s wife, a doctor, is single-handedly responsible for all healthcare in the village. The situation is so dire that fake medicines are also being traded.

Fourth is the distrust among the cooperative farmers themselves. The farmers clash over everything from land allocation to work distribution. When land is distributed, they fight over “why I was given the bad plots.” During the farming process, conflict arises between those who work hard and those who do not. There is deep distrust of shirkers who use their connections with the team leader to skip work and of troublemaking farmers.

Fifth is the structural corruption of cadres. The epitome of this corruption is Han Kap Su, the director of the county’s agriculture department. Han Kap Su is a textbook example of authoritarianism and corruption. He uses his rank and position to pursue private interests.

From his position overseeing the county’s agricultural administration, he embezzles farming materials and sells them on the market for profit. He visits farms with bumper crops and demands additional grain, claiming it is “needed for a Party project,” and pockets a portion of it.

Land assessment is another of his money-making schemes. In North Korea, land is graded according to its quality, and the amount of grain to be procured by the state is determined by this grade. For the same amount of produce, a lower land grade means less to give to the state and a larger share for individual distribution. Han Kap Su uses these land assessments as leverage to demand grain. Personnel appointments are also a tool for his corruption. He demands a bribe from a farm accountant nearing retirement, suggesting he could delay it.

The Revealed Reality, and the Future

The central theme of “A New Spring in the Paekhak Plain” is increasing grain production. This is the top priority among the “12 Major Goals for National Economic Development.” Food is the North Korean regime’s greatest vulnerability. Food shortages increase regime instability, which is why the state is pouring all of its national capacity into boosting grain production.

“A New Spring in the Paekhak Plain” provides a comprehensive look at what must be done to achieve this goal. It lays bare the poor conditions in the countryside, the deep-seated distrust of Party cadres and policies among farmers, and the structural corruption of administrative officials who exploit their Party positions. The protagonist, Hyong Sop, sacrifices his family and devotes himself to implementing Party policy. In the process, he rediscovers his calling as a Party member and becomes a local Party Secretary who earns the trust of the farmers. However, is this part realistic? The problems shown are close to reality, but the portrayal of the cadre is closer to an ideal.

At the 8th Party Congress in 2021, Kim Jong Un stated, “Let us comprehensively and profoundly analyze and review the experiences and lessons gained and the errors made during the review period, and on this basis, define the scientific fighting goals and tasks that we can and must carry out.” [1] A key obstacle identified in the implementation of the “national economic plan” was “bluffing.” “Bluffing” was designated as a work attitude and method to be eradicated in various meetings, described as a “non-socialist and anti-socialist work attitude and method.”

On May 31, 2022, the “Bluff Prevention Act of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea” (hereafter Bluff Prevention Act) was enacted by Decree No. 972 of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly. It includes provisions to punish bluffing in economic planning and across all of society, especially in agriculture. The law’s mission is to “wage a strong struggle against the phenomenon of bluffing nationwide and society-wide, thereby contributing to the correct implementation of state policy and the protection of the people’s interests.”

The latter half of 2025 precedes the 9th Party Congress, scheduled for early 2026. At the congress, the achievements of the past five years will be evaluated, and a new five-year plan will be established. The broadcast of “A New Spring in the Paekhak Plain” at this juncture is a self-critical narrative, confessing that to establish and execute scientific and systematic plans, the pervasive bluffing and distrust must first be resolved. It is also a desperate plea for the people to trust in Party policy. The problem is reality. Without real-world change, “A New Spring in the Paekhak Plain” will be remembered as nothing more than a piece of romantic fiction.  ■

[1] 김정은, “조선로동당 제8차대회에서 한 개회사”, 『로동신문』, 2021. 1. 6.

■ Youngsun JEON is HK Research Professor at Konkuk University.

■ Edited by Inhwan OH, Researcher Fellow; Jong Hyuk CHUNG, Research Associate, Korea National Diplomatic Academy
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