[Weekender] Art as more than propaganda: Meaning of culture and art transforms for North Korean defectors

Park Sang-young, the founder and principal of Set Net School for North Koreans resettling in South Korea, will be stepping down after 20 years. "Set" and "net" mean numbers three and four, respectively, in Korean. The school's name signifies that it serves as a continuation for North Korean defectors who have completed the three-month educational program at the government-run Hana Dul (One, Two) School.

While several organizations offer alternative education programs for North Koreans who find it difficult to attend a regular school in the South, Park’s school offers something unique: students get to participate in performing arts such as plays and musicals.

Many students have challenged Park, saying that learning English or obtaining a high school degree are their most immediate challenges living in South Korea, and that they have no time for doing things like acting in plays.

“Then I told them that once they enter the real world in South Korea, it’s not their English scores or college degrees that matter the most. It’s their eyes, and whether they convey confidence and shine with determination,” Park told The Korea Herald during an interview on Wednesday.

This is why Park, who himself experienced a sense of freedom and personal rediscovery through participating in performing arts such as musicals and plays during college, believes that various forms of art and cultural activities are highly beneficial for North Koreans who now live in the South.

“I’m the age of their parents, but their life stories are so much more profound than mine. Yet, they have struggled to share the stories they carry and express pent-up emotions," Park said. "Participating in a performing art is a great way for them to express themselves."

Propaganda tool

In North Korea, art and cultural activities are tools for propaganda to promote and reinforce the regime.

Jung Yu-na, a North Korean who came to the South in 2006 and is now a TV personality, said she was in a privileged position, as she had the chance to attend college in the first place. She studied the violin in the music education department at the Kim Jong Suk University of Education in Hoeryong, North Hamgyong Province.

“It’s not like we could choose our majors. I was assigned to the violin because they needed someone to play the violin. Actually, I didn't want to do it and I don't have many good memories because the teacher hit me so much,” Jung said during a forum on North Korean culture last month.

In North Korea, one's social status is predetermined based on the political, social and economic background of one's direct ancestors and relatives' behavior. The only way to change it is through excelling in the arts or sports, particularly those that do not require significant financial investment, such as singing, dancing, acting or certain sports, Jung explained.

Park Yu-sung, 33, who came to the South at age 17 after his father’s escape, is an example of someone who sought to change his fate through the arts. He recalled how his father had taught him the classical guitar in an effort to overcome the limited prospects associated with their family's background, which included his grandfather being exiled to the countryside for a single slip of the tongue.

“I would tell him I was going to learn the guitar, but instead, I’d go out to hang out with my friends, grilling beans on a mountain. One day, when my father asked me to play, I froze. He hit me, breaking my nose. That was the last time he tried to teach me the guitar,” said Park, director of the documentary “Do Alligators Live in the Mekong River?"

North Korean art education is politically oriented. For instance, creating news bulletin boards and posters is part of the art curriculum.

"The primary purpose of art in North Korea is overtly political," said Jeon Young-sun, a research professor specializing in North Korean society and culture at Konkuk University. "To prevent any potential dissent or subversion, the government maintains strict oversight over all artistic endeavors, from initial conception to public display."

"While people in South Korea say, 'This is art, not reality,' in North Korea they say, 'This isn't art, it's reality. What should we do after seeing this? We should follow the people (depicted) in the art and set an example,'" Jeon explained.

Whereas movies are sporadically made -- the one North Korea released in 2022 was the first in six years -- there has been also little progress in music as well.

Groups like the Moranbong Band have emerged and been quite active, even incorporating unconventional styles into their singing and fashion, but they've hardly created any new music, according to Jeon.

"Most of their pieces are now just rearranged versions of older songs, performed in a more modern and flamboyant style. Even the Moranbong Band, since Kim Jong-un came to power, has struggled to develop new music. As a result, they've been relying heavily on songs from their fathers' era, simply replacing 'General Kim Jong-il' with 'Marshal Kim Jong-un' in the lyrics," he added.

Transformative force in life

For Baek Seon-ja, a piano teacher with two grown children living in Goyang-si, Gyeonggi Province, a life without music is hard to imagine. She majored in piano and has been running a private music school for over 15 years.

Since 2021, she has dedicated her music school, Yeeum Art Center, to offering music and art education to underprivileged children, particularly those from North Korean defector families or young defectors themselves.

Believing that music can be a transformative force in a person’s life, she introduced her children to musical instruments. The eldest son played the clarinet, and the younger son took up the cello.

Her first encounter with a group of children from North Korea, or with North Korean parents, during a special program, was both shocking and poignant. Many of these children have never seen a piano, let alone had the opportunity to learn how to play one, before coming to South Korea.

“Some children struggle at school because of their insufficient skills at speaking the Korean spoken in the South or various reasons. Many of the parents have no room to think about music or art education as they are busy making ends meet,” Baek explained.

Many of them have psychological wounds, and she said she believes learning an instrument will help them express themselves and cope with daily challenges.

"After performing in front of other people, they seem to feel various feelings, including a sense of achievement. It could be music or something else, but because I have worked with music, I believe its power is the greatest. In fact, I didn’t realize the strength music provides while I was learning," Baek noted. "However, after teaching these children and seeing the results, I now believe that music is something that must be pursued."

While the immediate effects of cultural and artistic activities may not always be apparent, their long-term impact can be profound, significantly influencing individuals' lives and their capacity to adapt and thrive in new environments.

Lee Cheol-man, born in 1989 in North Korea, attended Set Net School in 2010. He struggled with adjusting to his new life in the South, especially due to communication difficulties.

"We were speaking the same language but I couldn't understand what South Korean people were saying, That’s why I decided to attend school, even though I was an adult," Lee recalled.

"I didn't understand why the school made me do a play at the time, but once I entered society, I realized why. Through performing in a play that is about our own story, I was able to tell my own story, and it allowed me to share my story without worrying about what others might think," Lee told The Korea Herald on Thursday.

Now a father of two elementary school students, Lee observes his children engaging in a range of cultural and artistic activities at school.

"Through those activities that I never had growing up, the range of choices is expanding for my children. Later on, I think they will be able to decide whether something suits them or not in the future. They seem very beneficial," Lee said.