| Summary/Abstract |
This article explores the evolution of the DPRK’s ideology and propaganda
and the channels of their transmission during Kim Jong-un’s rule. The
authors highlight several distinguishing features/markers of new trends in
the DPRK’s current ideology and propaganda.
The study indicates that the demand for change is related with both
changes in Kim Jong-un’s governance style and the current realities, such
as North Koreans’ growing knowledge about the outside world and external
information pressures.
The most significant trends in North Korea’s ideology today are: departure
from the term sŏngun; the use of the umbrella term ‘ideas of Kim Il-sung-Kim
Jong-Il’; lower level of Kim Jong-un’s personality cult in contrast to that
of the previous two leaders; an attempt to delineate a watershed between
purely metaphorical descriptions and qualities of the leaders and their real
abilities; growing attention to domestic problems and greater openness in
the discussion of pressing issues; new methods of propaganda (including
social networks) addressed to the foreign audience.
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