Mick Hartley

Teaching the creative arts in North Korea. From the Daily NK:

North Korea’s leading art universities ordered graduating students in early June 2026 to create works glorifying the heroism and sacrifice of troops deployed to Russia to fight in its war against Ukraine, with many students calling the politically charged assignment a heavy burden, according to sources inside the country.

According to a source who spoke to Daily NK on Tuesday, the Pyongyang Kim Won Gyun University of Music and Dance and the Pyongyang University of Dramatic and Cinematic Arts assigned graduating classes early this month to create works highlighting the sacrifice of soldiers who fought in the Russia-Ukraine war and portraying them as heroes. The Kim Won Gyun school, named after the composer who wrote North Korea’s national anthem and other revolutionary songs, trains musicians, dancers and other performers bound for state-run art troupes, while the drama and film university is the country’s primary training ground for actors and filmmakers….

North Korean authorities have cast soldiers who fought in the Russia-Ukraine war as revolutionaries who shed blood on the front lines of what state propaganda calls “anti-imperialist self-reliance,” a slogan rooted in the country’s Juche ideology of political and military independence from outside powers. Their service is being used as a propaganda tool to help cement the North Korea-Russia alliance.

Set against that backdrop, the directive requiring students to create works centered on the soldiers’ sacrifice, devotion and loyalty suggests authorities are not simply evaluating academic skill. The assignment appears designed to vet and shape the political loyalty of young people entering the arts field, a sector the regime has long used to spread its ideology.

The source said graduating students view how faithfully they complete the assignment as a key factor that could affect their job placement after graduation. Worried that a misstep could bring penalties, students are racking their brains to finish the project amid a tense atmosphere, the source said.

As I’ve noted often enough before, in North Korea there is no culture beyong glorification of the Kim dynasty and promotion of Juche ideology.