Childhood dreams, education and loyalty in North Korea | NK News
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September 27, 2026Sep 27, 2026

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Childhood dreams, education and loyalty in North Korea

Visual/text project on North Korea analyzes media excerpts captured on instant film

For many of us, the idea of people living happily in North Korea doesn’t seem possible. Even less likely is the idea of North Koreans having an emotional connection to the country’s leader.

But things look different on the other side. In the DPRK, the notion of an “evil leader in an evil country” simply becomes an “imperialist lie,” a myth that North Korean media work relentlessly to debunk.

The regime in fact, invests a great deal of energy in building idyllic images of life, telling its citizens that they could hardly be happier anywhere else as they are truly