May 01, 2024
Evergreen

A North Korean defector blends his past and present, one painting at a time

Artist Jeon Ju Yeong tells NK News he hopes his artwork will build bridge of understanding with South Koreans

In North Korea, art is government-commissioned and mainly serves a propagandistic purpose, leaving little room to create works that don’t exist to reproduce the regime’s intended political messages. 

But in his new home in South Korea, one DPRK defector is attempting to freely chart his own artistic path, while exploring his life experiences between the two Koreas.

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