The Duality of North Korean Intellectuals in Reality Recognition and their Roles in the Age of Globalization

Abstract

This paper examines the change in recognition of reality by North Korean intellectuals by analyzing North Korean journals in the recent 12 years. The paper looks into the features of the cognition change and the dual identity of the North Korean intellectuals as the force protecting the regime and promoting reform at the same time. Research has noticed the changes in the awareness of reality by the North Korean intellectuals, a reality different from the past. However, pronounced asymmetry appears in the new reality recognition according to the different fields of research. Awareness of the reform and opening is clearly strengthened in economy and science areas, whereas the political thought sector still holds fast to the established political and social consciousness. This asymmetry of altered consciousness is due to the dual attributes of the identity and the roles imposed on the North Korean intellectuals. Over the historical process, North Korean intellectuals have been accustomed to defending the regime, and the identity as followers of the system seems to affect their perception of reality. North Korea, in promoting a reform drive in recent years, has given new roles to the intellectuals. North Korean intellectuals are now required to take the role of an expert group to lead in the changing times as supporters of the Kim Jong-un regime.