Reading so many works of North Korean literature, one gets curious about the origin stories of these writers. Here is what I have been able to find out:
Literary Correspondents
An important feature of North Korea's state literary production system is the role of 문학통신원, or "literary correspondents." These are part-time writers working in various industries while producing stories, essays, or poems that depict their working life. Indeed, most of the biggest names in North Korean literature have histories of working in more humble industries like mining, farming, and manufacturing, and their stories reflect their backgrounds. Paek Nam Nyong (Friend, Field Train, Revival) was an accomplished lathe operator. Paek Bo Hŭm (“Green Land,” Eternal Life, Age of Prosperity) was some kind of botanist. Poet Kim Man Yŏng was a Chollima Steel Factory laborer.
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| Winners of the 2014 "Our Schoolroom" Literary Prize |
Kim Ju-song was one such literary correspondent, and he describes the system in detail in his memoir [151-2]:
In North Korea, there are several stages that one must clear in order to become a writer. The first of these is becoming a “literary correspondent of the masses.” Any North Korean citizen, male or female, young or old, can do this. One simply visits the regional KWU office and registers with the officer in charge. After that, you work on writing stories and attend yearly “literary correspondent seminars.”
These seminars usually last about one month, during which writers work on stories while staying at a designated inn near the regional KWU office. Finished stories are then reviewed by judges [審議員] in the masses’ production division [群衆創作課]; if they pass review, they may be published in a party literary journal.
That journal is Chongnyon Munhak, one of the KWU’s central monthly circulars. If a LC gets three short stories and two essays published, he or she becomes certified as a “working writer” [現職作家] (the requirements are different for poets).
Working writers do their writing “part-time" while working at their respective jobs. In NK they are also known as "third-class writers.” To become "active duty" writers they must then publish a certain number of stories and essays in the central circular Choson Munhak. It takes great perseverence to get that far, and many fall just short of the goal.
Kim goes on to describe some of the perks that motivated him to become a KWU writer. Even as a "working writer," one gets the much sought-after "business travel pass" [出張証明書] (granting permission to travel freely within the country for research), three months' paid vacation per year, and an invitation to participate in the annual KWU writers' seminar [全国作家講習] in the capital.
This article has some more good information about literary correspondent system. It says the KWU claims there are presently 1000+ LCs, most in their 20s-40s, working in Pyongyang and various regional factories, offices and collective farms. LCs are organized into literary units (문학 소조) at each workplace, tasked with writing stories based on things they witness and experience.
Chongnyon Munhak and Part-Time Writers
Unlike Chosŏn Munhak ["Korean Literature"], which only publishes works by full KWU members, Chongnyon Munhak ("Youth Literature") publishes a mix of full-time and part-time writers, as well as national fiction prizewinners who may be employed at various industries. Thus it is a better venue to find stories by younger, less established writers who likely aspire to achieve full-time status through their craft.
Some Chongnyon Munhak stories will include short biographical details of the writers in their bylines, particularly if they are national prizewinners. Some authors of short stories published 2010-2012:
- Kim Hye Sŭng / Farm worker, Hwapyong Cooperative Farm, Wiwon County, Chagang
- Kim Myŏng Ho / Faculty member, Chŏngp’yŏng Agricultural College
- Yim Jŏng Song / Laborer, Shinuiju Synthetic Fiber Factory, North Pyongan
- Kim Myŏng Ch’ŏn / Laborer, Pyongyang Electronic Medical Devices Factory
- Cho Hyang Mi / Student, Writers’ Development Program, Kim Hyong Jik University of Education
This last is the very program that author and defector Kim Ju-song tried so hard for so many years to enter, as described previously on this blog.
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| Serial prize-winner Ri So Yŏn |
North Korea takes great pride in its system for fostering writing talent among "ordinary people," and newspapers frequently print articles about prizewinners highlighting their ordinariness. This 2016 article introduces one Ri So Yŏn, a student at the Namsan School in Pyongyang who at an astoundingly young age has already won the Our Schoolroom Prize and the April 15 Mangyongdae Prize. The article describes Ri as being "born to an ordinary family" [평범한 가정], but Namsan is known as the ultra-elite school where many scions of high-level officials are educated.
Last year the North Korean newsmagazine Tongil Shibo ran a feature story about one literary correspondent, Kim Hye Gyŏng, a factory control operator [조종공] whose poem won first prize at the National Masses' Literature Prize Contest [전국군중문학작품현상모집]. Kim is described as "an ordinary 20-something laborer" who "loved to read books from an early age" and "writes poetry in rare scraps of spare time after work, even when commuting, late at night, or early morning." The article notes, "Every time she writes a new poem, Foreman Kim Chang-il and the other factory employees are delighted as if it were their own, becoming her first readers and informally 'evaluating' the works," and concludes "What would have happened if this ordinary working youth [평범한 근로청년] was born in a society like south Korea, where money governs everything? Perhaps they may hold onto a dream of writing poetry, but they can't even think of letting their literary talents blossom fully."
