LTEA 142 Chapter 1: Everyday Life in the North Korean Revolution, 1945-1950
Everyday Life in the North Korean Revolution, 1945-1950
● Social Organizations
○ Strict standard for party admission
○ Mass-based social organizations provided a new collective life for the great majority of
people
○ Membership was not automatic and applications along with recommendations had to
e suitted i order to joi, aalogous to the proess of joiig the Workers’ Part.
○ Like membership in the party, it was considered a privilege and an honor to become a
member of soial orgaizatios, ad oe had to proe oe’s dediatio to the reolutio
by diligent effort in all spheres of life. Duties included paying membership dues,
regularly attending meetings, and implementing the decisions of the organization, while
membership granted the right to vote and be elected in organizational elections,
participate in discussions, and launch critiques
○ Like membership in the party, it was considered a privilege and an honor to become a
member of social organizations, and one had to proe oe’s dediatio to the reolutio
by diligent effort in all spheres of life. Duties included paying membership dues,
regularly attending meetings, and implementing the decisions of the organization, while
membership granted the right to vote and be elected in organizational elections,
participate in discussions, and launch critiques
○ League of Peasants
○ The minutes of peasant league meetings were filled with discussions about the logistics
of agricultural production—target dates, work schedules, mobilization numbers, crop
varieties, and productivity rates— which was tedious on paper but a source of social
significance for rural collective life, sustaining the rural economy as a whole. The
minutes show increasing levels of coordination among villages as large-scale irrigation
and land reclamation projects were undertaken that required the cooperation of several
villages.
○ Most peasant league meetings were entirely devoted to agricultural planning, which
was in their collective interest and what they knew best. Political discussions were rare
as far as records show, no doubt due to limited political education in the early years. In
fact, the party had to provide specific instructions, directing party members in the
peasant league to include political disussios durig eetigs epressig hatred of
Aeria iperialists ad atioal traitors et o oloizig the Repuli’s souther
zone by recalling the past oppression and inhuman exploitation of peasants by
ladlords.
○ North Korean Democratic Women’s League
○ Women were among the first to be organized, with the founding of the North Korean
Deorati Woe’s League Pukhoso˘ iju o˘so˘g togaeg o Noeer
18, 1945.
○ Some activities clearly reproduced traditional gender roles, requiring women to
etertai ad help others. The oe’s league as put i harge of reeiig guests
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Document Summary
Everyday life in the north korean revolution, 1945-1950. Mass-based social organizations provided a new collective life for the great majority of people. Membership was not automatic and applications along with recommendations had to (cid:271)e su(cid:271)(cid:373)itted i(cid:374) order to joi(cid:374), a(cid:374)alogous to the pro(cid:272)ess of joi(cid:374)i(cid:374)g the workers" part(cid:455). Like membership in the party, it was considered a privilege and an honor to become a member of so(cid:272)ial orga(cid:374)izatio(cid:374)s, a(cid:374)d o(cid:374)e had to pro(cid:448)e o(cid:374)e"s dedi(cid:272)atio(cid:374) to the re(cid:448)olutio(cid:374) by diligent effort in all spheres of life. Like membership in the party, it was considered a privilege and an honor to become a member of social organizations, and one had to pro(cid:448)e o(cid:374)e"s dedi(cid:272)atio(cid:374) to the re(cid:448)olutio(cid:374) by diligent effort in all spheres of life. Duties included paying membership dues, regularly attending meetings, and implementing the decisions of the organization, while membership granted the right to vote and be elected in organizational elections, participate in discussions, and launch critiques.
