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North Koreans are stronger than the regime

Published: 13 Aug. 2025, 00:01

Kim Byung-yeon

The author is a chair professor of economics at Seoul National University.

I recall applying for a passport decades ago and attending the required anti-communist education session. The video began with an interview of a female student walking out of the main gate of Kim Il Sung University of North Korea. The reporter asked what kind of man she would like to marry. I expected her to say someone as great as the “Dear Leader.” Instead, she gave no answer, only a shy smile.

North Korean region of Kaesong is seen from Paju, Gyeonggi, on Oct. 14, 2024. [YONHAP]

It was then I realized that life exists in North Korea beyond political indoctrination. However hard the state tries to shape its citizens, human nature resists. That unusual propaganda film left me pondering the relationship between the individual and the system.

Over the next three decades, academic inquiry led me to a conviction: people are stronger than the system. Karl Marx believed otherwise, arguing that human nature — the “superstructure” — was shaped by the economic base. He predicted that self-interest would vanish in a classless socialist society. Yet Marx himself, unable to afford a coffin for his young son, suffered deeply from personal loss. Humans strive to survive, to love, to form families. Parents will risk everything to protect their children. They want to share thoughts and feelings freely with those close to them. A system that denies these instincts has no future. Political power can crush individuals, but the human desire for survival, freedom and dignity endures.

Panmunjom in Paju, Gyeonggi [NEWS1]

A North Korean worker dispatched abroad once told me, “Here, we have heard and seen everything. We now know our poverty is because of the Kim family.” People observe, think and draw conclusions. More than a decade has passed since Kim Jong-un vowed that no one would have to tighten their belts, yet conditions have worsened. North Koreans can be punished for speaking in the style of a South Korean drama. The regime fears that markets promote capitalist thinking and spread South Korean culture, but markets cannot be eradicated. Through these cracks, truth seeps in. Soviet youths once bought forbidden jeans on the black market and listened to the Beatles, dreaming of freedom.

Data from defectors show that ideological indoctrination does not strengthen loyalty. Years of market participation shift even Party members toward capitalism. Viewing North Korea only through a conservative or progressive lens will not resolve the issue. Calling the North an enemy will not bring unification, which comes when people on both sides connect. West Germany pursued steady policies to foster ties with East Germans, recognizing their shared humanity beyond the wall.

At the Buchenwald concentration camp memorial in Germany, a steel plate set to human body temperature, 36.5 degrees Celsius, reminds visitors that people everywhere share the same warmth. What tormented victims, beyond fear of death, was the thought that their fate would remain unknown. Are we remembering North Koreans, and making sure they know we do?

In this photo provided by the Rodon Sinmun, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, center, watches a military parade at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang on July 27, 2023, marking the 70th anniversary of the signing of the Korean War armistice. He is joined by then-Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, left, and Li Hongzhong, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of China’s National People’s Congress to his right. [NEWS1]

True peace will not come by dealing only with Pyongyang’s leadership. For dictators, peace is often a means to maintain power. Ordinary people, however, oppose war because it destroys livelihoods and families. Efforts to persuade the regime are necessary but limited. The real solution lies in strengthening the capacity of the North Korean people and giving them access to the truth.

Eighty years after liberation, peace and unification on the Korean Peninsula remain unfinished. The key is people. Only a society that treats individuals not as tools but as ends in themselves can achieve unification. Warm empathy between North and South Koreans is essential for genuine peace. Policies focused solely on the regime have repeatedly failed. Systems cannot rule over humanity indefinitely. In the end, people will prevail. Liberation will be complete when North Koreans outgrow the regime.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom staff.