[Global NK Commentary] Memories of the Cold War: Films and Dramas in the Kim Jong Un Era

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The Role of Arts in the Kim Jong Un Era

As is well known, North Korean literature and arts exist for regime propaganda. The primary purpose of North Korean literature and arts is to promote the policies of the Workers' Party of Korea and educate the populace. This objective has remained unchanged from the establishment of the North Korean regime to the Kim Jong Un era. Among literary and artistic forms, long-form narrative works such as literature, films, and dramas are planned with themes and subjects desired by the Workers' Party of Korea. Once a theme is decided, subjects that best illustrate the theme are selected and completed using permitted directorial methods. They show what they want the people to see, not what the people want to see. This is why the policies of the Workers' Party of Korea can be confirmed through North Korean films and dramas.

In contrast to the Kim Jong Il era, film and drama production in the Kim Jong Un era is limited. The Kim Jong Un regime began in 2012. Considering the production time for films and dramas, works released after 2013 would belong to the Kim Jong Un era. From 2013 to 2025, there are about ten new films and dramas. In terms of production volume, it is incomparably less than during the Kim Jong Il era. Most of the time in cinemas and on broadcast channels is spent repeatedly airing previously produced works rather than creating new ones.

The stagnation in the arts was a problem that even Kim Jong Un severely criticized. Kim Jong Un criticized the sluggishness of culture and arts at the 9th National Congress of Arts Workers in 2014, in the 'Business Summary Report' at the 7th Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea in 2016, and in the policy speech at the 1st Session of the 14th Supreme People's Assembly in 2019. This cannot be attributed to production costs. Films and dramas were produced even during the period of the Arduous March.

The reason for the stagnation of arts in the Kim Jong Un era is a change in their role. During the Kim Jong Il era, artists were key resources for propaganda work. However, in the Kim Jong Un era, the core of propaganda work lies with the grassroots organizations of the Workers' Party of Korea. Grassroots organizations of the Workers' Party, such as cell secretaries and primary party committees, have been tasked with propaganda work. These primary organizations of the Workers' Party, situated at the forefront of daily life and production sites, conduct propaganda using concrete materials and multimedia relevant to the 현장 (field/site). Artists are required to produce works with international competitiveness. Instead of producing numerous works for propaganda and agitation of party policies, the demand is for high-density works through selection and concentration.

Indeed, the number of works has significantly decreased compared to the Kim Jong Il era. However, the quality of the works has improved by one level. The storylines have become more robust, and the direction has become bolder. The fast-paced development and increasingly sophisticated and popularized directorial methods make them almost unrecognizable as North Korean productions.

The Central Narrative of the Kim Jong Un Era: 'Anti-Espionage'

Films produced since 2013 include <A Battlefield Without Gunfire> (2014), <Our Home Story> (2016), <One Day and One Night> (2022), <72 Hours> (2024), and <Day and Night Confrontation> (2025). Dramas include <Bulletproof Wall> (2015), <The Wild Ginseng Gatherers of Imjin Year> (2018), <The Last Pill> (2022), <Memoirs of a Prosecutor> (2023), and <New Spring of the White Crane> (2025). While North Korea distinguishes between films and dramas, the genre distinction is not very significant. <A Battlefield Without Gunfire> (2014) is a film but was produced in a five-part drama format, and <72 Hours> (2024) is a film over four hours long, released in two parts. <Day and Night Confrontation> (2025) is a two-part film that continues the story from <One Day and One Night> (2022). The drama <New Spring of the White Crane> (22 episodes), aired in 2025, was screened in cinemas in two-episode blocks.

What is important is the theme. How the theme is handled is crucial. Films and dramas produced during the Kim Jong Un era do not deal with minor themes directly related to daily life or economic activities. They present themes related to the policies pursued by the Kim Jong Un regime in the desired manner.

Most notably, the 'anti-espionage narrative' is central. 'Anti-espionage' means 'stories about catching spies.' The opposite of anti-espionage is 'intelligence gathering,' meaning to collect information. Intelligence gathering works are spy stories where characters infiltrate enemy territory, deceive, and extract information. Although anti-espionage and intelligence gathering are distinguished as genres, there is no clear boundary in practice, as sometimes characters must operate undercover as the enemy to thwart conspiracies.

Anti-espionage works have popular appeal. It is a genre with strong popular appeal, featuring intricate mind games and action where characters deceive and are deceived. Narratives of completing seemingly impossible missions through meticulous strategy and sacrifice offer the thrill of twists and victories. It is an attractive genre for educational purposes, as it can educate about spies and instill patriotism through narratives of victory. North Korea also produced many anti-espionage works from the 1950s to the 1980s.

Anti-espionage works from the Kim Jong Un era include the films <A Battlefield Without Gunfire> (2014), <One Day and One Night> (2022), <Day and Night Confrontation> (2025), and the dramas <Bulletproof Wall> (2015), <Memoirs of a Prosecutor> (2023). Half of the films and dramas from the Kim Jong Un era are anti-espionage works. In these works, the target of the spies is 'Kim Il Sung.' That is, anti-espionage works of the Kim Jong Un era are set up as a confrontation between forces attempting to eliminate Kim Il Sung and the characters who prevent it.

<A Battlefield Without Gunfire> (2014) is a five-part spy film set around the period of liberation in 1945. After liberation on August 15, 1945, the US Far East Command prepared an 'anti-North Korea operation' to eliminate North Korea using the Japanese intelligence agency, the Black Dragon Society. The protagonist, Nam-hee, who grew up remembering her father who died in a Japanese prison while engaged in the independence movement, infiltrates as Sumiko to retrieve the 'MacArthur's 11 Articles of Instruction' aimed at eliminating North Korea.

<Bulletproof Wall> (2015) is a 14-part drama set from 1944 to the period immediately after liberation in 1945, depicting the activities of a shield agent who counteracts a poisoning operation aimed at eliminating the core of the People's Army guerrilla force. Parts 1 to 7 depict the activities of Jung Jin-beom, who operates as a shield agent while bearing the stigma of being a pro-Japanese entrepreneur. Parts 8 to 14 follow Jung Ok-geum, Jung Jin-beom's daughter, who succeeds her father as a shield agent and eliminates a poisoned arrow heading towards the command headquarters.

<One Day and One Night> (2022) and <Day and Night Confrontation> (2025) are films based on the real-life figure Ra Myong-hui (portrayed as Ra Myong-ju in the drama), a 'Hero of the Republic and War Veteran.' The story depicts Ra Myong-hui risking her life to thwart a plot to assassinate Premier Kim Il Sung.

<Memoirs of a Prosecutor> (2023) depicts the activities of Choi Hyong-gyu, Deputy Prosecutor General of the Korean People's Army, who uncovers the plot of Ri Seung-yeop, who attempted to assassinate Kim Il Sung, starting with a terrorist incident in August 1950 during the Korean War. Despite being executed on false charges and his wife and daughter being kidnapped, he resolves to conduct the investigation with the determination that 'there must be no room for error in protecting the Supreme Commander.' He risks his life to apprehend Ri Seung-yeop, who is the Chairman of the People's Audit Committee and a judicial minister.

Successive generations of leaders, resolute defense of successive generations of leaders

The re-production of anti-espionage works during the Kim Jong Un era is aimed at strengthening internal cohesion by emphasizing external threats. The core of strengthening internal cohesion is the 'leader,' leading to the education of 'absolute devotion to the leader for survival.' The absolute respect of the people for the leader is a fundamental moral virtue in the North Korean system. Among the moralities emphasized in North Korea, the highest is educated as 'following only one's leader with longing, in times of joy and hardship,' and a 'noble demeanor.' Dedication or sacrifice for the supreme leader, and living a life for society and the collective, are educated as the highest morality and value.

The absolute devotion to Leader Kim Il Sung directly extends to absolute devotion to Kim Jong Un. The theme of carrying forward the revolutionary tradition through generational loyalty and generational devotion to the leader is confirmed through the setting of generational loyalty.

The drama <Bulletproof Wall>, which depicts a father's self-sacrifice to protect the 'Headquarters of the Revolution' and his successor protecting the leader, and <A Battlefield Without Gunfire>, which depicts the protagonist disguising herself as 'Matsuoka Sumiko' after her father died working for independence, to reveal MacArthur's war plans, are popular educational materials for 'revolutionary tradition education' emphasizing the need to protect the 'leadership of the revolution' across generations. Since the beginning of the Kim Jong Un regime, despite the severe stagnation in drama and film production, films and dramas with anti-espionage themes have been continuously produced. This confirms that anti-espionage works are essential content for the Kim Jong Un era. Notably, the drama <Bulletproof Wall>, after its initial broadcast in 2015, was re-aired in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020. It was aired twice in 2020, for a total of seven broadcasts. It was recognized as educational content for generational loyalty to Leader Kim Jong Un.

North Korea initially presented four types of education (belief, class, patriotism, and morality education) in June 2014, and revised it in December to five types (greatness, Kim Jong Il patriotism, belief, class, and morality education). Later, at the 8th Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea in 2021, 'greatness education' and 'Kim Jong Il patriotism education' were changed to 'revolutionary tradition education' and 'loyalty education.' This strengthened education on loyalty to Kim Jong Un as the new leader, while emphasizing the revolutionary tradition. In line with the promotion of Kim Jong Un as the supreme leader, education on Kim Jong Un as the successor to the revolutionary tradition was intensified.

The theme of 'protecting the leader' has become particularly prominent since 2019. In his 'Letter to the 2nd National Congress of Primary Propaganda Workers' held immediately after the Hanoi Summit in 2019, Kim Jong Un stated, 'Do not deify the leader.' He said, 'The leader is not a being detached from the people, but a leader of the people who shares life and death with them and dedicates himself to their happiness.' This directive from Kim Jong Un subsequently conveys the meaning of how the leader should be treated and how the relationship between the leader and the people should be defined. The enemy is 'looking for opportunities by all means to destroy our socialist system,' so education was conducted in a way that 'we must protect our leader with our lives.' Thus, North Korean films and dramas from the 2030s onwards portray the leader not as an absolute and infallible being, but as someone whom the people must protect and defend, and the people who protected the leader are depicted as heroes.

Another notable point is that the heroes who protect the leader are young women. In the films <A Battlefield Without Gunfire> (2014), <One Day and One Night> (2022), <Day and Night Confrontation> (2025), and the drama <Bulletproof Wall> (2015), the individuals who protect the headquarters of the revolution and Premier Kim Il Sung are all young women. Although not anti-espionage works, the protagonist of <Our Home Story> (2016) is an 18-year-old girl, and the protagonist of <The Last Pill> (2022) is 19 years old. They are depicted as frail and vulnerable women who protect the leader, dedicate themselves to Kim Jong Un, and promote their country on the world stage. They discover individuals worthy of emulation by young people and use films and dramas as a venue for experiencing the revolutionary tradition.

Since the beginning of the Kim Jong Un regime, control for leader succession and crisis management has been further strengthened. There is no clear breakthrough in sight. Control under the guise of internal cohesion will likely intensify. However, there are limits to what can be resolved by control alone. Films and dramas of the Kim Jong Un era are a product of the convergence of indispensable popular appeal and the theme of leader devotion. Within them, the sentiments and sensibilities of the Cold War are being actualized as memories of the Cold War. ■

■ Jeon Young-sunProfessor, Institute of Humanities, Konkuk University.

■ Editor: Lee Sang-junEAI Researcher

Inquiries: 02 2277 1683 (ext. 211) | leesj@eai.or.kr