Discovering Joy: Ten Years in North Korea

by Joy Yoon

They would use North Korean textbooks translated into English which made it like attending school in North Korea in English without the classes in ideology. This gave us a glimpse into the education system of North Korea. As humanitarian workers, we supported daycare centers, kindergartens, and orphanages throughout North Korea. Each time we visited a kindergarten or school, the children performed for us. Children as young as five or six performed songs and dances to near robotic perfection. Their facial expressions are trained along with the tiniest detail of movement all the way to the twitch of their fingers. While I struggled as a parent of three to control my own children, North Korean children seem perfectly well-behaved. It is only after the performance, when they go out in the playground or the school yard that their individual personalities and playfulness come out.