Poster Children of the Hermit Kingdom

Foreigners are allowed few glimpses into the reality or mindset of North Korea today. But author B.R. Myers has managed to collect rare slides of North Korean propaganda posters, which illustrate the eerie mythology the government wants its impoverished people to believe.

FEBRUARY 22, 2010

North Korea's first leader, Kim Il Sung, greets the adoring masses; behind him is North Korea's official coat of arms, a red star shining down on a hydroelectric power plant. The personality cult surrounding the country's leaders has never hid the corpulence of either of the Kims; on the contrary, their girth is seen as a sign of their easy-going nature. Yankee villains, by contrast, are often depicted as beanpole-thin in propaganda art.

All images courtesy of Melville House Publishing and B.R. Myers, author of The Cleanest Race—How North Koreans See Themselves and Why it Matters.

 SUBJECTS: NORTH KOREA
 

ADR1NY

2:51 PM ET

March 24, 2010

nothing new

Though there isn't anything new or shocking I always find propoganda painting interesting. Art is one of the great ways to look into a culture/state's mind set.

In this case deluded