North Korean Comics

North Korean Comics

North Korean Comics (Kurimchaek) are available to purchase or borrow from the library or street stalls for youth in North Korea.

They are a form of soft propaganda covering everything from historical drama, the anti-Japanese guerilla war, and the Korean War right up to modern times. In more modern North Korean comics, we see for example North Korean soldiers on a spying mission in the south.

North Korea publishes around 20 publications each year. Usually, they are stand-alone stories or in three or so parts with full-colour covers. The inside pages are monotone (often black ink cartoons with text in speech balloons).

Koryo Studio Comic Series

We commissioned a stripped-down acrylic version of five comics which we thought best represented this genre. The images were painted by students studying graphics. In the end, they were unable to sign their names because the pieces were taken out unofficially.

Each piece varies slightly as they use a tracing method and we have limited this edition to 5 hand-painted pieces. Each is marked in pencil with the date and edition number and embossed with the Koryo Studio stamp.

Reproducing Artwork in North Korea

Reproducing artwork by hand is a common practice in North Korea. This, unless it requires multiple copies and therefore a print run. This is particularly so for the case of propaganda posters where workplaces may require several posters specific to their work.