North Korean Comics

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

A form of soft propaganda covering everything from historical drama, anti-Japanese guerilla war, Korean war right up to modern times with North Korean soldiers on a spying mission in the south.

Around 20 publications are printed each year, usually stand-alone stories or in three or so parts.

Full-colour covers and monotone (often black ink cartoons with text in speech balloons).

We commissioned a stripped-down acrylic version of five comics which we thought best represented this genre, painted by students studying graphics. They were unable to sign their names because the pieces were taken out unofficially. Each piece is limited to 20 prints and is marked in pencil and embossed with the Koryo Studio stamp.

North Korean Comic Artworks