ABSTRACT
The unique political and social system of North Korea might lead one to believe that national youth culture can only develop in a framework strictly supervised and governed by state control. Chongnyon kangkuk (청년강국) – a strong country of the youth – is an imaginary country where all young people enthusiastically follow the party line and do heroic deeds like their forefathers. In addition to this, however, there is another youth culture which is rarely glimpsed abroad due to strict control over media in the country. Draconian punishments and frequent admonishing by the state media only show how far this counterculture has already spread. This chapter discusses the development of a unique North Korean youth culture as an interaction of state control and new freedom of the so-called generation of market participants.
