Socialist Education In Korea: Selected Works of Kim Il-Sung

Publishing the Selected Works of Kim Il-Sung on education is a controversial move in the United States. In fact, there is almost a proportional relationship between the demonization of the DPRK and the level of ignorance one has about the state, the country, its government, its people and society, and its history. This is particularly striking given the recent interest in decolonial and anti-colonial education, in socialist and communist educational methods, and in socialism and communism more generally. Given these recent activist and scholarly interests,

Riley Park and Cambria York’s new collection, Socialist Education in Korea, is a welcome contribution. Their book not only provides key insights into the socialist educational project in Korea—including its pedagogical philosophies and practices, organizations, purposes, government institutions, and more. It also helps provide a more accurate description of the DPRK’s socialist project as articulated by the state’s founder and, for almost five decades, central leader.

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