As one of the world’s most isolated countries, North Korea tends to do things differently. Since the division of the Korean peninsula in 1948 it has grown into a rigid and idiosyncratic society, shaped around the personality cult of the Kim dynasty.

While most North Koreans alive today have never known a different way of life, to the outside world it remains an enigma.



But as economic reforms slowly erode the system of regulation, this series traces the path of an average North Korean – from cradle to grave.



Birth

Parents are required to register the birth of a baby, with information about the the new citizen kept in three places: at the local town hall, with the police and with the secret police.

The first thing a newborn gets from the state is its songbun – one of the five social statuses allocated to all North Koreans. Depending on the status of its father, the infant will be classified as either “special”, “nucleus”, “basic”, “complex” or “hostile”.

A policeman will stamp the songbun on the baby’s new file, establishing where this North Korean will be allowed to live, which university it will be able to enter, where it might work and whether it will be able to join the Korean Worker’s party.

The newborn becomes entitled to access the Public Distribution System of goods, which, theoretically, will provide everything it needs. In practice, the system has largely been dysfunctional since the 1990s.

Soon after birth the baby is inoculated against tuberculosis. Although the DPRK’s health system is not in great shape, vaccinations are routinely performed – which is rare for such a poor country.

North Korean school children stand before the portraits of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-Il in Pyongyang. Photograph: Ed Jones/AFP/Getty Images

When a child turns five she usually goes to kindergarten, where her education begins. The North Korean education system is filled with the state ideology, and the child learns that she owes everything to the immeasurably great men from Paektu Mountain: the Great Leader comrade Kim Il-sung, the Great Guide comrade Kim Jong-il and to the beloved and respected Supreme Commander Kim Jong-un.

Therefore, their names are always to be written in bold and they are to be spoken about with deepest respect.

Moreover, the child learns that it has enemies: American imperialists, Japanese militarists and the South Korean “gang of traitors”. They are to be hated, so one should say not that “an American died,” but rather “an American scum kicked the bucket”.

All the ideological terms – such as the Kims’ titles – are to be memorised.North Koreans learn words such as “marshal” and “generalissimo” much earlier than “lieutenant” or “colonel”.

The child learns that s/he owes everything in life to the immeasurably great men from Paektu Mountain

Schooling

The North Korean school system consists of two stages. Primary school is called “people’s school” and secondary is “middle-high”.



The curriculum consists of classes such as Korean language, mathematics, literature and “socialist ethics” – which may be a remnant of the Japanese colonial age. Imperial Japan was fond of teaching ethics in school.

There’s also a lot of ideology: subjects include The childhood years of the Beloved and Respected Leader Generalissimo Kim Il-sung, The childhood years of the Great Guide Generalissimo Kim Jong-il, Revolutionary activities of the Beloved and Respected Leader Generalissimo Kim Il-sung, Revolutionary activities of the Great Guide Generalissimo Kim Jong-il, Revolutionary activities of the heroine of the anti-Japanese struggle mother Kim Jong-suk and, more recently, Revolutionary activities the Beloved and Respected Leader Marshal Kim Jong-un.

Foreign languages are taught from secondary school. The most common one is English and then Russian. British English is taught as a standard, but the quality of education is poor as the DPRK uses its own textbooks rather than ones published in the UK or Russia.

Native British or Russian textbooks would contain too much “dangerous” information so they are not permitted. North Korean textbooks are badly written and littered with mistakes. It also doesn’t help that children are supposed to learn phrases such as “Long live Great Leader Generalissimo Kim Il-sung” before “Hello, how are you”.



The best North Korean schools are known as Number One schools. A small town usually has one of these, while Pyongyang has several.

North Korean dancers after a performance to mark the founding of North Korean Youth League. Photograph: Reinhard Krause/Reuters

Number One schools are among the least corrupt institutions in the DPRK. It may be possible to bribe a principal to gain entry but after that one has to perform well and study hard to get good results.

At 10 all children join the Children’s Union – there are no exceptions. The admission is usually done in three stages. First, the best pupils in the class are admitted, then the average ones and then the rest. The Children’s Union members have a distinctive trait of wearing red neckties, a custom that comes from the USSR.

The child reads an oath of allegiance during an admission ceremony, the text of which has varied from time to time. It reds something like this, although it will have changed a bit as North Korea no longer uses the word communism:

I join the ranks of the Korean Children’s Union, founded by the Great Leader Generalissimo Kim Il-sung and shined upon by the Great Guide Commander Kim Jong-il, do hereby swear to always and everywhere think and act according to the teaching of the Generalissimo Kim Il-sung and Commander Kim Jong-il and to become a good reservist of the brilliant cause of constriction of Communism, which is carried along from generation to generation by the great revolutionary deed of Juche.

So the Children’s Union is the first of many organisations a North Korean will join in their lifetime. Other possible ones are the Youth League, the Korean Workers Party, the Women’s Union, a labor union and the Farmers’ Union. These groupings run regular “organisational life” seminars for members, instructing them in the official ideology. i.e. regular ideological sessions, among its members

Part two: Coming of age - how joining the Worker’s party is the best way to avoid working

A version of this article first appeared on NK News – North Korean news