IndexIntroductionHistory of North Korea and its ideologyDialect of North Korean verbal communicationNonverbal communication of North KoreaProxemics, emotions and physical spaceComparison with American counterpartsCommunication between two countriesVerballyNonverbal communicationConclusionsIntroductionThe North Korea, currently run by According to the Asianinfo website, North Korea's supreme leader, Kim Jong-un, currently has the highest literacy rate in the world, averaging 99%. Currently, North Korea has a population of more than 25 million people, according to the population website Worldometers. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Society in North Korea is very different when it comes to communication styles compared to their American counterparts. Much of this is achieved thanks to the one-man dictatorship held by North Korea and the authoritative leadership for which North Korea is known. Throughout the world, North Korea is one of the most brutalist and severe countries, which is why it makes citizens fear for their lives and forces them to respect every single rule set by the government. In North Korea, information is censored, there are many power dynamics at play and citizens are forced to communicate in certain ways. Citizens have no choice in what to do, they are always being watched and told what to do. There is no individualistic mentality among each North Korean citizen. It all comes down to what North Korea wants you to do. Much of North Korea's entire authoritarian culture is what gives North Korea's communication style its uniqueness. When it comes to their verbal and nonverbal communication styles, they are forced to act a certain way. When it comes to North Korea, the way citizens' communication tends to be taken seriously, such as a word or nonverbal action, can mean death. By examining North Korea's culture, history, and philosophy, we will analyze North Korea's verbal and nonverbal communication style. History of North Korea and its ideology In 1910, five years after the Russo-Japanese War, Japan conquered the Korean Peninsula. For the next 35 years, Japan took control of this peninsula and significantly modernized and industrialized it, as a result many Koreans suffered many problems due to Japan's harsh military regime. Following this event, after Japan's defeat in 1945, the United States and the Soviet Union divided the peninsula in half, otherwise known as the “38th parallel.” Fast forward a few years later, in 1948, South Korea was formed led by the anti-communist leader Syngman Rhee, while on the other hand, North Korea was formed led by a young communist named Kim II Sung. Although the peninsula was divided in half, this caused each side to cause problems over who owned the entire peninsula. As tensions increased, this led to North Korea invading South Korea, sparking the infamous Korean War. Although this war went on for three years, North Korea and South Korea ended the war unchanged with a formal peace treaty that was never signed. After the Korean War, Kim II Sung shaped North Korea under a nationalist society called “Juche” which means self-reliance. This ideology has led North Korea to have tight control over everything, such as the economy, the media, and its citizens. By adopting this type of ideology and imposing strict restrictions on everything, this helped North Korea preserve theits secrecy throughout the world. In 1994, Kim II Sung died of a heart attack and left the role to his son Kim Jong-un, now leader of North Korea. Maintaining the same ideology as Kim II, Kim-Jung II now focuses on a military approach otherwise known as “Songun Chong'chi”. Because of this “Juche” ideology, this is what brought North Korea to the state it is in now. This is the fundamental reason that pushes citizens to speak and act in a certain way. Maintaining strict restrictions on everything is the key to the authority of North Korea's culture and society. North Korea decides how citizens should speak verbally and nonverbally, and it's an important idea to keep in mind when analyzing their communication styles. Keeping North Korea's communication styles in mind, we will analyze their verbal communication practices below. North Korea Verbal Communication Dialect On a verbal level, the North and South are both supposed to speak the same Korean language, but this is not the case when it comes to North Korea's verbal style. communication. When it comes to the differences in their verbal communication, the South speaks in a dialect called “Gyeonggi” dialect, while the North speaks in a dialect called “Munhwaŏ” dialect. These dialects are what separates the way of speaking in the North from that of the South since the “Munhwaŏ” dialect is spoken in the North. The “Munhwaŏ” dialect is the standard dialect spoken in North Korea. In 1966 it was adopted as the standard spoken language. According to a site called WorldAtlus, most of these distinctions in dialects between the South and the North are attributed to North Korea's ideological penchant for "working class speech." This means that terms considered non-standard in South Korea replace the borrowed words with pure Korean words. Verbal Communication in the North Verbal communication in North Korea is radically different than in the rest of the world. In a YouTube video titled “Never-Before-Seen Real-Life Footage Inside North Korea,” he provides commentary and footage of daily life and activities taking place in North Korea. By watching this documentary, you are given a detailed look at how North Koreans speak and live in their daily lives. One key thing that is evident in the way North Koreans communicate verbally is the way they converse when they speak. The way they communicate marked them as more polite and more mature. Something also evident in the way they speak verbally is that they all speak the same way with the same tone which represents their polite and mature tone of voice, there is no personality when it comes to each citizen. By analyzing the way they speak, their verbal communication style can be attributed to the country's authority of North Korea and their conformity to Kim Jong-un's ideal society of how he wants his citizens to speak. Of course, this means that their verbal communication style is more restrictive in nature. When it comes to North Korea's culture and society, it is evident that it is a silent and inexpressive country. Due to the nature of North Korea, citizens are programmed to act in a certain way and conform to North Korea's brutal and harsh laws, and due to this fear, this teaches citizens to behave with less expression. From the YouTube documentary, "Never Before Seen Real Life Footage Inside of North Korea", an example comes to mind when talking about their silent country. In one part of the video, there is a crowd of students in front of the school, one thing that is really striking is that no one talks to each other like normal students would. They were very quiet and kept to themselves,there wasn't much verbal communication during school hours. Another example from the documentary was about train travel, the train was really quiet and no one seemed to be having a verbal conversation on the train. This adds to the fact that North Korea is a silent culture just like other countries like Japan. Everyone is more reserved and only speaks when necessary. With these examples in mind, verbal communication is rarely used and is only used in cases where it is necessary, and due to the strict nature of North Korean society, this is naturally expected as it keeps citizens well-behaved. Their silent nature may be linked to less resistance from the government because if citizens behave well and are silent, they are less likely to resist the government. When it comes to North Korea, they are more of a non-verbal culture than a verbal culture. Below we will analyze North Korea's non-verbal communication style. North Korea Non-Verbal Communication Non-verbal communication is very evident when it comes to North Korean culture, their non-verbal ways of communicating indicate that of an ethnocentric culture where North Korea thinks they are superior to everyone else. A prime example of North Korea's use of ethnocentrism and nonverbal language is a military march called "Goose-Stepping" in which a huge military group marches at the same speed and with the same number of steps. Many militaries do not use this type of marching due to its negative connotation with Nazi Germany and World War II, but for North Korea this type of nonverbal communication demonstrates power. North Korea tends to do this normally as it shows that it is a powerful nation to its citizens and the world. According to an analysis done by Dr. Jack Brown, he says that “doing “Goose-Stepping” tells people nonverbally that they are powerful, to fear them, we are all as one mind, we will control you, we will not welcome you and that you are no longer an individual.” North Korea wants to project this kind of image to everyone around the world and especially to its citizens, this is the main foundation of the power projected by North Korea. Proxemics, emotions and physical space In North Korea, proxemics plays a huge role in society. Proxemics can be defined as the distance and space between people. When it comes to North Korea, it is very important to maintain as much distance as possible this is that Koreans do not touch strangers, especially when it comes to the opposite sex. Something very important in North Korean culture is to show as little emotion as possible; this is due to their less expressive society. Finally, North Koreans are not physically affectionate, affection is not very common there because space is still a big part of North Korea. When you put proxemics, emotions, and the physical all in one, you get a nonverbal society that is not too expressive and restrictive. Comparison with American Counterparts There is a huge difference when it comes to verbal communication compared to American counterparts. Americans are generally open and in some cases loud. Between North Korea and the United States, the United States is more verbally expressive than North Korea. We are more open to conversing with strangers than North Koreans. When it comes to verbal language, the United States has a diverse set of languages, while English is the primary language, the United States is made up of many languages spoken by many people across the country. For example, according to WorldAtlus, English is the most spoken language, Spanish is the second most spoken language, and Chinese is the third most spoken language.
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