North Korea’s education ministry has directed schools nationwide to dedicate more daily ideology time to Kim Jong Un’s personal achievements. A mid-June directive instructed provincial education bureaus to actively promote the leader’s revolutionary activities and reduce content on his predecessors. Furthermore, the order specifically scales back material covering Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il in classroom sessions. Consequently, the shift signals a deliberate deepening of the cult of personality around the current North Korean leader.
North Korean schools currently hold roughly five-minute party ideology sessions before regular classes begin each day. Teachers use a booklet called 365 Days of Study to cover revolutionary activities of all three Kim leaders. However, updated directives now require those sessions to focus intensively on Kim Jong Un specifically. Additionally, new study materials cover his education reform drive, the 20×10 regional development policy, and major construction projects like the Samjiyon and Wonsan-Kalma tourist zones.
Teachers across the country are reportedly struggling to manage the growing volume of required material. A teacher in Hamhung’s Sapho district noted the list of Kim Jong Un’s achievements keeps expanding continuously. Furthermore, distinguishing his accomplishments from those of his predecessors has become increasingly difficult for instructors. Many teachers reportedly lump all three leaders together during lessons, calling them collectively the Marshals, particularly when no inspection is underway.
The education ministry framed the initiative as essential to completing North Korea’s Our State First ideological doctrine. That official doctrine asserts the superiority of North Korea’s unique political and social system over all alternatives. Moreover, authorities called on teachers to strengthen their roles as professional revolutionaries in service of this goal. The cult of personality push therefore carries strong ideological implications extending well beyond classroom curriculum changes.
Analysts view the directive as part of a broader effort to build loyalty among younger North Korean generations. Additionally, the shift reinforces the regime’s unitary leadership system, which concentrates absolute authority in the Kim family line. Going forward, expanding Kim Jong Un’s ideological presence in schools suggests the regime plans to accelerate this personality-focused indoctrination effort further.
