NORTH KOREAN MEDIA FROM TRADITONAL TO DIGITAL UNDER THE BANNER OF JUCHE IDEOLOGY

In this research we will try to understand the Juche ideology and how the social control is created under the banner of this ideology. As it is well-known, DPRK is the only country that is governed by socialism, although the other communist regimes such as USSR and the Iron Curtain have been collapsed. In order to manage the social control, North Korean regime is strictly controlling and monitoring the information flow. Nevertheless, the effect of the globalization and unpreventable developments in communication technologies, is changing the situation unavoidably. Traditional media was used effectively as a tool of social control by the founder of the state Kim Il Sung and his successor Kim Jong Il in order to protect the Juche ideology, the party and the “Kim dynasty” in North Korea. For many years, traditional media and party newspapers became the only source of information for the people. Nowadays, with smuggling of DVD players and USB discs, music videos that stimulates “libidinal pleasures” rather than “loyalty to the leader and the party” and Hollywood movies that shows the “American lifestyle” rather than North Korean propaganda films are distributed. Development in internet technology also, brings the “controlled” transition. In this research, we will use the North Korean web sites along with the secondary sources. The purpose of this research is to present general information about North Korean media