The slogan of the Korean Children’s Union displayed for decades on classroom bulletin boards at North Korean elementary and middle schools has been replaced with a slogan that directly mentions supreme leader Kim Jong Un’s name.
The traditional slogan that emphasized the Korean “fatherland” and the ideology of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il was updated on two occasions (in 2015 and 2018) with phrases that put the spotlight on Kim Jong Un, who is often described as the Marshal. These pedagogical changes coincide with indications that a cult of personality is forming around the North Korean leader.
A source in North Hamgyong province told Daily NK that the bulletin board used to display the children’s union slogan: “Let’s always prepare for the socialist fatherland!”
That was replaced with the slogan “Let’s always prepare for our Esteemed General Kim Jong Un” in 2015 and then again with the slogan “Let’s always prepare for our Esteemed Father, Marshal Kim Jong Un” in 2018.
Curiously, the original slogan is still used for the national rally of the children’s union. In a letter sent to the ninth rally in 2022, Kim called on the children present to “raise high the slogan ‘Let’s always prepare for the socialist fatherland!’”
In effect, a dual practice has developed in which the official slogan for the general public has not been changed, even as a different slogan is displayed in classrooms.
Political move to capture next generation
The regime’s tinkering with bulletin board messages seems to be not a mere slogan update, but a political move.
Since Kim Jong Un took over the country, he has made “educating the next generation” a primary goal of his government. While the children’s union only held one national rally under previous leader Kim Jong Il, it has held three during the 15 years of Kim’s rule.
That points to Kim’s intention of reorganizing the children’s union—which represents the upcoming generation—as a key base of support for the regime.
These changes also coincide with a transformation of the fabric of North Korean society.
Since the economic crisis of the 1990s, North Koreans’ mindset has become less collectivistic and more individualistic, and the state’s ability to mobilize the public has weakened as a consequence.
It is no longer possible to galvanize North Koreans with such collectivist slogans as “one for all and all for one.” The greatest concern for the regime is that this may create an ideological vacuum in the future generation.
North Korea has identified the classroom as the place where that vacuum can be filled. Every day, students’ eyes fall on the bulletin board, which serves as a visual representation of norms.
Placing a slogan that mentions Kim Jong Un by name appears to be a systemic intervention designed to naturally insert a leader-oriented political standard into students’ lives.
Students at North Korea’s elementary and middle schools are part of a generation familiar with the market economy and foreign media content. They have ambiguous feelings about socialism and do not share the collective trauma of the Arduous March (a euphemism for the severe famine that struck North Korea in the mid-1990s).
What North Korea is most anxious about is the possibility of this generation losing its emotional ties with the regime. It is precisely to prevent such a rupture that the bulletin board at the back of the classroom is being so overtly used as a means of control.
The classroom has transformed from a place for mere education into a battleground for control of the future generation that is being zealously managed by the regime.
The slogan hanging on the bulletin board becomes a natural part of students’ daily routines. The significance of “the socialist fatherland” being replaced with “Marshal Kim Jong Un” is quite clear. It means that the strategy of unifying the regime around the leader is permeating the routine spaces of the youngest members of the population.
January 23, 2026 at 07:19PM
by DailyNK(North Korean Media)