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Monash Korean Studies Seminar Series 2026: 

An Analysis of North Korean Textbooks in the Kim Jong-un Era

Date & Time: Thursday, 15 October 2026, 4-5pm (Melbourne time) 

via ZOOM

Bio

Associate Professor Dong Bae (Isaac) Lee is an academic in Korean Studies and Korean language education at the University of Queensland, Australia. He holds an MA in Applied Linguistics and a PhD in Critical Curriculum Studies and has more than two decades of experience in university teaching, research, postgraduate supervision, curriculum development, and academic leadership.

His research is interdisciplinary, spanning critical curriculum and textbook studies, language education, nationalism, identity, ideology, multiculturalism, environmental and sustainability education, and critical discourse analysis. His work has examined English, Korean, and Chinese language textbooks and school curricula across a range of national contexts, including South Korea, North Korea, China, Japan, Vietnam, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Australia. He has also conducted research on North Korean education and curriculum, North Korean defectors, and issues of identity among overseas Korean communities.

Associate Professor Lee has published two research monographs with international academic publishers, more than 45 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters, and a co-authored book. His recent research examines environmental education, sustainability, environmental citizenship, national identity, ideology, and the ways in which school curricula and textbooks construct national and global futures, particularly across the Indo-Pacific region.

At the University of Queensland, he has played a significant role in the development of Korean Studies and has served as Director and Co-Director of the Korean Studies Centre. He is also actively involved in international research collaboration, postgraduate supervision, and the mentoring of early-career and next-generation scholars.

Abstract

This project examines North Korean elementary school textbooks as ideological instruments that cultivate emotional loyalty and political obedience to the supreme leader. Through Critical Discourse Analysis and narrative inquiry, it analyses eight Korean language textbooks from the Kim Jong-un era, revealing how authoritarian values are embedded from early childhood.

At the core of the curriculum is the deification of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-un, who are portrayed as paternal figures whose sacrifices secure national strength and personal well-being. Emotionally charged first-person narratives encourage students to understand obedience as a moral duty and diligent study as a form of repayment for the leader’s benevolence, thereby fostering intergenerational loyalty. For example, the glorification of Hyang-rim’s self-sacrifice to protect portraits of the leaders illustrates how devotion and selflessness are normalised. Such narratives align personal identity with state interests and present military service as both honourable and expected.

Another example is Geum-sun’s statement that Kim Il-sung was “both a dear father and the foundation of her spirit,” which illustrates Puleungi-sasang ideology, in which the leader’s authority is closely associated with parental love and life itself. This ritualised emotional attachment helps secure the regime’s political legitimacy.

Education is framed not as a right but as a privilege granted by the leader. Historical trauma under Japanese colonialism is contrasted with present-day prosperity in order to legitimise the regime, while anti-American sentiment is reinforced through depictions of Americans and Christian missionaries as hostile invaders. Ultimately, the textbooks construct political subjectivity by fusing civic identity with personal devotion to the leader, reinforcing nationalism, legitimising political authority, and portraying loyalty as both virtuous and essential.