FEATURE
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The English of North Korea Analyzing Kim Jong-un’s Revised English Textbooks
Gwangju News, April 2022
gwangjunewsgic.com
An Inter view with Joo Yunha
T
hrough my work at Chonnam National University, the Global Teachers’ University graduate program has brought me into contact with many intriguing academic fields and the brilliant researchers who contribute to them. Any of these scholars would be great to interview, but one recent doctoral graduate by the name of Joo Yunha had a research topic so interesting that I couldn’t resist reaching out to learn more. What follows is our interview concerning her fields of corpus linguistics and English education and how they intersect with North Korea’s revisions to English textbooks during the Kim Jong-un era. Isaiah Winters (IW): Thank you for making time for this interview. I found your research particularly interesting for its unique analysis of English education materials in North Korea. Can you give Gwangju News readers a general overview of your academic research?
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Joo Yunha: My doctoral research involves analyzing secondary school North Korean English textbooks, and my recently finalized dissertation examines the reading passages in North Korea’s current middle school English textbooks. When Kim Jongun came to power, he announced the 2013 revised curriculum and changed the textbooks accordingly. Therefore, the recent books differ from the previous ones published in the Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il eras, and I have worked to detail those differences in my research. IW: In order to analyze North Korean English language textbooks, you first have to get your hands on them. How were South Korean scholars like yourself able to get these books, and where are they being kept now? Joo Yunha: The exact route through which the textbooks entered South Korea has not been disclosed due to national security laws. It is presumed
2022-03-24 �� 9:37:18
