Language

언어: Language

Eon eo

In the most technical of terms, the DPRK uses the same language as the one spoken in South Korea. However, the sociopolitical and cultural seperation of more than 50 years has pushed the languages between the two far apart.

After the war, North Korea faced the task of building a new national culture, but it faced a serious problem of illiteracy. For example, over 90 percent of women in northern Korea in 1945 were illiterate.

In order to solve the problem of illiteracy, the DPRK adopted the all-Hangeul script, abolishing the use of Chinese characters altogether.

Traditionally, the Hangeul language operated on a dual system: in pre-modern Korea, oral language was the indigenous Hangukeo. However, all writing was done in classical Chinese. For the people without formal education, the world of writing was unknown. In 1444, King Sejong of the Joseon kingdom, along with court scholars, invented the Hangeul writing system, hunminjongum meaning "the correct sound to be taught the commoners." The original script consisted of seventeen consonants and eleven vowels. The script represented the phonetic sounds of Hangukeo, via the symbols. In that process, one could write the language that the people actually spoke. This script was much easier to use and teach than the classic Chinese characters, effectively eliminating much of the illiteracy problem.

세종대왕

Sae Jong Dae Whahng

King Sae Jong

With more reforms over many centuries, the Korean language of the late nineteenth century had developed more vowels and consonants. North Korea inherited this modern form of Korean vernacular script consisting of nineteen consonants and twenty-one vowels.

The abolition of the use of Chinese characters from all public printing and writing helped achieve nationwide literacy at a remarkable speed. By 1979, the United States government estimated that North Korea had a 90 percent literacy rate. At the end of the twentieth century, it was estimated that 99 percent of North Korea's population could read and write Korean sufficiently.

Source

*However it should be noted that being able to write the Dear Leaders name constituted as literacy.