Abstract

In my opinion, the North Korea is not completely free from the influence of Confucian culture. As a result of analyzing North exists in the lives of the North Korean people in tangible and intangible ways. Obviously, North Korea claims that Kim Il-sung's Juche ideology replaced the feudal ideology and old Confucian culture. However, Confucian customs, or “marks” of Confucianism, are still found in North Korean society. The reason why Confucian culture still persists in North Korea, which is negative about the lessons of traditional Confucianism, is that Confucian customs, which have established themselves as visible and unvisible cultural entities, are acting as social centripets. Therefore, no matter how clearly brain washing is carried out, the Confucian customs of “chung(loyalty, 忠)” and “hyo(filial piety, 孝)” are not expected to disappear from the lives of North Koreans. Furthermore, Confucianism is functioning as a hidden mechanism working in the North Korea. In the end, North Korea's attitude of arbitrarily denying or affirming Confucianism is contradictory. Although North Korea denies it, it is clear that North Korea is a political system in which Confucian ideology is used as a mechanism to operate its system.