Pretty heavy stuff right there. I’m not even American, but I still take this personal. What a weird feeling. I must say though, that they’re well made (aesthetically!).

It’s amazing how little the visual language of propaganda art has changed in the last fifty years.

Dunno if you saw the annual Arirang show.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67eBYOBHn1E

The background changing isn’t a screen, it’s thousands of people holding different colored plates to make the image.

I used to live in South Korea until 13 years of my age and could see these kind of images one or two times. (North Korean sent mini version of these images to South Korea by attaching a pack of flyers to many helium balloons). I think the translations are not in right order. So here is my suggestion.

“When we say we will, we will. We do not talk idly!”

“Let’s extensively raise goats in all families!”

“Wicked Man.”

“When provoking a war of aggression, we will hit back, beginning with the US!”

“Do not forget the US imperialist wolves!”

“Let’s drive the US imperialists out and reunite the fatherland!”

“Though the dog barks, the procession moves on!”

“Death to US imperialists, our sworn enemy!”

“The US is truly an Axis of Evil.”

“Prevention and more prevention. Let’s fully establish a veterinary system for the prevention of epidemics!”

hope this is useful, it would be better if you also mention North Korean in the text as you did in the title.

I guess these posters are just to please Kim jong-il (the leader of North Korea), cause majority of North Korean don’t even have a time to think about this matter. They are just too busy with worrying about how to survive the very next day.

WHERE can one get prints of these?!?
I have been looking for authentic N Korean Propaganda posters for AGES!

please someone let me know!

Angela

The propaganda depatment needs to work on their geography. Guy in the first poster is punching Canada…

Looks like hope has not made it there yet, that is a pretty goat.

absolutely love the posters, really good stuff. The colors are amazingly chosen.

How did these come up? Are they silk-screened or printed with some other method?

wow so powerful these images and the messages… when will the governments of all these countries will stop ruling by promoting hatred? Terrible..

“We get it, you don’t like us.”

Keep in mind, this is the work of the government and not necessarily the opinions of the people. Reacting with animosity only helps to “prove” their point.

anyway, I´d also have to admit that they work, from a design point of view

Meh. While I think I understand the context, it still seems like the last thing our nation needs, more misguided youth running around making statements (like the designs depict) they don’t understand… good art shouldn’t be whatever makes you less common.

From an artistic point of view, they are very well executed. I especially like the footprint one. It is very clean and striking.

But as for the message, I heartily disagree.

lmao @ Nathan G. bahahaha

A bleak reproduction of old Soviet propaganda if you ask me. That’s why there was a comment that propaganda has changed so little for so many years. The modern propaganda is advertising :)

it reminds me of the western anti-communism posters, but these korean posters seem much more weird.
Poor backward country!

Lovely collection.
If you want to see the originals and maybe even possibly buy some I highly recommend popping by http://www.shanghaipropagandaart.com/ if you ever find yourself in Shanghai. I went there a couple of years ago and had a fab guided tour by the man who runs the place. Even bought a couple of original handcut and screenprinted posters for around 40£. Well worth it.

Great find. I can’t believe I’ve never studied or even seen these before.

[...] Link – klik klik! Posted by saibot09 Filed in Illustration, Plakatkunst Leave a Comment » [...]

Does anyone know when these posters were made? Recently or years back?

oh you Americans must be so EVIL! :D I am glad no country is doing the same propagande against EU.
Anyway the footprint one is really good. And I can see American propaganda on every goddamn conner – really! Coca-cola and McDonald everywhere ;)

These posters are all from the North Korean Posters book. I bought my book from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/North-Korean-Posters-Heather-Collection/dp/3791339672

I have also bought a real poster while visiting Pyongyang few years ago. It was hand painted with water colors and went for about $20. The real trouble was getting it home undamaged in hand luggage. But it’s now safely on my living room wall.

@M72 – They are made between 1950-2000, check the previous post for link to the book.

Incredible post! … and I love the comments as well.

These posters reveal a lot of talent—as does the video that twooh posted. North Korea throws a helluva ceremony… one can only imagine how amazing their opening ceremonies would be if they ever joined the rest of the world and hosted the Olympics.

On a serious note, most of their people eat dirt—literally—to stay alive. Such misery deserves mention (and prayers, if you’re into that).

-J

This is really spooky, but even more spooky, or rather sad, is the fact that there was never really a difference between the so called “West” and “East” propaganda. Look at the posters from WWII era from all over Europe (both sides) and also US anti-Japanese posters from the same time…

I am sorry for the innocent people that have to put up mentally with this. Everywhere.

[...] ISO50 – The Blog of Scott Hansen » North Korean Propaganda Posters (tags: design inspiration reference) [...]

someone had quite a few of these at the alameda flea market last fall… quite a sight.

Thanks Giru.
The translations didn’t seem right to me either.

Wow. It’s a shame these posters are so gorgeous!

[...] North Korean Propaganda Posters Crazy stuff (tags: propaganda design Korea) [...]

[...] North Korean propaganda posters. [...]

· “Let’s extensively raise goats in all families!”

…not sure what I was expecting from that poster…

[...] stumbled upon this link tonight. These images came from a book and the posters date back for 50 years. I wonder if my uncle [...]

[...] ISO50 – The Blog of Scott Hansen » North Korean Propaganda Posters.朝鲜的海报，跟文革时候差不多～ « Motion Theory 100 Years of Movie Title Stills | Design Informer » [...]

U.S. propaganda is a bit more sophisticated now days. We pay to see 2+ hr productions with CGI , paper thin plot lines and mega budgets, “music” videos that glorify militarism and “24″, legitimizing torture.

Rihanna’s Hard and AMA Performance:
http://vigilantcitizen.com/?p=3306

You know Chris, I not one to troll, but I’m so tired of hearing/reading little comments like yours. The term “we”, maybe you is more appropriate. The great thing about our propaganda is you can always turn it off or not go. Chances are if you’re listening to sultry electronic music, you don’t know the first thing about militarism, or torture. The only example you have are in the books you’ve read or the films you’ve seen. I expect to see posts like yours on youtube, not ISO50.

Great post Scott, and yes this is very alarming and unsettling material. However, I can’t, for some reason, deny the talent of artists.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8604912.stm

When I see a nice collection like this, and oh, there’s even a book…. I can’t help but think that perhaps this is not NK propaganda, it’s US propaganda, making us believe that NK is a bad and evil place, and if the US should “accidentally” nuke it, it’s would just be for our own good.
Very few reliable sources have been to NK to confirm these, so how do we know?

love the graphics…

I like the machine gun held by the American Wolf. If any body actually bought in to these posters they wouldn’t be able to recognize an American Soldier if they saw one. These must be from an earlier time, say, the Korean war.

Also, in Argentina, “propaganda” is the word for advertising.