The Pyongyang Project: Wacky Mr. O Gong-sik’s Cartoon Travelogue to North Korea

This informative and entertaining comic book allows readers a glimpse of North Korea today. The fictitious hero, O Gong-sik, is a young South Korean cartoonist. He is dispatched to North Korea as a part of the Pyongyang Project, which seeks to promote exchange and cooperation between the two Koreas. Living in Pyongyang as a member of the fictitious Committee for North-South Exchange and Cooperation, he witnesses life in North Korea firsthand. Are there “in” crowds and “losers” in North Korea, too? Are there pushy mothers in North Korea, too? What’s the fashion in North Korea? What are the most popular jobs in North Korea? What do North Korean teenagers do after school? Is it possible to watch South Korean TV programs and movies in North Korea? Do North Koreans know famous Western brands such as Adidas and Nike? This book vividly depicts North Korea and the lives of its people as the zany O experiences them.
Although based on his cartoon imagination and wit, the present volume is also grounded on the author-illustrator’s personal experience in North Korea, a wealth of data, and three interviews with young North Korean refugees living in the South. From the first stage of planning this work to last October, he diligently searched for reliable sources and learned facts about North Korea, a process that took approximately 2 years. According to the author-illustrator, actual interviews with North Korean refugees at times yielded different results from the information from the materials that he researched (books, media, and the Internet). For example, school life in North Korea differed according to the area. Of course, the author-illustrator carefully reflected such discrepancies and facts in his work.