N. Korea Orders Artists to Craft Masterpieces, Curb Foreign Cultural Inflow in South Korea

According to a Daily NK source in Pyongyang, the directive was issued late last month following a first-half review of the literary and arts sector. The order calls for thoroughly preventing the inflow of South Korean and foreign culture while significantly raising the quality of North Korean literature and art to create what it describes as "the shining highest peak" of literary achievement. The source said the directive stems from a sense of crisis that the influx of South Korean and foreign culture poses a "fatal and serious threat" to the regime. The directive reportedly urges literary and arts workers to fire the bullets of literature and art that ignite flames in the people's hearts, effectively demanding they take the front line in an ideological battle.