Grand People's Study House

Grand People's Study House
인민대학습당
Study House in May 2015
39°01′13″N 125°44′59″E / 39.02028°N 125.74972°E / 39.02028; 125.74972
LocationPyongyang, North Korea
TypePublic
Established1 April 1982 (1982-04-01)
ArchitectKim Jong Il
Other information
WebsiteOfficial website
Building details
General information
Architectural styleNeo-traditional Korean
Korean name
Hangul
인민대학습당
Hanja
人民大學習堂
RRInmin daehakseupdang
MRInmin taehaksŭptang

The Grand People's Study House[a] is the national library of North Korea, located in the capital city of Pyongyang. The library was built in 1982 in honour of the Supreme Leader Kim Il Sung's 70th birthday. It is located in the centre of the capital, situated on Kim Il Sung Square by the banks of the Taedong River and opposite the Juche Tower. Both landmarks establish a connection between the people and the Juche ideology.

The library opened as the Pyongyang City Library on 13 November 1945, but was destroyed during the Korean War, reopening in 1954. The library is the centre of Juche studies, but lectures and materials concerning other topics, as well as foreign publications, can also be found there. Materials are strictly accessible to librarians and staff, but people can still search the online or print catalogues to find what they would like to borrow. A formal communication from the library is issued to the offender's employer if a borrowed item is not returned on time.

History

The Grand People's Study House, originally known as the Pyongyang City Library, opened on 13 November 1945, and was recognised by the North Korean government the following year as the National Central Library. After the library was destroyed during the Korean War, the first Supreme Leader of North Korea, Kim Il Sung, requested that it be rebuilt, and the library reopened as the National Central Library on 15 August 1954. In 1973, the library was again renamed the Central Library, and renamed once more as the Grand People's Study House in 1982,[1] after the people of North Korea and the Juche philosophy of "study while working", a principle which advances their understanding of Juche, socialism, and the Kim family.[2][3]

During the Cold War, the Soviet Union provided financial assistance to North Korea, allowing numerous Eastern European-style buildings to be built in Pyongyang. Believing that the country had become too heavily influenced by other cultures, Kim Il Sung advocated for North Korean-style architecture, which involved reviving elements of traditional Korean infrastructure, a practise that the North Korean government deemed essential for socialist buildings. Among the establishments built in this style of architecture was the Grand People's Study House.[4] Construction spanned 21 months;[5] the official guide states that Kim Il Sung had previously planned to construct a major structure in central Pyongyang as part of a strategy to renovate the area.[6] The library was opened on 1 April 1982,[1][7] in part to celebrate Kim Il Sung's 70th birthday.[6]

Features

The Grand People's Study House is located in the Central District of Pyongyang, at the Kim Il Sung Square, which also houses the Supreme People's Assembly and the Korean Art Gallery.[2][8] The Juche Tower is situated on the east bank of the Taedong River, directly opposite Kim Il Sung Square on the west bank.[9] According to the Korean Central News Agency, in January 2023, a smaller replica of the library was built in the municipal city of Sinuiju, whose central square was renovated to resemble the Kim Il Sung Square.[10]

The library is one of the few buildings in Pyongyang that was constructed in a neo-traditional Korean style, having been built to resemble a chosŏnjip – a traditional Korean house – at the insistence of Kim Il Sung's successor, Kim Jong Il.[11][12] The library towers 10 storeys tall with a total floor space of 100,000 square metres (1,100,000 sq ft) and 600 rooms.[13][14] Its roof is adorned with traditional, green-colored tiles.[15] Outside of the library,[16] and in each room and atrium, portraits of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il are hung, which, according to information and library scientist Marc Kosciejew, remind visitors of the country's surveillance.[3] The library's interior is also decorated with chandeliers and paintings of Mount Paektu, before which statues of Kim Il Sung are positioned.[17]

Collection

According to North Korean sources, the Grand People's Study House can house up to 30 million books.[7][14][18] The collection includes around 10,800 documents written by Kim Il Sung, including his "on-the-spot guidance",[19] as well as the writings of Kim Jong Il,[2] but the total collection size is not publicly known.[14] Historical documents pertaining to the Joseon Dynasty were found on the third and fifth floors of the library.[20] The library also has a music archive containing folk and revolutionary songs on CDs.[21] Materials are accessible to librarians and staff, but library visitors need to search the online or print catalogues to find what they would like to borrow and place a request.[2] Materials are provided in Korean, English, French, Russian, German, Chinese and Japanese.[14] Foreign publications, such as Harry Potter and Gone with the Wind, are also available.[22][23] Kosciejew says that when the borrowing period expires for library material, the borrower's employer reminds them to return the item right away.[2]

Since the 1990s, the Asia Foundation, under its Books for Asia programme, has annually donated over 10,000 books to the Grand People's Study House, Kim Il Sung University, and the Pyongyang University of Foreign Studies.[24] According to representative Peter Beck, the donations cement the idea that "information is power".[25] As reported by Korean Central Television, Kim Jong Il had been a regular donor to the library in 2007, sending in science and technology CDs, the Guinness Book of World Records, a sound effects design guide, architectural environmental acoustics, and around 250 books related to agriculture.[26]

Operation

The organisation of the staff working at the Grand People's Study House is hierarchical, with the president at its apex. The president gives orders to the national librarians, assigning each of them specific disciplines or subject areas, and determining their collections. Each national librarian is responsible for all policies related to their area of expertise.[2] Additionally, each librarian is classified into one of six grades based on their performance on a library certification exam. Some librarians are given the titles "meritorious" or "people's", requiring 15 and 20 years of working at the Grand People's Study House, respectively.[28] In 2001, the Vice President was Choi Gwang-ryeol,[29] and as of 2019, the library curator is Choi Heui-jung.[30]

Courses and topics

North Korea's Library Law establishes libraries as essential for promoting ideologies, enhancing technology and culture, supplying new science and technology, and organising social learning.[1] As such, lectures on a variety of subjects take place at the Grand People's Study House.[31] American evangelist Billy Graham gave a talk in the library in 1994, when religious practises were often harshly punished in North Korea,[32] and after the 2018 North Korea–United States Singapore Summit, Choson Exchange coordinator Ian Bennett led a three-day-long entrepreneurship workshop at the library.[33] In July 2024, according to the South Korean Ministry of Unification, students studying abroad were ordered to return to North Korea for the first time in five years to resume ideological education. Such education, as reported by South Korean news outlets, included a planned political training session related to Kim Jong Un at the library, which was scheduled to occur later that month.[34]

Alongside Juche – the national philosophy of North Korea that focuses on self-reliance, computer education is compulsory in North Korea, making them the two most popular subjects studied by military officers and university students at the Grand People's Study House. People with computer-related office jobs, such as librarians, are seen in high regard,[2] and programming languages like MATLAB have been taught in the library.[35] In 2001, The Chosun Ilbo reported that computer-related books were the second-most popular book topic for loaning at the library.[36] In 1991, a majority of the equipment in the Grand People's Study House were Japanese products, such as those by Sony and Hitachi.[37] In 2006, digital libraries began opening throughout North Korea under Kim Jong Un's interest in science and technology. Of these electronic libraries, the Pyongyang Sci-Tech Complex, which opened in 2016, is expected to rival the Grand People's Study House.[28]

North Koreans frequently choose to study English; one tourist working for the Daily NK points out that it is part of the efforts "to develop the country" or to do trade with other countries,[17] and a November 2009 article in Homeland, a pro-North Korean magazine based in Japan, reported that English is the most popular language North Koreans choose to study, followed by Chinese and Russian.[38][39] German and Japanese courses have also been provided in the Grand People's Study House.[40]

Significance and reception

The Grand People's Study House's reported popularity supports its position as the national library of North Korea;[41] on 28 January 1989, the Pyongyang Broadcasting Station reported that since the library's inception, over 10 million people have visited the Grand People's Study House annually.[42] As of 2025, up to 700 people attend each session of the library's Chinese courses, as noted on the Chinese Embassy's website following Wang Yajun's visit to the library.[43] Moreover, the Study House is featured on the back of the 5-won bill, and the library is a popular destination for dates within the country.[1][44]

In his two-part account of North Korean libraries, Marc Kosciejew uses the conceptual framework of "library-as-place",[45] illuminating its significance in the lives of North Koreans as both a place of cult of personality and governmental control, as well as an opportunity for cultural and social gatherings.[2] The library further helps reinforce the Juche mindset by strictly controlling information and events that are available to the public, but the fact that some information is made available is notable among the country.[3]

The library, as well as its patrons, follow Kim Il Sung's "study while working" mindset. For major media coverage, the library is often seen in speeches, military and nuclear parades, and performances celebrating national holidays.[2][46] During the memorial service commemorating the death of Kim Jong Il, Kim Jong Un was seen on the balcony of the library accompanied by high-ranking military officials and close relatives.[47][48]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Korean: 인민대학습당; formerly known as the Pyongyang City Library, National Central Library, and the Central Library[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Libraries in N. Korea (1)". Korean Broadcasting System. 25 March 2021. Archived from the original on 16 January 2026. Retrieved 19 January 2026.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Kosciejew, Marc (2009). "Inside an Axis of Evil library: A first-hand account of the North Korea dear leader's library system part one" (PDF). Feliciter. 55 (4): 167–170. Archived (PDF) from the original on 21 January 2025. Retrieved 19 January 2026.
  3. ^ a b c Kosciejew, Marc (2009). "Inside an Axis of Evil library: A first-hand account of the North Korean dear leader's library system part two" (PDF). Feliciter. 55 (5): 207–209. Archived (PDF) from the original on 21 January 2025. Retrieved 19 January 2026.
  4. ^ "Architecture in Pyongyang". KBS World. 2 February 2022. Archived from the original on 18 January 2026. Retrieved 19 January 2026.
  5. ^ Benjamin (21 October 2015). "Libraries of the World XXVII". Thammasat University Library. Archived from the original on 18 January 2026. Retrieved 19 January 2026.
  6. ^ a b Portal, Jane (2005). Art Under Control in North Korea. British Museum: Reaktion Books. p. 97. ISBN 978-1-86189-236-2. Retrieved 19 January 2026.
  7. ^ a b French, Paul (2007). North Korea: the paranoid peninsula—a modern history (2 ed.). London: Zed Books. p. 299. ISBN 978-1-84277-905-7.
  8. ^ "Museums in N. Korea". KBS World. 4 May 2022. Archived from the original on 4 February 2026. Retrieved 19 January 2026.
  9. ^ Coonan, Clifford (21 October 2006). "Kim Jong Il, the tyrant with a passion for wine, women and the bomb". The Independent. Archived from the original on 8 January 2023. Retrieved 19 January 2026.
  10. ^ Lee, Michael (12 January 2023). "Rehearsal for Pyongyang military parade spotted". Korea JoongAng Daily. Archived from the original on 12 January 2023.
  11. ^ Eun-Hwa, Han (4 June 2018). "Pyongyang's grand architectural statements: North Korea's iconic buildings offer insight into how the hermit kingdom sees itself and its future". Korea JoongAng Daily. Archived from the original on 28 January 2026. Retrieved 19 January 2026.
  12. ^ Kim, Cheehyung Harrison (24 October 2021). "Pyongyang modern: Architecture of multiplicity in postwar North Korea". Journal of Korean Studies. 26 (2). Duke University Press: 271–296. doi:10.1215/07311613-9155193. Archived from the original on 21 January 2025. Retrieved 19 January 2026.
  13. ^ Willoughby, Robert (2008). The Bradt Travel Guide: North Korea (2 ed.). United Kingdom: Bradt Travel Guides. p. 100. ISBN 978-1-84162-219-4. Retrieved 19 January 2026.
  14. ^ a b c d Song, Yoo-Seong (February 2019). "A glimpse into academic and research libraries in North Korea". International Insights. Association of College and Research Libraries. Archived from the original on 16 January 2026. Retrieved 19 January 2026.
  15. ^ "Kim Il-sung Square in N. Korea". KBS World. 1 February 2023. Archived from the original on 30 October 2023. Retrieved 19 January 2026.
  16. ^ "북한 주민들, 김일성 25주기 맞아 일제히 묵념" [North Koreans observe a moment of silence on the 25th anniversary of Kim Il-sung's death.]. Yonhap News Agency (in Korean). 8 July 2019.
  17. ^ a b "평양 인민대학습당 풍경, 거대한 '트루먼 쇼'와 흡사" [Pyongyang People's Grand Study House scene, similar to a giant 'Truman Show']. Daily NK (in Korean). 12 March 2024. Archived from the original on 10 February 2026. Retrieved 19 January 2026.
  18. ^ Democratic People's Republic of Korea, issues 406–415. North Korea: Foreign Languages Publishing House. 1990. p. 18.
  19. ^ Callick, Rowan (22 September 2007). "The cult of the Kims". The Australian. Retrieved 19 January 2026.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  20. ^ Shin, Chan-gyun (5 July 2005). "평양의 이조실록" [Annals of King Ijo of Pyongyang]. The Hankyoreh (in Korean). Retrieved 16 February 2026.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  21. ^ "'인민대학습당'..장서 3천만권 '주체사상' 중심" ['People's University Study Party'..30 million books, centered on 'Juche ideology']. Hankyung Plus (in Korean). 15 June 2000. Archived from the original on 16 February 2026.
  22. ^ Bae, Jae-Sung (15 April 2025). "English-speaking guides offer insights to Pyongyang Marathon participants". Korea JoongAng Daily. Archived from the original on 7 October 2025. Retrieved 19 January 2026.
  23. ^ "Reading 'Gone with the Wind' in Pyongyang". The Korea Herald. 25 October 2012. Retrieved 19 January 2026.
  24. ^ Lee, Michael (19 September 2004). "North main focus of NGO's attention". Korea JoongAng Daily. Archived from the original on 18 January 2026. Retrieved 19 January 2026.
  25. ^ Kim, Hee-jin (21 February 2012). "[Interview] Changing in response to nation's needs". Korea JoongAng Daily. Archived from the original on 2 March 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2026.
  26. ^ "김정일, 인민대학습당에 기네스북 보내" [Kim Jong-il sends Guinness Book of Records to the People's Study House]. Daily NK (in Korean). 17 May 2007. Archived from the original on 24 October 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2026.
  27. ^ "슈미트 일행, 평양 컴퓨터센터ㆍ인민대학습당 방문(종합)" [Schmidt and his party visit Pyongyang Computer Center and People's University Training Center (comprehensive)] (in Korean). The Chosun Ilbo. 10 January 2013. Archived from the original on 17 February 2026. Retrieved 17 February 2026.
  28. ^ a b "Libraries in N. Korea (2)". KBS World. 1 April 2021. Archived from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2026.
  29. ^ "북 인민대학습당, CD 확충" [North Korea's People's Grand Study House expands CDs]. The Chosun Ilbo (in Korean). 4 February 2001.
  30. ^ Savolainen, Liisa (23 October 2017). "CNDL Address" (PDF). Conference of Directors of National Libraries. p. 14. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 November 2019. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
  31. ^ "Grand People's Study House". Korean Central News Agency. 3 March 2009. Archived from the original on 9 June 2011. Retrieved 19 January 2026.
  32. ^ Corfield, James (1 December 2014). Historical dictionary of Pyongyang. London: Anthem Press. p. 57. ISBN 978-1-78308-341-1. Retrieved 19 January 2026.
  33. ^ Kim, So-hyun (17 May 2018). "NK upbeat about economic changes after Kim-Trump summit: NGO". The Korea Herald. Retrieved 23 February 2026.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  34. ^ Ji-eun, Seo (4 July 2024). "North Korea recalls overseas students for indoctrination for first time in 5 years: Unification Ministry". Korea JoongAng Daily. Archived from the original on 4 July 2024. Retrieved 19 January 2026.
  35. ^ "北 인민대학습당서 컴퓨터 재교육" [Computer retraining at the North People's University]. The Chosun Ilbo (in Korean). 23 December 2004. Archived from the original on 16 February 2026. Retrieved 16 February 2026.
  36. ^ Lee, Kyung-hwan (19 April 2001). "[아! 그래요?] 컴퓨터 관련 서적 인기 '최고'" [[ah! is it so?] Computer-related books are popular and 'best']. The Chosun Ilbo (in Korean). Retrieved 16 February 2026.
  37. ^ Marlow, Jeffrey (17 December 2013). "北朝鮮の「電子閲覧室」（動画と画像）" [North Korea's "electronic reading room" (video and images)]. Wired (in Japanese). Retrieved 23 February 2026.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  38. ^ Kang, Hyun-kyung (15 November 2009). "English learning booming in NK". Archived from the original on 16 January 2026. Retrieved 19 January 2026.
  39. ^ Kang, Hyun-kyung (23 February 2010). "Continuity More Striking Than Change in NK". The Korea Times. Retrieved 19 January 2026.
  40. ^ "평양시민들, 영어·중국어 '열공'" [Pyongyang citizens, English and Chinese 'hard work']. The Hankyoreh (in Korean). 19 October 2019. Archived from the original on 12 October 2017. Retrieved 16 February 2026.
  41. ^ Stam, David H., ed. (2016). International dictionary of library histories. London: Routledge. pp. 482–483. ISBN 978-1-136-77785-1. Retrieved 19 January 2026.
  42. ^ "네이버 뉴스 라이브러리" [Naver News Library]. Naver (in Korean). 2 February 1989. Archived from the original on 26 December 2025. Retrieved 19 January 2026.
  43. ^ Boram, Park (16 May 2025). "Chinese ambassador to N. Korea visits Pyongyang's biggest library: embassy". Yonhap News Agency. Archived from the original on 16 May 2025. Retrieved 19 January 2026.
  44. ^ "Dating Culture in N. Korea". Korean Broadcasting System. 21 January 2021. Archived from the original on 6 February 2026. Retrieved 19 January 2026.
  45. ^ "Dr Marc Kosciejew, Biography section". L-Università ta' Malta. Malta: L.-Università ta' Malta. Archived from the original on 11 January 2018. Retrieved 23 December 2018. Dr. Marc Kosciejew is a Lecturer of Library, Information, and Archive Sciences within the Faculty of Media and Knowledge Sciences (MaKS) at the University of Malta. [...] In 2007 he conducted research in North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) on the secretive Communist state's library system, becoming one of the first English-speakers to present and publish on this specific topic. His articles on North Korean libraries, featured in a 2009 two-part series in the national journal of the Canadian Library Association (CLA), are some of the first articles to directly discuss and critically analyze the libraries, specifically the national Grand People's Study House, of the so-called 'hermit kingdom'.
  46. ^ "Kim Jong-un's anniversary parade is a spectacle". Korea JoongAng Daily. 11 October 2015. Archived from the original on 2 December 2020. Retrieved 19 January 2026.
  47. ^ Kim, Yoon-mi (29 December 2011). "New Kim era begins with huge memorial". The Korea Herald. Archived from the original on 16 January 2026. Retrieved 19 January 2026.
  48. ^ "North Korea begins memorial for Kim Jong-il". The Korea Herald. 29 December 2011. Archived from the original on 16 January 2026. Retrieved 19 January 2026.
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