Strip Kim Jong il's Power
Song Byeok's 2011 gallery show, "Forever Freedom," received international press and acclaim:
Growing up, Song Byeok was brainwashed into believing tyrant Kim Jong-il loved his people. Selected at age twenty-four to become an official state propagandist based on his artistic skill, Song's faith in the "Dear Leader" was ultimately betrayed when famine struck North Korea in the late 1990s. Millions of people-- including Song's mother, sister, and father-- perished. Before finally escaping, the artist endured brutal torture at the hands of the regime he once praised in his work. Song's crime: attempting to cross into China to find food. Now dedicated to promoting freedom worldwide, he paints acrylic pieces satirizing Kim Jong-il. You can learn more about Song in this LA Times article and this Huffington Post article, or visit his website here .
Protest and Propaganda Art Battle in the Two Koreas
In addition to creating his own art, Song, now a refugee in South Korea, has inspired many of Greg Pence's drawings about the Korean conflict. Song has been mentoring Pence while he completes his Fulbright scholarship examining Korean nationalism through the lens of protest art and propaganda. The images below are examples of Pence's work.
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Land of the Morning Calm?
Below find a slideshow of Greg Pence's editorial cartoons published in The DailyNK, The Korea Times, The Seoul Times, Seoul Style Magazine, Yonsei's NOVAsia, and others. Topics include Kim Jong-un's shocking rise to power and the ROK's uneasy transition into a G20 nation.
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