The Migration of Population and the Government’s Responses in North Korea in the 1950s

The war and the construction of a socialist nation caused changes to the overall society of North Korea. One of the patterns of the changes was "migration." The government controlled people"s evacuation and migration due to bombardment and front changes during the war. Its wartime control of the movement of the population continued even after the ceasefire agreement. However, migration was an object of "control" and not restricted. In North Korea, the regime"s strong control of migration was first found only in the second half of the 1960s, before which the migration pattern of people in North Korea was to step over the "rule" set by the regime. Workers gave managers a hard time at production sites by changing jobs frequently, and managers responded to them with excessive employment. The unstable distribution system also forced workers to change their jobs. In the 1950s, the government had to put control over the migration of the rural population to cities after the restoration of industry. All of these facts lead to the reconsideration of the old perception that North Korea was a strictly controlled society.