[KS] Old North Korean Dictionary

[1954John Duggan]

I recently acquired a 1957 "Popular Dictionary of Political Terminology" 
(Taejung ChOngch'i YongO SajOn), edited by Kim Sang-hyOn, and published in 
Pyongyang.  It is interesting in several regards:

1.  There is no entry for the term "chuch'e," despite Kim Il Sung's speech 
of December 1955 regarding the same.

2.  As with books published somewhat later, Kim Il Sung is merely a 
"comrade" (tongji):  the honorific -nim and honorific particle -kkesO are 
lacking. Nor is there an entry for the great leader himself.

3.  Many of the terms are transcribed from Russian rather than rendered in 
native Korean.

4.  The dictionary order is between that of current South Korean 
publications and modern North Korean.

The book was very badly mildewed, so I am having a few copies of the 
dictionary made; if anyone is interested, please contact me. I intend to 
donate at least a couple to the libraries in Seoul I use.

Scalapino and Lee's Communism in North Korea lists a later version of the 
dictionary (1959) also edited by Kim Sang-hyOn in the bibliography.  
However, I have not yet been able to find this in libraries in Seoul such as 
the Ministry of Unification's Data Center.  Is anyone aware of a US library 
holding the 1959 version?  I would be interested in tracking the changes in 
terms, i.e. did chuch'e show up by then?

The Ministry of Unification Data Center has a 1964 dictionary of the same 
title edited by Pak Chun-SO which does have a one page entry for chuch'e; 
the dictionary order is that of modern North Korean.

John Duggan







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