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The Korean War
The Workers’ Party of Korea is the founding—and ruling—political party of North Korea. The W.P.K. espouses the juche ideology, the songun military-first policy, and the supremacy and infallibility of the Great Leader, who, as of 2020, is Kim Jong-un, the youngest member of the Kim dynasty. Membership in the Workers’ Party is exclusive and highly sought after, seen by many North Koreans as a pathway to a better, more comfortable life.
The Workers’ Party of Korea Quotes in Nothing to Envy
The Nothing to Envy quotes below are all either spoken by The Workers’ Party of Korea or refer to The Workers’ Party of Korea. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 1
Quotes
The red letters leap out of the gray landscape with urgency. They march across the fields, preside over the granite cliffs of the mountains, punctuate the main roads like mileage markers, and dance on top of railroad stations and other public buildings.
LONG LIVE KIM IL-SUNG.
KIM JONG-IL, SUN OF THE 21ST CENTURY.
LET’S LIVE OUR OWN WAY.
WE WILL DO AS THE PARTY TELLS US.
WE HAVE NOTHING TO ENVY IN THE WORLD.
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Chapter 2
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Yet for all their wealth, the Japanese Koreans occupied a lowly position in the North Korean hierarchy. No matter that they were avowed Communists who gave up comfortable lives in Japan, they were lumped in with the hostile class. The regime couldn't trust anyone with money who wasn't a member of the Workers' Party. They were among the few North Koreans permitted to have contact with the outside, and that in itself made them unreliable; the strength of the regime came from its ability to isolate its own citizens completely.
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Chapter 6
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Now, surrounded by sobbing students, Jun-sang wondered: If everybody else felt such genuine love for Kim Il-sung and he did nor, how would he possibly fit in? […] He was alone, completely alone in his indifference. He always thought he had close friends at the university, but now he realized he didn't know them at all. […]
This revelation was quickly followed by another, equally momentous: his entire future depended on his ability to cry. Not just his career and his membership in the Workers' Party, his very survival was at stake. It was a matter of life and death. Jun-sang was terrified.
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Chapter 8
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Our father, we have nothing to envy in the world.
Our house is within the embrace of the Workers' Party.
We are all brothers and sisters.
Even if a sea of fire comes toward us, sweet children do not need to be afraid,
Our father is here.
We have nothing to envy in this world.
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Chapter 14
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Mi-ran told herself they were going just for a short trip to make the telephone call, but in her heart, she knew she might never come back. […] After they were gone, they would be denounced as traitors. "She received an education through the benevolence of the party and she betrayed the fatherland," she could almost hear the party secretary saying. She didn't want her guilt to rub off on Jun-sang. After she was gone […] he could find himself a suitable wife, join the Workers' Party, and spend the rest of his life in Pyongyang as a scientist.
He'll forgive me, he'll understand, she told herself. It's in his best interest.
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The Workers’ Party of Korea Term Timeline in Nothing to Envy
The timeline below shows where the term The Workers’ Party of Korea appears in Nothing to Envy. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 2
...for their “bourgeois Japanese past.” By getting into a good college and perhaps even the Workers’ Party , Jun-sang could change his family’s fate.
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Chapter 3
...As a young woman, she married a man named Chang-bo, a prominent member of the Worker’s Party . Mrs. Song dreamed of moving to Pyongyang, but the Party requested she and her...
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In 1972, the Workers’ Party began distributing lapel pins bearing Kim Il-sung’s image. All North Koreans were required to wear...
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...marry a young Korean People’s Army employee, Choi Yong-su, who was a shoo-in for the Workers’ Party . The two wed in 1988 in front of a statue of Kim Il-sung, as...
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...in premarital sex, her son was greatly endangering his chances for future entry into the Workers’ Party .
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Chapter 7
...the first to volunteer for extra shifts in hopes of being chosen to join the Workers’ Party one day soon. Dr. Kim’s father, an ethnic Korean from Manchuria, moved to North Korea...
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Chapter 8
...familiar North Korean tune, “We Have Nothing to Envy in the World,” which glorified the Workers’ Party and the Great Leader while denigrating the rest of the world. “Even if a sea...
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Chapter 12
...his early pardon was in celebration of the upcoming anniversary of the founding of the Workers’ Party , but Hyuck believed the camp simply had more “important enemies” than him scheduled to...
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Chapter 13
...disgusted with himself, initially, for continuing to attend lectures glorifying the Kim regime and the Workers’ Party —but when he began looking out at the faces of his fellow attendees and recognizing...
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Chapter 14
...to anyone but her—but he knew that if they wed, his chances of joining the Workers’ Party would be ruined. Privately, he wondered if the regime—which he now knew to be, in...
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Chapter 15
...Kim learned that she was under extra surveillance—she was suspect to the members of the Workers’ Party . Dr. Kim was shocked and appalled. She had always given her all to the...
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Chapter 17
...2002 World Cup broadcast from Seoul—that South Korea was truly a free, wealthy country. The Workers’ Party lectures she’d attended over the years had always taught her that television broadcasts from other...
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