Evolution of Understanding Minjok in the DPRK

North Korean historians have imbued with different connotations the termminjok. This concept ofminjokcould be, albeit malleable in meaning, translated into ethnic group, nation, or people. The constant transformation of the term’s meaning has closely connected to the changes of the official theory of Korean People’s Ethnogenesis, which, in turn, was always adjusted to the transition of the North Korean ideology. In this regard, an analysis of this historical transformation helps understand better the changes in the consciousness of North Korean people, which outweighs the presence of nuclear capability or lag in economic development in terms of an obstacle to the future unification of Korea.