Ask A North Korean: Defectors Talk About Their Lives 2015

Ask A North Korean: Defectors Talk About Their Lives Inside the World's Most Secretive Nation  2015

북한 사람에게 물어보세요: 탈북자들이 세계에서 가장 비밀스러운 나라에서의 삶에 대해 이야기합니다

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Ask A North Korean: Defectors Talk About Their Lives Inside the World's Most Secretive Nation 

Kindle Edition
by Daniel Tudor (Author), Andrei Lankov (Foreword) Format: Kindle Edition

Contents

Foreword by Andrei Lankov

Introduction

Contributors

PART 1 Economic Life

PART 2 The Powers That Be

PART 3 Media and Information

PART 4 Pyongyang vs. the Rest

PART 5 The Outside World

PART 6 Comparing North and South

PART 7 Health and Welfare

PART 8 Defection from North Korea

PART 9 Religion and Spirituality

PART 10 Love, Sex, Relationships

PART 11 Fun and Leisure

PART 12 Any Other Questions?

서문, 안드레이 란코프

서론

기고자

1부 경제 생활

2부 권력자들

3부 미디어와 정보

4부 평양 대 나머지

5부 외부 세계

6부 남북 비교

7부 건강과 복지

8부 북한 탈북

9부 종교와 영성

10부 사랑, 섹스, 관계

11부 재미와 여가

12부 다른 질문이 있나요?

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4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 44 ratings

"With North Korea once more in the news, this book will enable readers to empathize with a people often forgotten as a result of the bellicosity of their government. --Publishers Weekly"

Print length 292 pages


Review

"Ask A North Korean gives valuable insight into how former North Koreans see themselves, their changing country and its place in the world." --Andray Abrahamian, Chosun Exchange

"Given current headlines, historical and sociopolitical interest, and even schadenfreude-laden curiosity, this is a valuable book ... these voices deserve attention, compassion, and respect." --Booklist

"With North Korea once more in the news, this book will enable readers to empathize with a people often forgotten as a result of the bellicosity of their government." --Publishers Weekly

"The range of subjects covered in Ask a North Korean is fascinating, allowing the reader to understand citizens of this shielded country. Simultaneously, the essays are unnerving, given conflicted views of the press and freedom of speech around the world, not just in North Korea. It's a stark reminder of how valuable these rights are and how easy it is to take them for granted." -- Shelf Awareness

"In his new book, Ask a North Korean, Daniel Tudor--a former Economist journalist and current Korean beer entrepreneur-- wants people to understand the true lives of everyday North Koreans. Using translated essays written by defectors, the book covers topics from politics to pornography." -- The Boston Globe

"Among other things, we learn what children's books are popular ('Daddy Long Legs' and 'Cinderella'), what jobs are sought after (chauffeuring) and how political discussions among family members are conducted. We hear that North Koreans are capitalistic and that single men seek women with cell phones and motorbikes. These are the kind of details that make the book credible and interesting ... Ask a North Korean is testimony that ordinary North Koreans have more in common with the rest of us than many would lead you to believe." -- The Japan Times

"North Korea is such an unlikely country that it might be a parallel dimension, and would even be faintly comical if nuclear weapons were not in the mix. The recent thaw in relations has shed some light on the power structures, but little is known about how ordinary people lead their lives. Daniel Tudor's remarkable book is a start on changing that. 

It is based on a weekly column, Ask A North Korean, published by an American online newspaper based in Seoul. The column invites readers to put questions to North Korean defectors, and it is hugely popular in South Korea. The book is a series of in-depth interviews with four defectors, covering everything from politics to fashion." -- The Australian

"North Korea regularly dominates the headlines, but rarely do outsiders hear the perspective of its people. Ask a North Korean is a welcome remedy. Fascinating and insightful." --Bryan Harris, Financial Times correspondent in Seoul
About the Author


Daniel Tudor has lived in Seoul for many years and served as Korea Correspondent for The Economist from 2010 - 2013. His first book Korea: The Impossible Country received strong praise and has been translated into many languages. His subsequent book, North Korea Confidential (with James Pearson), was selected by The Economist as one of the best books of 2015.

Andrei Lankov is a Director at NK News and writes exclusively for the site as one of the world's leading authorities on North Korea. A graduate of Leningrad State University, he attended Pyongyang's Kim Il Sung University from 1984-5. In addition to his writing, he is also a Professor at Kookmin University.







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Nicholas
4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting bookReviewed in Canada on 13 January 2019
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Interesting look at a country and society we hear little about. The defectors in the book come from a wide background
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Julian K.
5.0 out of 5 stars Game-Changer für Nordkorea-InteressierteReviewed in Germany on 4 December 2018
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If I could, I would give it 8 stars: Through my studies in political science and stays in Seoul, I have read a lot about North Korea. There are three types of books. Firstly, there are books that simply repeat something or see "North Korea" and its "countdown" as the regime likes to see itself. Then there are books that provide a good overview of the topic because they have studied the source material and ask intelligent questions. And then there are books that really add value by opening up new perspectives and presenting innovative material. For me, Ask A North Korean definitely belongs in the latter category. I don't know of any other book that is based in such detail on Defector interviews, because this is a perspective that is often neglected. Like other books by Daniel Tudor, the book is very well crafted and still a pleasant read. It covers many aspects of everyday life in North Korea, from the nuclear program to media consumption and leisure activities. Anyone who is interested in how North Koreans really live and think should definitely read this book.

Wenn ich könnte, würde ich 8 Sterne verteilen: Durch mein Studium der Politikwissenschaft und Aufenthalte in Seoul habe ich viel über Nordkorea gelesen. Dabei gibt es drei Sorten von Büchern. Erstens: Es gibt Bücher, die plappern einfach nur irgendwas nach oder sehen "Nordkorea" und seinen "Countdown" so, wie das Regime sich selbst gerne sieht.
Dann gibt es Bücher, die einen guten Überblick über das Thema liefern, weil sie sich in das Quellenmaterial eingearbeitet haben und intelligente Fragen stellen. Und dann gibt es Bücher, die wirklich einen Mehrwert schaffen indem sie neue Blickwinkel eröffnen und innovatives Material präsentieren.
Ask A North Korean gehört für mich definitiv in letztere Kategorie. Mir ist sonst kein Buch bekannt, das so detailliert auf Defector-Interviews basiert, denn dies ist eine Perspektive die sonst oft zu kurz kommt. Wie auch andere Bücher von Daniel Tudor ist das Buch handwerklich sehr gut gemacht und trotzdem angenehm zu lesen. Es umfasst vom Atomprogramm über den Medienkonsum bis hin zu Freizeitvergnügungen viele Aspekte des Alltagslebens in Nordkorea. Wer sich dafür interessiert, wie Nordkoreaner wirklich leben und denken, sollte dieses Buch daher unbedingt lesen.

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PART 7 Health and Welfare

[Introduction]

From my time spent in North Korea, the impression that stays with me the most is that of the tough lives led by the majority of the people. One day we took a drive from Pyongyang to another nearby city, Pyongsong. Though Pyongyang is not rich by international standards, and Pyongsong is certainly not the hardest-up place in North Korea, the difference between the two places was stark.

The citizens of Pyongsong lived in decrepit old apartment buildings where electricity looked to be in short supply. They were scraping a living by trading basic goods on the street, or by engaging in related work—transporting goods around by bicycle, or fixing said bicycles, for instance. The clothes they wore were rather shabby, and generally people looked weary and weathered. One can only imagine what it must be like to live in this way during the deep sub-zero winters.

People living in such circumstances are naturally more susceptible to illness than you or I, other things being equal. But what happens when you fall ill in North Korea? Technically, free healthcare is available for all. Anyone can see a doctor. However, in practical terms there is a huge variance in quality, depending upon who you are. The Pyongyang elite can enjoy a reasonable standard of treatment, whilst the masses may have to just take a few aspirin and hope for the best.

It wasn’t always like this. Healthcare is another aspect of life that has changed since the famine of the 1990s. As with food, shelter, and education provision, the standard of healthcare enjoyed by the general population was much better and much less dependent on how much money one had. But as mentioned previously, the government’s social contract with the people—obedience in return for guaranteed welfare and security—has completely broken down. Rule now is the result of fear, and residual positive feelings about Kim Il Sung.

And how about old people? 

Elderly North Koreans simply have to keep working. There is no concept of a pension. Or, indeed, welfare payments for those who fall ill and cannot work; there is little help for the disabled either.

As one may imagine, the need to survive has made North Koreans become extraordinarily resourceful and resilient. In the event of reunification, I would definitely want to invest in North Korea—very few people could compete with North Koreans in creative problem-solving on low budgets, and sheer hustle. In a better world though, they wouldn’t have needed to develop such skills.

What was it like to live through the famine?

DT: In the mid-1990s, North Koreans experienced a devastating famine that left hundreds of thousands, possibly even more than one million, dead. I can clearly remember my shock when a defector acquaintance told me that he saw bodies literally piled up in his hometown during that period. It is truly strange and horrifying to think that this was going on just 50 kilometers from a city like Seoul.

Mina Yoon:

Based on North Korean standards, not many people suffered from malnutrition. Or, I should put it this way: The North Korean people do not have any standards when it comes to malnutrition. That’s because it was such a common condition. In this situation, anyone who could walk was considered normal. Even now, my rough guess is that based on global standards, more than half of North Koreans would be considered malnourished.

Thus when I lived in North Korea, I never thought I was suffering from malnutrition—even though I was not very healthy at the time. And compared to my younger sister, who suffered from critical malnutrition, my health was not a concern.

My little sister went to kindergarten then, and she occasionally collapsed just while walking on the street. Then one day even her eyesight started deteriorating. She could not see anything at night. She could not even pick up her rice bowl. My mother could not do anything, but shed tears looking at her, and my father did not know because, as always, he was away (with the military) and busy with work.

My friends and I went out to the hills and fields nearby, and collected shepherd’s purse, a herb known to be good for night blindness. My kind-hearted friends filled my basket with shepherd’s purse all day long, which could have made a decent dinner soup for their hungry families. However, even this could not save my little sister. There was no progress in her condition, and my mother finally wrote a letter to my father, who eventually managed to get pig’s liver and sent it to my mother. She steamed it and fed it to my sister with salt, and fortunately it worked. My sister gradually recovered her eyesight.

At a time when a kernel of corn seemed more valuable than gold, I think the biggest victims were the children.

In my hometown, there was a little girl named Soon Yi. I often saw her drawing something with a broken branch on the ground, waiting for her dad, who was out looking for something to feed her. Because she was four years old, the same age as my own little sister then, I was a bit attached to her. Then, one day, I woke up and heard the sad news that she had died. Her mother passed away when she was still a baby and her father was the only one looking after her. It was not easy to find food then.

Because of the long-lasting famine, it was tough to find anything edible. When you went out to the mountains, plenty of people were already competing to dig out edible herbs. Farmland was another battlefield for digging out the rice roots remaining in the soil.

These rice roots would be ground into powder and made into porridge, or maybe some noodles. Though not as good as rice itself, the roots still contain some useful nutrients. Food made from rice root tasted so awful, though, that for the first time in my life, I realized that some foods are tasteless even for starving people.

The most popular substitute food in those days was rice bran cake, pine bark cake, wormwood cake and cake made with wine lees. Rice bran, which is called Mi-Gang in North Korea, is the powder produced in the process of polishing brown rice. My grandmother kneaded the powder and made us rice cake in a cauldron. We waited for the rice cake to be cooked, and because there was not enough firewood, the flame was not strong. My little brother, who could not wait for the cauldron to finally boil, started saying, You no good ass, you’d better boil soon… but eventually he fell asleep before the cake was done.

Even in those hungry, painful days, there were some happy events worth waiting for.

The days we ate pine bark cake were like Christmas to us. If you remove the thick, tough outer layer of pine trees, there’s another layer before you get to the white flesh of the tree. There’s a thin brown film between the outer skin and the white core. People peel off that thin film and pound it into fine powder. Then they add a couple tablespoons of flour to make a cake. So, basically, it is a cake made with tree bark and it actually tasted quite decent. However, it had one severe side effect: My little brother, the youngest, ate the cake and got constipation that was so bad that it caused him to burst into tears. Remembering my little brother sobbing loudly, now my heart aches again because he is still in the North. He was only four then, way too young to understand the hardships of life.

I sometimes wonder how I could live in such a world. I then remind myself that others were in an even worse situation than me.

Anyhow, none of our family died of hunger. My father’s social status as a military officer was of no help, but we three children survived all this with our sick mother. I was the eldest, and I wanted to find anything to feed my little sister and brother, even little pieces of herbs. I sometimes went out wandering around hills and fields nearby with some of the old ladies in the village. As a nine-year-old girl, there was no herb that I didn’t know. I can still recognize all the herbs on the mountain. Fern, bracken fiddlehead, bonnet bellflower, Solomon’s seal, mountain wormwood, victory onion, clavaria, naematoloma…all of these now have become a memory of those times.

Now I can say I am in good shape. But when I left North Korea I was very weak. My mom visited me when I was receiving social adjustment training right after I arrived in South Korea, and when she saw me, she could not hold back her tears.

Can you take your pets to a vet in North Korea?

DT: The concept of pet ownership is not so common in North Korea, just as is the case in any poor country. When humans do not have enough for themselves, the idea of keeping a dog purely for companionship is a luxury. One hears of members of the new Pyongyang rich keeping pets these days. But for the average person, an animal is usually an asset to be put to work or eaten.

Je Son Lee:

When I was growing up in North Korea, I never saw any veterinarians or animal hospitals in my hometown. That’s not to say that they don’t exist. There may be animal hospitals in Pyongyang, or elsewhere, for all I know.

Now, while people don’t talk about veterinarian clinics in the North, that doesn’t mean that veterinarians don’t exist in North Korea. During the Great Famine, North Korea tried to overcome food shortages by breeding a large number of animals that live on grass. That’s when vets rose to prominence in the North. Most vets seen in the public eye at that time were all wearing thick glasses and they looked like giant geeks.

Vets in TV dramas or movies were no different. In films, they merely wrote prescriptions for sick animals in need of treatment.

By contrast, in those stories young, creative people in the neighborhood came up with a better way to treat the animals and they went on to become heroes. That was the typical line of such movies and TV dramas.

Vets studied and took examinations at institutions. On TV, I saw vets visiting sick animals to treat them at homes and farms. I have no way of knowing whether such a system exists in every neighborhood in North Korea. I only saw vets on TV. I never saw them in person while I was living in North Korea.

Of course, some dogs and pigs fell ill in my neighborhood. Under such circumstances, people went to doctors rather than vets. In North Korea, as long as you have money, you can buy pills and medicine that you need from the market without a doctor’s prescription. When livestock or pets fall ill, people buy penicillin and inject it into the sick animal. If the animal doesn’t get better, then they go to seek help from doctors.

I grew up in a city, with no farms nearby. However, some families in my city kept several pigs and dogs. I don’t have any memory of any contagious diseases breaking out among the animals, but there were occasions when a male pig’s urge to mate would get out of control. In such cases people would get a doctor to come and partially castrate the pig. On the same evening, men in the town would have drinks with the pig’s testicle as a side dish. Dads in my old hometown used to say it was the perfect food to go with drinks.

As I’d seen veterinarians on North Korean television, I assumed that there would be medical schools for students who wished to become veterinarians in North Korea. But I never met anyone who studied veterinary medicine while I was in North Korea. I didn’t hear of any vet schools while I was in the North, either. I can only assume that there would be one or two in Pyongyang.

Maybe I wasn’t able to meet any veterinarians in North Korea because it isn’t common for people to have pets there. Instead of small dogs such as a Maltese, big ones such as shepherd dogs are more commonly found in North Korea. Shepherd dogs are not only expensive to buy, but it’s expensive to feed them the meat they need.

You have to be rich to keep such a dog. Ordinary North Koreans usually keep mongrel dogs to watch the house or to eat as boshintang. When they fall ill, people would rather eat them than provide treatment for them. They wouldn’t go and see a veterinarian.

North Koreans would probably think it nuts to take your dog to a veterinarian when there’s a shortage of physicians for people. They don’t understand how you can spend so much money on going to a veterinarian for your dog. When North Koreans hear of the existence of veterinarians in other countries, they think it is only possible because these are capitalist countries. They assume that people seek help from a vet in a capitalist market not because they care so much about their dogs or that the dogs have become a part of their family, but because money can buy anything in a capitalist market.

When I first arrived in South Korea, I laughed so hard at the wide prevalence and existence of animal hospitals in South Korea. In North Korea, I was told that nothing is impossible in a capitalist market as long as you have money. Me and my friends often imagined how life in a capitalist society would be different from our lives in a communist state. In North Korea, we couldn’t even imagine taking our dog to a veterinary clinic. Animal hospitals only existed in our imagination. Suddenly, they were everywhere in South Korea.

That’s when I finally realized that I was living in a capitalist society. To me it was interesting to witness with my own eyes that money could buy anything. At the same time, I was confused and daunted about the unpredictable future that lay ahead of me. Several years have passed since then. I have a poodle at my home now. It breaks my heart when my poodle gets sick. I realize that veterinarians exist to ensure your companion animal—which has become a family member—gets the care it needs.

Do North Korean women use sanitary pads?

DT: I must admit this is a subject I know very, very little about. But given the general difficulty of daily life North Korea, and the male-first nature of society there, Je Son’s answer below is exactly what you might expect.

Je Son Lee:

What pleased me most about leaving North Korea was that I didn’t have to worry about sanitary pads anymore! In North Korea, women make sanitary napkins out of white cotton. We wash and use them again and again. Some women buy cotton from street markets and make their own sanitary napkins. Some women buy pre-made sanitary napkins. Either way, they are not like the disposable ones you use in South Korea or America. Of course, North Korea produces disposables called Daedong River sanitary napkins, but they’re so expensive that most North Korean women cannot afford to use them every month. Women choose to use such disposable sanitary napkins only when they go on a trip or when they’re in a situation where they cannot wash sanitary pads. Washing them every month is the hardest task, one you want to avoid at all costs.

I once heard that Daedong River sanitary napkins were produced solely for female soldiers. But delivery drivers sell some of them to vendors on their way to military bases.

Recently, I saw adverts for eco-friendly sanitary napkins, good for skin and good for the Earth. It is true that using cotton sanitary napkins reduces garbage and therefore, is good for the environment. But I cannot agree when these advertisements claim that using such sanitary napkins also reduces period pain. I got my first period at 14 and I had to use cotton sanitary napkins for the next 17 years in North Korea. I suffered from terrible pain every month during this time. Perhaps it had nothing to do with the napkins. Maybe my period pain got worse and worse because I was under constant stress from having to wash and dry the sanitary napkins in secret. To make it even worse, drugs for period pain don’t exist in North Korea. When the pain becomes unbearable, some women buy aspirin, but that doesn’t help much.

The very last thing I want to remember about North Korea is the sanitary napkins I used over there. In summer, it was slightly better as it took less time to dry. But in winter, it took forever. The water pipes froze and it was always difficult to find a place to dry them. Because they’re usually made of white cotton, we had to use a lot of water to wash the blood away. Warm water isn’t suitable for removing bloodstains. Thus, we always had to wash them in icy cold water while blowing our hot breath on our hands. It was always stressful for women to hang sanitary napkins under other pieces of washed clothing so that men would not see them. Not many people owned washing machines. Even if you owned a washing machine at home, you might not have been able to use it due to electricity shortages. So women had to wash sanitary napkins with their own hands in cold water.

Of course, there are many hard things in life. But dealing with sanitary napkins was the hardest thing about living in North Korea as a woman.

When you have to go to school during your period, it gets even worse. Most high schools in North Korea are co-ed. You have to take extra care so that boys in your class don’t notice, using a cotton sanitary napkin 20cm in length and 10cm in width. There is no fixture to fasten your sanitary napkin onto your pants. If you don’t take extra care, the sanitary napkin could slip out. I always had to walk with extra care so that boys wouldn’t make fun of me. If you have never used one, you have no idea how stressful it is. At that time of the month, I was so envious of boys because they don’t have periods.

But since the moment I left North Korea, I have been free from all the pain and stress of reusable sanitary pads. Whenever I see disposable sanitary napkins, which are so affordable and available everywhere in South Korea, I’m reminded of my old memories and feel bad for women who have to wash their sanitary napkins during the icy cold winter in North Korea. When I see news about sending USBs or flyers to North Korea, I cannot help thinking it’d be better to use that money on sending disposable sanitary napkins to North Korean women.

Does North Korea look after its elderly?

DT: Traditionally in Korea, it was a big deal if someone reached 60 years old. Thus South Koreans still have 60th birthday parties, even though average life expectancy there is now 82. According to the World Bank though, the average is just 69½ in North Korea, testament to the huge economic divergence between the two countries. And for those North Koreans who do manage to live long enough to be elderly, there is no such thing as a pension.

Kim Yoo-sung:

To tell you the conclusion first, I think there is no such thing as welfare for the elderly in North Korea. Actually, I had never heard of the term welfare when I was living in North Korea. I only learned that such a concept existed after I came to South Korea.

Of course, the North Korean government puts up a façade and says it takes care of its people. However, the government cannot afford to provide welfare benefit 복지혜택 for those in need. In South Korea, everyone who is 65 and over can ride the subway for free and receive a monthly stipend from the government. But as far as I know, the North Korean government provides none of those benefits for the elderly. The community may try to help them, but their ability to do so is limited. Just like everywhere else, both sympathetic people and selfish people exist in North Korea. Good people try to help the elderly who get sick or injured, but since many people in North Korea are starving, it is not possible to help everyone.

Also, people in North Korea try to save up for retirement. Since there is no government support or welfare for the elderly or the disabled in North Korea, it is only wise for people to save up.

My maternal grandparents still live in North Korea. They have to make a living by themselves without receiving any government support, even though they are in their 80s. Life isn’t very different for most other elderly people in North Korea, as far as I know.

In South Korea, people of 65 or over are entitled to free rides on the subway, but the elderly in my North Korean hometown weren’t entitled to such welfare benefits. I’m not certain whether the elderly in Pyongyang can benefit from free transportation. But people in my hometown never heard of such benefits. In regions outside Pyongyang, public transportation hardly exists. You don’t see a subway or buses outside Pyongyang. My mother is highly satisfied with South Korea’s welfare system. She always says, I would bring your grandparents to South Korea if they were 10 years younger.

I will admit, South Korea doesn’t have the best welfare system in the world. Still, I think its welfare system for the elderly is good. Meanwhile, North Koreans in their 60s and older still have to work either on the farm or at the market in order to make ends meet.

It is widely known that the North Korean government spends an immense amount of money on the development of nuclear weapons, while its people are starving. A good government would take care of its people. But the North Korean government does not.

As I write this column, I wonder what my grandparents are doing up there, where they don’t even have electricity. I wonder if they’ve already eaten their dinner. When I was still a college student in the North, my grandparents gave me a bunch of 1,000 won notes, telling me not to skip a meal. It was their hard-earned money and they gave it to me because they were worried I might miss a meal or two while in college.

It’s getting so cold these days, and it must be a lot colder up there in North Korea. I wonder if they’re still working such long hours. I would like to get a job as soon as possible so that I can help my grandparents, even in a small way. When unification comes, I hope all elderly people in North Korea can benefit from the same welfare system as the elderly in South Korea.

What is a North Korean funeral like?

DT: As Mina says below, North Korean funerals typically last for three days. This is, of course, a culture that existed long before the division of Korea, and as such, South Korean funerals also last three days. Main family members stay there throughout, and receive guests—old friends, relatives, co-workers, and so on. Korea is small, and in the South, transport links are excellent, meaning that those who care for the deceased will be able to attend on one of those three days. Things are quite different in North Korea though, due to logistical and bureaucratic barriers.

Mina Yoon:

Funerals in North Korea are not like in South Korea, where most of the bigger hospitals and chapels provide venues for funerals. Most North Korean funerals are held at home, though there are a couple of exceptions. There’s an old custom that the body of a person who died in a foreign land cannot enter the house. So, if someone dies while they’re out of the country, the funeral will be held in that person’s workplace, either in a hallway or an office.

High-ranking military personnel don’t have funerals at home, either. In such cases, a funeral committee is set up and students and residents in town are mobilized to hold a grand memorial service. These kinds of funerals are usually held in a spacious hall at the central offices.

North Korean funerals usually last for three days. However, a special adjustment is made when someone dies at the end of the month. In North Korea, there is a superstition that the coffin has to leave the house in the same month in which the person died. If a person dies on the 29th, the coffin has to be out of the house on the 30th, or the 31st at the latest. However, this custom is not strictly followed.

Because of travel restrictions, people have to wait for permits to be issued. This usually takes at least two or three days. Plus, North Korea’s outdated transportation system makes it impossible for many people to arrive quickly. Funerals sometimes have to be postponed while they wait for the immediate family to arrive. If guests are coming from far away, some people will extend the funeral to accommodate them.

Sometimes, people miss their own parents’ funerals because they can’t make it in time. They have to carry these painful feelings of guilt for the rest of their lives. If someone dies while doing military service, the parents are notified of the death shortly afterward, but usually they can’t make the funeral. It’s especially hard if the parents live in the countryside, where telephones are a rarity. They get notified by telegram, which generally takes seven to ten days to arrive. These parents cannot do anything but go to their child’s gravesite, long after the funeral is over, and cry. After my grandmother passed away at my uncle’s house, my mom and dad had to wait for the local government to issue their travel passes. My parents used all their resources to get the passes issued faster, and just barely made it to the funeral before the coffin was lowered into the ground. You know what? My uncle only lived 100 miles away.

There is really no concept of an undertaker in North Korea. You can find one or two in town if you ask around, but they are mostly elderly people who just happen to have experience of taking care of corpses; they are neither certified nor licensed. My uncle found an undertaker for my grandmother this way. We could not afford to buy new clothes to bury her in, so we dressed her in her old, thin summer blouse. My mother suffered from nightmares for a while after that; she said grandma appeared in her dreams, saying it was too cold. Mother felt heavy guilt that she couldn’t get her a winter coat for the trip to heaven.

There’s no particular dress code for funeral hosts. My uncle was the host at my grandmother’s, and his colleagues helped him. At night, they played cards to stay awake. I helped my aunt cook rice and side dishes for guests. It was a good thing that the funeral was in winter. During the summer, corpses start to decay when the room gets hot.

In North Korea, there is no disposable cutlery or dishes, so you have to borrow from your neighbors. Funeral guests usually bring some food, maybe some corn or beans, with them. Some people give cash to the host to express their condolences. In return, funeral hosts pack up food from the service so the guests can take it home for their families. To North Koreans who are already suffering from economic hardship, you can imagine what kind of financial burden funerals can bring about.

My uncle’s friends were able to secure a gravesite for my grandmother. Certain mountains are assigned by local authorities to be used as cemeteries, and I heard they pick the best for themselves. It was winter, and the ground was firmly frozen, so it was hard to dig. People usually use a truck or a cart to carry the coffin. In our case, we used a truck. In North Korea, no one owns their own vehicle, so our family went to the truck factory and begged the manager to rent us one. Of course, we paid for the rental, gas, and the driver. My aunt said it would take more than a year to pay that debt back. My father offered to pay half, and I remember our family’s lives were harder for a while after that.

My family was never rich, but could live on corn soup or rice. We could only just afford the funeral expenses, but there are many people for whom even this simplest farewell is an unattainable luxury. They keep the ceremony among family members, set a table with a freshly cooked bowl of rice, then transport the coffin to the mountain in a cart, where they bury it themselves. Thinking of this, it’s not only the living in North Korea who are pitiful, the dead are, too.

Will I see my grandma when I go to heaven? It still breaks my heart that I had to bury her in thin summer clothes, but I hope she is now enjoying all the luxury in heaven that she couldn’t dream of while she was alive.

My grandmother always told me she would to live into her 80s, so that she could see me get married and have kids. She was only 61 years old when she died. In North Korea, when you enter your 60s, people think you have lived the natural span of your life. It makes me sad to think of people dying in their 60s as something normal. I can’t help thinking that if my grandmother had been in South Korea, she would have lived longer.

What is childbirth like in North Korea?

DT: At 19.3 deaths per 1,000 births, North Korea’s infant mortality rate is almost 10 times higher than South Korea’s. This is the result of poor facilities and a lack of money available for investment in maternity care. Of course, Pyongyang mothers have better options than those in the regions, as Yoo-sung explains.

Kim Yoo-sung:

I would divide North Korea into two republics—the Pyongyang Republic and the Regional Republic. Residents in the Pyongyang Republic have access to obstetricians, pediatricians and facilities of higher quality, while residents in the Regional Republic are denied access to all of these. My aunt moved to Pyongyang after marrying someone from there. Once she came to visit us in our hometown. She said she had her children at Pyongyang San Won and was delighted with it.

When my aunt told me how much more comfortable it was to have a baby and raise it in Pyongyang, I realized that the Pyongyang Republic was far superior to the Regional Republic I was living in. People in North Korea said that Kim Jong Il made sure that the medical service provided at Pyongyang San Won would be of satisfactory quality because he was heartbroken when he lost his mother due to gynecological disease.

In this column, I would like to talk about nursing and parenting in the so-called Regional Republic (rather than the Pyongyang Republic), and my own experiences in raising my baby daughter in South Korea, where I gave birth.

In South Korea, you can buy a pregnancy test kit from a drug store, meaning you can be almost certain you’re pregnant before receiving ultimate confirmation from an obstetrician. But it is uncommon for North Korean women to do this. They only go to see an obstetrician when they begin to get morning sickness or when they’re late with their period.

After a woman in South Korea finds out that she’s pregnant, she goes to see an obstetrician on a regular basis. Throughout every stage of their pregnancy, women get ultrasounds and regular checkups from experts. Ultrasounds do exist in North Korea and expectant mothers can have them several times throughout their pregnancy. But they cannot benefit from the regular medical checkups South Korean women have easy access to.

Also, South Koreans are more considerate of expectant mothers. This is not true of North Korea, unfortunately—they puff cigarettes without caring whether a pregnant woman is nearby or not.

In South Korea, when a woman in labor feels excruciating pain, she can choose to have epidural anesthesia. In North Korea, many women these days deliver their babies at hospitals. However, there are still a few women in rural farming towns who give birth at home. This isn’t a preferable way for most women. Also, when a woman wishes to get an abortion in the Regional Republic, sometimes nurses perform the procedure, which is illegal, at the woman’s home. Even in my old hometown, there was a nurse who performed abortions near my house for women in desperate circumstances.

South Korean parents use disposable diapers for their babies. But North Koreans still use diapers made from pieces of cloth that you have to wash over and over. South Korean mothers who simply choose not to breastfeed have access to a wide variety of powdered baby formula that they can easily buy from a supermarket. But in North Korea, women who cannot breastfeed their babies have to resort to goat’s milk from the farms, or any other edible food, in order to feed them. Affluent North Koreans buy South Korean baby formula when they cannot breastfeed. Even in the Regional Republic, people with money can benefit from services provided at hospitals from pregnancy to delivery.

When babies are 12 months old, they stop being breastfed and begin to eat the food grown-ups eat. Around this time, North Korean babies start going to nurseries. When the North Korean economy was better, almost everyone sent their baby to a nursery. But as the economy got worse and worse, people began to have their babies taken care of by grandparents instead.

Another major difference is that the South Korean government gives subsidies for parents with children aged up to seven years. The North Korean government provides no such subsidies. In North Korea, rich people benefit from various facilities and medical care. But people with less money have no choice but to raise their children in such unfortunate circumstances.

However, it occurs to me that the medical care rich North Koreans receive seems inferior to that which ordinary South Koreans receive here.

Can you get regular health check-ups in North Korea?

DT: Basically, North Korea follows the law of one law for the rich, and another for everybody else. In theory, everyone has access to free medical care; indeed, a poor person may be able to see a doctor, but that doctor’s access to good equipment and medicine might be severely limited. But if you are part of the new donju (masters of money) elite, or are a senior official, you’ll have access to good enough healthcare. For those at the very top, hospitals like Bonghwa in Pyongyang offer healthcare services that are considered on a par with any decent Western hospital.

Kim Yoo-sung:

Honestly, I don’t think I ever heard the phrase regular health checkup in North Korea. They weren’t very common in my hometown. You would just go to see a doctor in town when you felt ill. Of course, everything—all the treatments and surgery—are provided free of charge in North Korea.

However, while there is medical insurance in South Korea, there’s no such thing in the North. Until the early 1990s, all kinds of medical treatments and operations were absolutely free in the North. Despite the collapse of the North Korean economy in the late 1990s, it is still free to go and see a doctor, receive treatment and undergo surgery. But you have to pay for the medicine by yourself.

Article 56 in the North Korean constitution reads: This nation strives to consolidate free public health care for all, and to focus on preventive medical treatments and to protect the lives of the people, and to improve the health conditions of the workers. Since 1969, specialist doctors have been assigned to every city and county in North Korea. Doctors were specially assigned to mines around the country as well.

From 1990, general practitioners took on duties, such as researching the existence of contagious diseases, writing prescriptions and connecting patients with specialists. North Korea boasts of this, saying, This system enables people to see a doctor who knows their medical backgrounds throughout their lives, and this also enables doctors to provide more systematic and sophisticated medical treatment suitable for people in their districts.

North Korea’s medical institutions fall into two categories: ordinary hospitals and special hospitals. Also, there are hospitals called hygienic preventive hospitals. Among ordinary hospitals, "Bonghwa Hospital and Namsan Hospital" are for the elites of North Korean society. Ordinary North Koreans who are not elites can go to the Red Cross Hospital, the First and Second People’s Hospital or Pyongyang Medical School Hospital. Isn’t it interesting that you have to go to different hospitals because of your social status?

Zainichi Koreans from the pro-North Chongryon organization in Japan have built and opened the Kim Manyu Hospital, which is still operating in North Korea today. There are specialist hospitals, such as the Pyongyang OB/GYN Clinic and Pyongyang Central Tuberculosis Hospital.

Outside Pyongyang, people’s hospitals and medical school hospitals exist in every province of North Korea. People’s hospitals exist in every city and town across the country as well.

Universities in North Korea train medical students to qualify as doctors. It takes seven years for medical students to graduate with a degree. No national exams exist after graduation. As soon as you graduate from one of those medical schools in North Korea, you can practice as a doctor. But you have to pass all the exams in order to graduate from seven years of medical school.

There is only one school of medicine where you can study to become a pharmacist in North Korea. It’s called Hamheung School of Medicine. That degree also takes seven years. However, it only takes two years to graduate with a degree in nursing in North Korea. There are even some nursing schools in North Korea where the degree can be completed within one year.

At first glance, the health care system in North Korea may look appealing, even flawless. But the quality of health care seriously deteriorates when there is a cut in the government budget. The most horrific thing is that there is no compensation in the event of medical accidents.

But, to answer the question, there are no regular health checkups. Therefore, the healthcare system in North Korea fails to prevent diseases that are really preventable. In conclusion, I don’t think the healthcare system in North Korea is attractive at all.
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PART 8  Defection from North Korea

[Introduction]

There are now 30,000 North Koreans living in Seoul, 2,000 in Europe, and many other small pockets of defectors dotted around the world. There are countless more living in China.

Widespread defection is a relatively recent phenomenon; yet again, the famine of the 1990s played a crucial role. When the DPRK’s state ration system failed, most people were forced to fend for themselves. For some, this meant crossing the border into China. At the time, border security was lax, and those who made the journey found a land of relative plenty. Some went there to make money and return home, and others decided they would be better off never coming back.

China, though, is dangerous for defectors. The Beijing government is a historic ally of the DPRK, and will send defectors back to meet a cruel fate—a labor camp, or worse. This fact leaves escaped North Koreans in China vulnerable to exploitation. North Korean women are often sold as wives, or forced into prostitution or to work as online cam girls for the entertainment of men in South Korea, for instance.

For most, South Korea is the intended final destination. To get there, defectors must escape twice—once from the DPRK, and once more, from China. This involves dangerous border crossings into countries like Mongolia or Thailand. Once they arrive, they turn themselves in to the authorities, and are handed over to the South Korean embassy, which arranges for them to be taken to Seoul.

Those who make it this far are sent to a place named Hanawon for three months. Hanawon serves as both an educational institution, teaching North Koreans how to use ATM machines for instance, and as a place of interrogation—South Korean agents want to be satisfied a particular defector is not a spy before letting him or her loose in South Korea.

As mentioned, North Korea’s harsh economic reality has historically been the main reason for defection. These days, however, there are many for whom this is not the case. I know of one defector, for instance, who made the move after becoming captivated by South Korean drama shows, fashion, and pop music. Another simply says, I couldn’t develop myself in North Korea. In the DPRK, you cannot simply do whatever you want with your life, unless you have a lot of money and/or connections.

Once in South Korea, however, many defectors have a rude awakening. They arrive in a country that seems more selfish than the one they came from; they find that their education is useless to employers; and they suffer discrimination from South Koreans, who see them as either pitiful, suspicious, or exotic. That said, there are relatively few who want to go back home, despite the obvious pain of being separated from family and friends.

There is another option, though. Some move on again, to a third country. The UK is the most popular option, with 1,000 North Koreans living there. Most live in London, which compared to Seoul is a multicultural Mecca where even those with the most exotic origin can find a degree of acceptance.

One of those people is Ji-min Kang. Ji-min is outspoken and eloquent on all matters related to defection, and as such, we asked him to contribute most of the essays in this chapter.

Why do North Koreans defect? And how difficult is it?

DT: Defection became a major issue in the mid-1990s, due to the famine. People simply left North Korea because they were starving. Today, there are almost as many reasons for defection as there are defectors. It is getting harder to leave, though. One of the major changes from the Kim Jong Il to the Kim Jong Un era is increased border security.

Cho Ui-seong:

One reason travel is so attractive is that you can always return to where you came from. But this is not the case with defecting from North Korea. Rather, it is a sad experience. So why do people make this painful, scary, tough, dangerous choice?

Since defection became a thing, it has occurred for various reasons, depending on the situation in North Korea, the methods and intensity of state control, and the changing mentality of North Koreans.

Those who came down to South Korea, who were once known as soldier defectors, started to be called talbukja [person who has escaped the North] from the mid-1990s, during the period of extreme food shortages. Before then, most people who defected did so for political reasons; but following the famine, most people left to escape starvation.

Due to the collapse of Eastern European socialism, the death of Kim Il Sung, repeated natural disasters, and the economic blockade from the West, the North Korean authorities lost the ability to enforce border control. Even if they had, they wouldn’t have been able to stop the irresistible force [drawing people away from North Korea]. This sums up the way people thought at the time: Instead of staying here and starving to death, I’d rather get shot crossing the river. This attitude, and the authorities’ poor border security, led many people to leave, and the number of those ending up in South Korea was not insignificant.

The authorities gradually realized the seriousness of the situation and in the 2000s began to tighten the border and mete out strict punishment to those attempting to defect. They also conducted public executions by firing squad to create an atmosphere of fear, and began monitoring the families of defectors.

People were learning how to live without government rations, and this made them think twice about defection. But defection couldn’t be stopped completely. Meanwhile, news from the families of defectors and those who had been caught in China and repatriated began to spread, even to regions far from the border. Stories of the material wealth of other countries and how people there were free of starvation began to shake North Koreans—a people who had believed their country had one of the best standards of living in the world—to the core. This pushed more people to the border, to the Yalu and Tumen Rivers.

When people cross the river, money comes too. This money goes through the hands of a broker and into the pockets of the border guard and state security officer. Due to this trend, defection has become an industry in the border area. This illegal industry has grown steadily, steeped in women’s tears and with medieval torture and public execution excreted as its byproducts.

The commercialization of defection adds cost as another hurdle. Defection has become a luxury product that can only be enjoyed by those brave enough to mortgage themselves to the brokers. It is so expensive that the only way an ordinary person would be able to afford it would be if they were to rob a bank or sell drugs. What I’m saying is that without outside help, it is almost impossible to defect. This situation has led to serial defections of family members, who are assisted from outside by relatives who defected previously. This trend still continues.

Recently, other reasons for defection have emerged. The increasing number of mobile phones and other electronic devices has created an environment in which people can easily access external information. When young people whose blood boils for justice access such information, their desire to defect reaches extreme proportions.

I lived far from the border, and first heard news about South Korea via the radio. I listened to South Korean radio for a long time, and became convinced that if I went there and worked hard, I would have a chance in life. I resolved that I would go, even if I died in the process. And after undergoing tribulations worthy of a novel, I finally arrived in South Korea.

Having come to the South and met young [defectors], I saw that they had used many varied ways of escaping—via the East and West seas, over the DMZ, and by plane, boat, train, and bus. But we all had one thing in common: the dream of a better life.

Despite the heartrending inability to see them again, parents see defection as a blessing for their children, and this outweighs their fear of the dangers of escape. This is because they know it is a better choice for their children. There are middle and upper class parents in North Korea who pay the defection expenses and push their children to leave. There are increasing numbers of people who are leaving North Korea, in spite of the fact that they have enough money to survive. The 18-year-old student who recently defected while in Hong Kong for a Mathematics Olympiad, and Thae Yong-ho [who defected from the North Korean Embassy in England in 2016], are good examples of how the reasons for escaping are changing.

From the simple reason of survival to the desire for a better future, everyone has a different reason for defection. They all just have one thing in common, and that is the sadness of leaving behind their loved ones in their home towns. When reunification comes and they can visit their loved ones whenever they like, they will be able to look on their defection as a proud decision. I hope that day does not come too late.

Why doesn’t every North Korean who travels abroad just defect?

DT: North Koreans who go abroad are usually from the elite. They therefore have less motivation to defect. It is also of course the case that, as with anywhere, a better life elsewhere may be outweighed by the attachment to family and friends. However, there is a darker, additional reason: Whole families are very rarely allowed to leave. Those left in North Korea would be swiftly dispatched to a prison camp if their family members did not return home. This awful rule is being applied even more strictly these days, in the wake of the defection of Vice-Ambassador Thae Yong-ho, his wife, and children from the North Korean embassy in London in 2016.

Ji-min Kang:

There aren’t many ways of traveling outside the country, especially for those who are not in the privileged class. In most cases, those who can go to foreign countries are diplomats and students, as well as athletes who participate in international competitions. In other instances, people who want to visit their relatives in China or work as a logger in Russia can do so, but these are rare cases.

North Korean society maintains its rigid caste system, and while the ruling class inherits all the privileges of their fathers’ generation, it is as difficult for children of ordinary citizens to become a diplomat as it is for a dragon to be born in a ditch, as we would say in Korea. In order to be a diplomat you have to be intelligent, good-looking and have an impeccable family background. Among ordinary people, there is hardly anyone who can fulfill these requirements.

In Pyongyang, there are many sports organizations that have a lot of talented athletes picked from all over the country. Sportsmen and women are potentially less loyal to the government than other elites, and being a sportsman does not always require a spotless family background. This is pretty much the only way ordinary people can go abroad. However, this is only possible after winning countless national competitions, and even then, if their class background is very bad, they will eventually be barred from their organization.

How about overseas students? As a matter of fact, the government did not officially acknowledge the need for such education while Kim Il Sung was alive. Egalitarianism, based on socialist doctrine, did not recognize individual abilities and talents, since everyone is equal. Everyone had the same kind of education. Consequently, studying abroad is considered an advantage given to a lucky and privileged few.

Do you think that such students will be workers of the country after coming back? Often, students who come back to North Korea from overseas studies have to endure monitoring, wiretapping and harassment from government intelligence institutions. If they say too much about what they saw and heard in foreign countries, they will face consequences from the government.

This monitoring system indicates how terrified the government is regarding the flow of information from overseas. The reason why they block the border between North Korea and China and punish defectors is also because freedom of movement can undermine the establishment.

Let me tell you bit more about athletes in relation to this issue. I have many athlete friends who were able to go to foreign countries several times. Even though they did not achieve great things internationally, they were really proud of their experience. All of them, however, were very reluctant to talk about the world outside North Korea.

Or maybe they had nothing to talk about, as they were not allowed to see anything. I heard that team buses taking athletes from the airport to the hotel would have their curtains completely shut. Looking out of the window or waving at people is prohibited, not to mention switching on the hotel room TV. All these actions can result in punishment. The only places the athletes can visit are the hotel, training area and stadium. For this reason, they cannot even buy a little souvenir for their family on the way home. Therefore, their memories of other countries are limited to the time on the bus and in the hotel, training camp and stadium. Surely the magnificent stadium filled with so many spectators and flashy advertisement boards will be unfamiliar and marvelous for them, though.

What is worse, they even have to swear on an oath that they will not disclose what they saw to anyone after returning, as well as having their fingerprints taken. For a long period of time they will be under close government surveillance. Nonetheless, fragments of the outside world are by no means meaningless to these people. The liberating sense of freedom and wealth of the society seen through the little gap between curtains makes them realize they aspire to the same, and the much more scientific and advanced ways of training shocks them.

However, the fear that surpasses the desire for anything mentioned here is the pain that can result from seeking one’s own happiness. North Korea has long had a law of guilt-by-association, and punishes its people accordingly. I cannot think of any other government that utilizes such a savage and cruel system. When I was living in North Korea, if someone defected, it was inevitable that their family, including distant relatives, would be jailed and sent to a camp. Because of this barbaric law, no one in North Korea ever thought about opposing the government through real action.

So why do they need this system? In North Korea, there is no one more aware of the absurdity and irrationality of the North Korean system than the diplomats themselves. In this respect, the government is well aware that brainwashing diplomats and asking for their loyalty will be ineffective in reining them in. Alternatively, the authorities use parents’ love for their children as leverage. As such, it is obligatory for North Korean diplomats to leave at least one of their children at home when going abroad. Those children who stay at home are then looked after by relatives.

I’m sure that North Korean diplomats feel ashamed of their own government. It cannot afford to pay full wages to diplomats and even shamelessly and openly orders them to finance their operations abroad through drug dealing and counterfeiting. It cannot be any more shameful.

What will North Korean citizens think once North Korea is open to the outside world? Do you know that most North Koreans have never seen commercial airplanes? They are not even allowed to travel around North Korea without government-approved travel documents. I really wish that one day everyone in North Korea will be able to enjoy freedom of movement and the joy of travel.

As a defector, would you ever return to North Korea?

DT: For most, the answer would be a definite No. However, life for North Koreans in the South is tough, and there are some who do regret their choice. In recent years the North Korean government has been making great use of re-defectors as propaganda tools, having them appear in videos criticizing the South, and thanking the Dear Leader for forgiving their apparent treachery. The regime sometimes coerces defectors into returning; if a defector’s cover in the South is blown, authorities in the North may threaten the safety of his/her family members back home.

Ji-min Kang:

Many people often ask me: Would you ever go back to North Korea? If so, under what conditions?

I’ll admit that I have mixed feelings towards North Korea, but it is impossible to put all of my memories behind me and move on. It would’ve probably been a lot easier for me to forget all about North Korea if I didn’t have such horrific memories of it.

North Korea is where my father still lives. Some friends of mine do not want to go back to North Korea. There they’ve lost their parents and friends, and suffered all the sorrows a human being possibly can. Life in North Korea was a nightmare, and they don’t ever want to go back.

Still, it’s a country in need of a lot more attention from the outside world. It’ll require a lot of help from the outside world in order to rebuild the country after the collapse of the dictatorship. They’ll need to model it after an already-existing democratic form of government, with new methods of public education and a thorough introduction to capitalism. North Korea will have to start off with a clean slate, and it’ll need help and guidance in almost every aspect.

But before I go back I’d like to point out three things in particular that North Korea will need right after the collapse of the current dictatorship.

Firstly, what does North Korea need most following the collapse of the totalitarian dictatorship? Some say democratization, but I can’t agree. They say democratization will be a true blessing for all the people in North Korea after suffering under dictatorship for decades, but I have a slightly different answer. I’d like you to understand that this is my very personal opinion: North Korea will need Leviathan. Of course, I’m not saying the country should have another brutal dictator like Kim Il Sung or Kim Jong Il, who were hedonistic and extravagant. I’m saying it should have a highly patriotic leader. I will give you two examples: Park Chung-hee of South Korea and Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore.

Of course, all North Koreans, including myself, eagerly await the arrival of democracy in the land of North Korea. However, who can guarantee North Koreans will have absolutely no difficulty in adapting themselves to democracy after experiencing decades of dictatorship and brainwashing? Take South Korea, for example. South Korea has one of the 15 biggest economies in the world. South Koreans also invest a lot of money in education. Yet many scholars say South Koreans are yet to possess a mature civic awareness, and they’re not as cultured as those in other developed countries. I cannot say with confidence that North Koreans would perfectly understand democratic governance if democracy were introduced right now.

Secondly, North Korea will need a whole new education system. The best adjective to describe the education system in North Korea is Spartan. North Koreans are taught to monitor one another while growing up and they’re not taught qualities such as compassion and perseverance in school. Terrifying and horrible slogans such as, Be a sniper to shoot a bullet right through the chest of an American with one shot, are what kids in North Korea are told in schools. Kids are deprived of opportunities to nurture their creativity and, instead, they’re taught to develop hatred.

While growing up and being educated in the North, I was never taught to question. The authorities want obedient people who will acquiesce to the dictatorship, not people with curious minds who will raise questions. Because I was never taught to think critically in the North, I made many mistakes while adapting to the capitalist market, and I was ridiculed and shunned in the process. Other North Koreans have gone through the same experience.

Ninety percent of North Koreans who have escaped from the country suffer from various forms of mental illness. It’s a result of living with extreme fear and tension while in China and North Korea. Those fears we had to live with were too horrible to even describe or recall. For this reason, many North Korean defectors are highly sensitive to even minor insults or stresses that others would shrug off, and so South Koreans avoid dealing with them. This is a microcosm of what will happen during democratization and the transition to capitalism in the North.

Lastly, we need to understand where we come from and we need the outside world to be more compassionate toward the ordinary North Korean people. It is not a sin to have been born in North Korea. All the mistakes we make are the consequences of what we learned in the North. And it is not within our power to change any of that. Due to decades of brainwashing, we surely will be different from you. Sometimes, you will think we’re weird and awkward. However, we learn while making mistakes in the capitalist system. The remaining North Koreans won’t be very different from me when North Korea opens up to the outside world. North Korea requires a great deal of effort and perseverance.

I will return to North Korea when it becomes full of love and hope and a proud part of the free world.

What were your first thoughts upon arriving in South Korea?

DT: It is hard to imagine two countries that are so different, and yet so similar, as North and South Korea. As a visitor to Pyongyang, I found this jarring; having lived in the South for a number of years, North Korea had a parallel universe type quality to me. Had I grown up in Korea, I imagine the shock would have been much stronger.

Ji-min Kang:

After receiving three months of training at Hanawon (a center that helps newly-arrived North Koreans adapt to South Korean society), I was finally able to join South Korean society.

No one welcomed us, though. The extent of the freedom and the affluent economy in South Korea were noticeable, but they weren’t mine. Even after leaving North Korea I still had to worry: Of course I wasn’t going to starve to death in South Korea, but I hadn’t come all the way there only to stand in line for free meals for the homeless.

But the biggest worry of all was that I’d finally become responsible for my own life. I bet many of you don’t understand when I say this: Why would I be afraid to finally be in control of my own life? Before arriving in South Korea, I’d never made a choice for myself, even once. It isn’t just me; North Koreans graduate from the schools we are allocated by the government. We only read books approved by the government. We work at places assigned to us by the government. We get married and have families that way. Most of us never feel the great, rewarding feeling of achieving our goals through our own efforts.

However, most North Koreans don’t have a reason to worry about their future, since every part of their life is under the control of the government. Of course, we never find out what we’re good at or what we can do, and no one ever taught those of us who leave North Korea how we should live in a society like the South. Does this sound like an excuse to you?

In the world we live in now, people are expected to develop their own skills and strengths to stand out from the crowd. One must improve one’s skills and differentiate oneself from others, to earn respect and succeed in life. I wanted to live and succeed that way, too. I’d relinquished everything I had to come here, so no wonder I wanted to live like that in this free society. I loved that I was finally given freedom, as well as the happiness I could gain from even the smallest things.

The first job I had in South Korea was part-time work at a small convenience store, and it wasn’t even easy to get that. I made a number of calls to classified ads listed in the newspaper, but was rejected because of my awkward North Korean accent and low confidence in the way I talked. I had never been rejected so many times in my life before. While working that first part-time job at a convenience store, I began to learn how things worked under capitalism.

In North Korea, where we were told we owned our lives, no one worked as if they owned their own lives. We were expected to work equally and split the pie equally, so people would think, What will happen even if I don’t do my best at work today? Doing my first part-time job in the South made me realize that what we learned in North Korea had become a problem. I realized how hard it was to earn money and why I had to do my best in the job I was given.

Freedom was sweet and beautiful, but capitalism was a different story. Highly stressful competition, the pain you feel after losing, and the inability to maintain innocence are all part of the capitalist system. Also, the emotional stress from my time in North Korea and China had a traumatic effect on me that remained even after arriving in this free society. Many people suffer from traumatic events in their past and aren’t able to live well. Many of them live in agony, both because they hadn’t been able to save their family members, and from the resentment they felt after realizing that they had been tricked and brainwashed in North Korea.

Also, because we were exposed to the successful precedents of North Korean defectors, we didn’t see the upcoming difficulties most defectors experience. Of course, North Korean defectors who have made successes of themselves have every right to be proud, and they can be role models for other new defectors. But not all defectors can be successful like them; the difficulties and pain most defectors experience are very real. Of course, everyone is responsible for their own choices, but life can be very cold.

I believe unification isn’t far away. This means that North Koreans will be able to have their freedom, but they’ll need to learn how capitalism works. If they don’t dispense with their old ways of thinking, living with South Koreans in a unified Korea will create serious conflicts. Freedom is great and beautiful, but it’s only self-indulgence if it doesn’t come with responsibility.

Many defectors end up leaving South Korea for other countries. Why?

DT: Though the South Korean government welcomes defectors, giving them citizenship and a certain amount of financial support, South Korean society in general isn’t always as friendly. Thus, despite having a shared language and culture, many defectors end up moving on elsewhere.

Ji-min Kang:

Questions like this always make me feel ill at ease. To be honest, I’m not proud that I left South Korea behind me and moved to a different country. Now I live in London.

The prosperity, wealth and freedom you’re entitled to in South Korea is inconceivable, more than anyone in North Korea could ask for. No one in the North would complain about the wealth and freedom they could enjoy if they came to live in the South. Yet, there has been a growing number of North Korean defectors who have emigrated to a third country. Whenever I’m asked why this is I feel slightly embarrassed.

In fact, many people want to live in South Korea and there are numerous people who dream of becoming naturalized citizens of South Korea. Many foreigners come to South Korea and say it is a very convenient place to live. To

North Koreans, South Korea appears to be luxurious, even extravagant. The infrastructure of South Korea is so reliable and well-structured.

Have we become too greedy? All North Korean defectors ever asked for when they arrived was a roof over their head and three meals a day. Of course, these two humble demands were met and satisfied automatically when they arrived in the South. However, South Korean society wasn’t that welcoming to us. It was highly competitive and it bred the cruelty that comes from hurting others to stand above all others. But I was willing to accept that. Being from North Korea, we weren’t able to compete with these South Koreans, anyway.

North Korean defectors are provided with free housing, and even if they don’t make enough money, they can still get by and support their family members in the North. Of course, their initial wishes and dreams are achievable and realized in South Korea. It takes time for them to get used to South Korean society, but they can never be the same as people who were born and raised in the South. In South Korean society, North Korean defectors are not even B-class, but C-class people, the underclass. Of course, I’m well aware that our status wouldn’t be any higher in other developed countries, either.

South Koreans are closely connected based on their hometowns, academic backgrounds and the important people they know. In South Korea, even if you graduated from a good university, if they don’t like your accent or hometown, they might not hire you. In South Korea, people are cliquish and they seem to think that everyone conforms to stereotypes reflected in their background. South Koreans judge all North Koreans as one, although North Korean defectors come from different regions with different upbringings. They are human beings with different characteristics and personalities. It isn’t fair to observe the behavior of one North Korean and then judge and criticize all North Korean defectors based on that.

What appalled me was that it even led some South Koreans to perceive us as people representing North Korea—the North Korea we despised so much that we fled from it! Whenever North Korea’s military provocations occurred, we felt as if we were responsible for it in some way. We took extra precautions not to stand out in public.

Also, it is very stressful to live as a child of North Korean defectors in South Korea. These children feel as if they don’t completely belong to South Korean society. As they feel self-conscious, it is not easy for them to make many friends. South Korea has one of the most competitive education systems and private education there is very costly. North Korean parents aren’t able to afford expensive private education. North Korean education is behind that of South Korea. North Koreans children cannot catch up with their South Korean classmates. So, the second-class status of North Koreans gets passed onto children.

Like I said, South Korea is a very convenient place to live. It has the world’s fastest and best Internet connection. Convenience stores are everywhere. Food can be delivered anytime during the day. Yet, many North Korean defectors decide to emigrate to a third country, and the reasons I’ve offered are some of the major factors behind it.

I moved to London. There, I didn’t need to worry whether people thought North Korea was a poor country, or a rogue state, or a villain in the international community. In London, they don’t judge other human beings solely on which university they attended. They don’t perceive me as someone who is representative of the entire North Korean community.

Most importantly, England isn’t as competitive as South Korea. South Korea’s competitive society was hell. Even South Koreans agree. North Koreans could never win the race in that competitive society. At least in London, I don’t have to feel constant pressure or frustration just because I was born in North Korea, something I never chose.

Of course, the cost of living is very high in London. By the end of the month, I’m left with little money to save up for the future. I know as long as I live in London, I’m not going to become rich. But at least here in London, I don’t have to feel self-conscious about myself and where I come from. South Korean society is excessively competitive. There’s little chance of North Koreans becoming upper class citizens or members of that society.

Group discussion: What do you miss about North Korea?

Nayoung Koh:

I miss my friends and the innocence of people in North Korea. Although we were poor, we were friends with all our neighbors and we all were very close.

Life in South Korea may be affluent and wealthy, but South Koreans aren’t as innocent or sympathetic as North Koreans. This was the most difficult thing about starting anew in South Korea.

Back in North Korea, people always shared food with each other on holidays. But South Koreans are individualistic, and they don’t even know the person who has been living right next door to them in the apartment complex for 10 years.

Ji-hyun Park:

What I miss most dearly are the times when I would sit around the table with my whole family and laugh, even though the only things on the table were a bowl of broth and a bowl of rice.

All I want to do is to call out loud to my father, mother, sister, and brother. If you mention the word longing, I immediately think of my home, where our memories, happiness, and joys all remain.

During the time I wandered through foreign countries like a vagrant, the time I had to live under an alias, and the time when I had to live like a slave in someone else’s home, I looked back on those memories and found solace in them.

It was because of these memories that I was able to make it through all the dangers to reach freedom. The longing is always in my heart, and I keep it there so as not to lose it. The power and love of my family is what made me who I am today. I always keep a room in the corner of my heart for this longing.

Prof. Inae Hyun:

What I miss most about my life in North Korea are the strong bonds and friendships I had with people. Of course, I have friends here in South Korea. But it isn’t the same. It feels more special to have a strong bond with people from the country where I was born.

Also, another thing: People in a socialist state don’t own property. Because of this, they are more innocent.

Soon-kyung Hong:

What do I miss most? First, let me remind you of one thing. North Korea is a totalitarian society that completely ignores the individual’s life, preferences, and tastes. It is a suffocating society where politics governs individual relationships. As I enjoy my individual freedom in South Korea, I don’t really have any nostalgia for North Korea.

However, it’s true that I miss the family and friends who I left behind in North Korea.

Se-hyok Oh:

All people want to have treasured and innocent memories—memories with parents, and of course, memories with friends. Though it might sound strange, I have more good memories from North Korea than unpleasant ones. Even though I like living in the free South Korean economy and may become rich, I still have memories of the time when I couldn’t live freely.

However, while difficult memories in North Korea come to mind, South Korean life is tough, too. If I think about my uncertain future, I think life will become even tougher. Will I become greedy? Rather than longing for family, I would say I have nothing to long for, as my family doesn’t exist to me any more.
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PART 9
Religion and Spirituality

[Introduction]

Due to its Communist roots, North Korea is officially an atheist country. But it is natural, especially in such a difficult environment, for people to develop religious or spiritual beliefs. It is impossible to know how many North Koreans believe in a particular religion—it isn’t as though you could go and conduct an objective survey of them—but it is certainly the case that there are North Koreans who follow Buddhism or Christianity; there are also many more who believe in the native folk spiritual practices collectively known as Musok (shamanism).

Though the regime discourages all religion, it opposes Christianity the most actively. There are several likely reasons for this. The most important would be that Christianity holds that there is only one god, and that all humans are equal in the eyes of God; in a country where a human being named Kim Il Sung has been made into a god, this is something of a revolutionary message. Furthermore, Christianity is a Western religion, and a relatively recent import. Finally, Musok and Buddhism have much deeper roots, and are therefore near-impossible to eradicate.

Ironically, Kim Il Sung himself grew up a Christian, serving as an organist in his family’s church at a time when Pyongyang was one of the most devoutly Christian cities in the world. There are definite parallels between Kim Il Sung’s ideology and Christianity, as we shall see later in this chapter. In a sense, Kim Il Sung took a lot from Christian teaching, and simply replaced God with himself!

During a visit to North Korea, I was taken to Anguksa, one of the oldest extant temples on the Korean peninsula and a designated national treasure. It is clear that the DPRK does not want to hide Korea’s Buddhist past, but at the same time, it does not see the religion as something that should guide people in how they live today. There are Buddhist associations—and, indeed, there are Christian associations, too—that the government likes to talk up; however, it is highly likely that these are fake organizations designed to make foreigners think that North Korea offers freedom of religion, as is officially enshrined in the national constitution.

If you ask about Musok in North Korea, you will likely be told that it is an illogical, superstitious practice. However, Musok is not going away. It has a 30,000-year history on the peninsula—far older than the concept of Korea itself. There is no guide to moral action in Musok, but rather, it is merely about communicating with the spirit world, often for the purpose of gaining good luck or driving out bad. Any village will have its fortune-tellers, who will be called upon in the midst of tragedy or ahead of important decisions, such as the selection of a name for your new baby. It has been this way for centuries, and I would imagine it will continue this way for centuries after the DPRK is gone.

The same is true in South Korea, actually. For many years, the South Korean authorities also tried to discourage Musok, and indeed, many people there do also consider it somewhat irrational. However, as a deeply ingrained part of the nation’s heritage, North and South Koreans of all social classes still find comfort and guidance in Musok.

Do North Koreans believe in ghosts or spirits?

DT: The answer is often yes. I don’t know if there is a country in the world—rich or poor, developed or not—where there is not an abundance of ghost stories and a great number of people who believe in the spirit world. Despite the Marxist legacy of the DPRK, there is no doubt that North Korea is no exception.

Ji-min Kang:

North Korea’s ruling principles are based on Juche ideology, which is itself based on Marxist materialism. As you may know, Karl Marx was a sharp critic of organized religion, saying it was the opium of the people. In essence, then, the basic principles of North Korean socialism are strongly opposed to and incompatible with religious beliefs.

Even though the North Korean constitution officially states that it allows freedom of religion, this freedom simply does not exist. As such, I had to learn continuously about the negative effects of religion while growing up in North Korea. This environment makes many North Koreans agnostic, but some conduct religious activities behind closed doors, often with serious consequences.

So, given that the worship of a god is very difficult in North Korea, does this mean we don’t believe in spirits, ghosts and the afterlife too?

Although Christianity is almost non-existent in North Korea, you might be surprised to learn that we actually do have very strong concepts of ghosts or spirits in the DPRK. And in fact shamanism, or human communication with the spirit world, is something that is very popular in North Korea, where it crops up most often in the form of fortune-telling.

Like anywhere in the world, when things get too much and life gets unbearably hard, people like to know what is ahead in their future. Spiritual beings can help in this regard, and as a result, many North Koreans invest their money in fortune-telling. North Koreans, you see, would rather trust the spirits than the party or nation.

Some North Koreans are so engrossed with folk religion and the spirit world that they even ask fortune-tellers to advise them on the best dates to move house or to get married. And many North Korean defectors speak to fortune-tellers in advance to ask them for advice on the best dates to bring their remaining families across the border to South Korea.

Sometimes fortune-tellers tell horror stories, or stories about life after death; also, those being told of their future tend to pass on to others what the fortune-teller told them. You see, North Koreans who weren’t taught about Marxist theory tend to find these stories particularly captivating—and they want to believe them, for numerous reasons. So while Marx’s theory of materialism says that there is no afterlife, the spiritual world simultaneously talks about reincarnation—something which many North Koreans find to be comforting. And like anywhere else, North Korean people are of course most afraid of death, so these tales are popular in many circles.

As you might expect, the North Korean government tends be insecure about shamanism and fortune-telling. Officially they try to discourage people from paying visits to fortune-tellers through special propaganda campaigns. But fortune-telling is so ingrained in Korean society that it is too late for this propaganda to have any impact: Even government officials feel skeptical about the propaganda, for a story about ghosts or souls is nothing strange to them.

But despite the official line, North Korea’s top elites are known to invite famous fortune-tellers to Pyongyang with warm hospitality, often in order to find out more about their future. What’s more: even the very top of the leadership is said to consult with fortune-tellers! Obviously, I can’t guarantee that this is true, but one fortune-teller I used to know in Pyongyang once told me that Kim Jong Il used to get fortune-tellers to pick the dates he would go out and make visits to places!

Personally, I paid numerous visits to fortune-tellers when I lived in Pyongyang. One of the most famous fortune-tellers I remember was called the baby fortune teller. He was a grey-haired old man and every night in his dream a spirit appeared who would tell him who would visit him the next day—also informing him of their entire past and future.

Because he became so famous, some people traveled for days from far-away rural areas to see him. Sometimes he would go missing. But when he returned, he would often come back in an expensive car with lots of gifts. According to the fortune-teller, he was visited by the wives of all top elites.

In a way, North Korea became one big religious nation—but it also became a mass of lies. That’s because North Korean propaganda is like its own religion. The propaganda suggests that immortality is possible through the endorsement of Kim Il Sung’s ideology. The propaganda says that while your body will perish after death, your political life is immortal. Such beliefs made Kim Il Sung the only god in North Korea—a belief system that would sometimes demand people’s lives.

So North Korea refuted Marxist materialism—its official ideology made Kim Il Sung a god—and, it left its people to be captivated by folk religion.

How religious are North Koreans really? And is it true that there is an underground church?

DT: The answer Jimin offers below deals with a lot of the history of religion, particularly Christianity, in Korea. But this does inform part of the answer—that there certainly was a lot of underground religion, in spite of the official communist ideology, but that over time, the authorities have stamped most of it out.

Jimin Kang:

This is just my opinion, but Koreans seem to be a people with a deep sense of religiosity. Many of the foreign religions that have entered Korea have become prevalent and enjoyed great success. The history of our country has unfolded alongside the rise and fall of these religions, which of course include Buddhism, Confucianism, Catholicism and Christianity (Protestantism).

Maybe it’s because of this devout religiosity that the Kim family can command so much loyalty, and a worthless novice can be subject to such flowery praise and rule the whole country, just because he is from that family.

In the past, Chinese emperors used superstition to emphasize their legitimacy and command the loyalty of the people, and would call themselves sons of heaven. Hundreds and even thousands of years have passed since then, and a new era has come in—one of science, technology and logic. Ironically, there is still someone in North Korea who designates himself a son of heaven, and there are ordinary people who show religious zeal towards everything he does.

Of course, there are all manner of reasons and conditions that make this possible, but the loyalty of the common people who love him cannot really be explained with logic. Especially in the only communist country in a materialist world.

Actually though, North Korea was a land of very devout Christians before Kim Il Sung’s communist regime came into being. Sungsil College in Pyongyang was the best seminary in the whole of Korea. This school was the alma mater of Kim Hyung Jik, father of Kim Il Sung.

Even after he moved to China, Kim Il Sung served as a Sunday school teacher. The given name of his mother, Kang Pan Seok, was a Koreaniz ation of Peter. She was a church deacon. Kim Il Sung’s grandfather and uncle were also pastors at the same church.

As such, North Korea was a religious land in which Christianity was prevalent. But following the establishment of Kim Il Sung’s communist regime, Christianity was subject to brutal repression. Korean Christianity is still so conservative and firmly against communism because of this history, which is traced in tears of blood.

After the establishment of the communist regime in North Korea, all religions declined and most believers were killed in prisons or camps. After liberation and the Korean War, the remaining religious people moved to the South, where they and their descendants formed the foundation of Korean Christian society that exists to this day. Ironically, Christians who fled south due to persecution by the North Korean authorities turned South Korea into the world’s second largest exporter of missionaries.

The underground church in North Korea has been almost completely destroyed. There were families who practiced small-scale worship. But when such people were caught, they were executed by the authorities.

Families of believers used the covers of novels to disguise their bibles, and sat together and worshipped quietly. Of course, the children were sworn to secrecy, but occasionally, the authorities would find them out by chance. There were cases were those caught starved themselves to death in prison.

The biggest problem for the authorities, however, was that of North Korean refugees who had escaped from North Korea after the economic crisis and had become Christianized by meeting Korean missionaries and pastors in China. They were protected by the church, and learned Christianity at the same time. Such people vowed they would preach Christianity. And hundreds of them reentered North Korea.

As a result, when State Security Department agents arrest a defector, they focus their investigation primarily on whether he or she has been in contact with Christianity or attempted to go to South Korea [nb. obviously, the North Korean authorities are hostile towards South Korea too]. If they find either to be true, the arrestee will undoubtedly be killed.

North Korea’s economic difficulties have also brought about a revival of shamanism. Because people were worried about their future, they began to search for shamans who could tell them their destiny or read their fortune. As a result, shamanism became a very popular religion. Even high-ranking North Koreans are attracted to shamanism, and there are rumors that Kim Jong Il went to see Mudang [shaman priestesses], too.

Anyway, anxieties about an uncertain future have made North Korea into a religious nation, but even now people are living from day to day without religious freedom.

Why do so many North Korean defectors become Christians?

DT: As Yoo-sung states below, there is plenty of overlap between North Korea, Kim Il Sung, and Christianity—despite the state persecuting anyone who follows the religion. But not only that, many of the groups who help defectors are very overtly Christian in nature. I have even heard of defectors who pretend to convert, in order to be helped out of China and on to South Korea by Christian groups. This is, of course, entirely understandable given the nature of their situation.

Kim Yoo-sung:

In North Korea, we were forced to study and believe only in Juche ideology. Though Juche is the one and only religion in North Korea, I think many of my fellow countrymen were always curious about new ideologies and religions.

The North Korean regime places strict restrictions on Christianity in particular.

This is interesting because Kim Il Sung comes from a devout Christian families on both paternal and maternal sides. His father had been educated at mission schools before Kim was born. His maternal grandfather was Presbyterian and taught local people about the Bible in his town. As a devout Christian, his mother took little Il Sung to church on Sundays, even after the family moved to Manchuria. In Pyongyang, she took him to Chilgok Church, which still exists today. Kim Il Sung’s uncle on his mother’s side studied theology at university and became a pastor. In North Korea there are the Ten Principles for the Establishment of the Monolithic Ideological System; it is pretty obvious that the Kims got the idea from the Ten Commandments. Pyongyang was once referred to as the Jerusalem of the East.

While the regime cracks down on all religions, it attacks Christianity especially harshly. Because the North Korean regime launched vicious verbal attacks on Christianity, I wanted to learn about Christianity more than any other religion. I think many North Koreans are especially curious about Christianity among all the religions that weren’t available to us. I’m sure it wasn’t just me.

While I wanted to learn about Christianity, I was never allowed to do so in North Korea. I was not allowed to read or study the Bible. There were no church services I could attend on Sundays.

Then, unexpectedly, I happened to leave North Korea for South Korea with my parents. When I first found out about my parents’ plan to escape, the first religion I wanted to learn about was Christianity. While we were in Thailand, I saw a Bible placed on a desk at the police station. In North Korea, it is a crime to be in possession of the Bible or read it even once; you could be sent to a political prison camp for that. As soon as I caught a glimpse of the Bible, I immediately picked it up and began to read. It was my first time reading the Bible.

It wasn’t easy to understand it. I got through the first few pages, and then stopped because I couldn’t understand it very well. I thought I would study about God and Christianity in more detail after entering South Korea. At Hanawon, pastors, priests, nuns and monks from the church, cathedral and Buddhist temples came to speak to us every weekend.

Among the religions, Protestantism was the most popular, Catholicism second, and then Buddhism. Hanawon, which accommodates female defectors, had a pastor who was assigned by the Christian Council of Korea to give sermons every morning throughout the week. I don’t know if these sermons are the reason, but I do know that many defectors commit to Christianity. After attending church services and hearing sermons every morning for three months at Hanawon, North Korean defectors begin attending church services in their new towns at the invitation of the pastor at Hanawon.

After leaving Hanawon, I also began to attend Sunday services at a mega church (which I prefer not to reveal the name of) that my pastor at Hanawon introduced me to. In the first year, the number of Christian defectors increased and, from the second year, it gradually decreased. Seven out of 10 defector friends of mine have stopped going to church, for example.

At the time though, I was so eager to study the Bible and learn about God’s word and Jesus Christ. I lived as a committed Christian for the first three years before I stopped attending church. The reason why I stopped going to church had nothing to do with my Christian beliefs. There was a pastor whom I looked up to, but I soon found out that he was so fake. The pastor was married with two kids. But whenever he saw pretty North Korean defectors, he would tell them that he was single.

It didn’t end there. He would often invite beautiful North Korean women to sit in his office with him alone. He would go to their homes to convince them to go on a trip to Jeju Island with him. I felt very disappointed and betrayed. Before me and my wife met each other, my wife almost went on a trip with him because she didn’t know he was married and he persistently asked her to go with him. As we began dating, my wife told me all about this and I stopped going to church.

Although I have stopped attending church, I respect all kinds of religions in this world. When reunification comes, if some South Korean pastors and missionaries continue to betray God like my former pastor did, there may be an increase in the number of Christians among North Koreans in the beginning, but a sharp drop in the long run.

Is Christmas celebrated in North Korea?

DT: There was no strong cultural history of Christmas on the Korean peninsula, so it is not necessarily a surprise that North Koreans today do not celebrate it. The authorities wouldn’t want people celebrating it either, though. This is in contrast with South Korea, where presidents offer Christmas wishes, and companies jump on the Christmas marketing bandwagon almost as enthusiastically as their Western counterparts do.

Kim Yoo-sung:

No, we don’t have Christmas in North Korea. Therefore, it isn’t a public holiday; Christmas is just another weekday when everyone goes to work or school, unless it falls on the weekend. However, Christmas does appear in our dictionaries and encyclopedias, along with Christmas Eve, but people don’t really think much of it. It seems to me that Christmas is a big holiday for people in capitalist countries, mainly. I imagine people in those countries always spend Christmas in a highly festive mood.

Most North Koreans don’t know Christmas is celebrated with such great enthusiasm in other countries. But I do believe diplomats and their children who travel abroad would be well aware of it. In a country such as North Korea where Kim Il Sung is the only god and people are brought up under Juche ideology, Christianity is not typically practiced or tolerated. Therefore, they don’t teach children about Christmas at schools and they never tell people what Christmas is about. It’s no wonder that most North Koreans don’t know anything about Christmas or Christmas Eve, right?

Yet, December 24 was a public holiday in North Korea when I was living there. December 24 is the birthday of Kim Jong Suk, the mother of Kim Jong Il, so they declared it a public holiday. On December 24 every year South Koreans celebrate Christmas Eve, while North Koreans celebrate the day thinking dearly of the mother of Kim Jong Il, as it is the holy day on which she was born.

In South Korea, children wake up on Christmas morning to look for Christmas presents delivered by Santa Claus. I learned about this only after I arrived in South Korea. South Korean children fall asleep on Christmas Eve waiting for presents to come the next day. But December 25 is just an ordinary day for North Korean children.

Now I have a daughter who was born in and is being raised in South Korea, I will celebrate every Christmas with her from now on, as I adore her so much. It was at a church in South Korea where I celebrated my first Christmas. I felt somewhat awkward and uneasy as it was the first time I celebrated it and I didn’t know what to expect. Four or five years have passed since I arrived in South Korea. Now, I don’t forget to celebrate Christmas and spend the holiday with my family. My daughter is 10 months old now. I expect that she will begin to have a concept about Christmas from next year. I will surprise her with a Christmas present and tell her that it is a gift from Santa Claus, for having been a good girl over the past year. As I’m writing this down now, I’m already looking forward to every Christmas I will spend with her, and I’m already thinking about what present I should give her.

In South Korea, young people seem to celebrate Christmas with their girlfriends or boyfriends. That was what everybody seemed to be doing on Christmas day. So, I was planning to spend Christmas just like everybody else. I met my wife on a blind date last January. We dated for six months before getting married in August of the same year. Thus I never got to spend Christmas with her while we were dating, since we couldn’t wait to get married. But we spent Christmas together as a married couple last year.

My wife was already pregnant by Christmas last year. For that reason we decided to spend Christmas at home, instead of going to a restaurant. But I invited close friends of my wife to throw a Christmas party at home in order to make my wife happy.

This Christmas, I’m planning to have a big Christmas dinner with my wife, daughter, and my parents. After Christmas dinner, I would like to take my family to see the Christmas lights around Seoul. By Christmas next year, my daughter will be able to walk by herself. I’m looking forward to taking her and my wife to the beautiful Christmas lights at Seoul’s Cheonggyechon stream and taking my daughter to a playground and playing with her there and being a good dad.

I hope all North Koreans get to celebrate Christmas like us sooner rather than later.
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PART 10  Love, Sex, Relationships

[Introduction]

North Korea is probably best characterized as a very conservative society when it comes to relationships. Sex before marriage does, of course, happen, but it is frowned upon, as is something so innocent as holding hands in public. Most people will have had few partners before getting married, and will probably know a lot less about what to do than young South Koreans.

It may be that the DPRK authorities consider sexual liberalism as a potential gateway to free-thinking in other areas. But more importantly, the North’s conservatism is really a continuation of Korean tradition. The Korea that has changed greatly is the South, which has become rather liberal in the past 10 or 15 years. In the past, you’d rarely see public displays of affection there, and now, it is quite normal. When I first lived in South Korea in 2004, probably a majority of people despised international dating and marriage, and homosexuality. Nowadays, the former is broadly accepted, and the latter by about half the population, according to surveys.

The essays in this section are to some extent a reflection of each author’s background, and North Korean society at the time each of the authors left the country. Different people have different experiences. Generally it can be assumed that city life in North Korea is more liberal than country life. It can also be assumed that those who defected a long time ago will have a more conservative idea of their country, as more recent reports suggest that things are changing.

The section on pornography is interesting in that regard. While it is certainly true that the authorities want to stamp it out, current sources say that the rise of the USB stick as the primary means of spreading foreign media has led to an explosion in the sharing and consumption of pornography from abroad.

Another interesting development not mentioned in the essays is the practice of renting homes to young lovers, by the hour; this certainly represents a step in a non-conservative direction. During the course of researching my book North Korea Confidential, my coauthor James Pearson and I heard from completely separate sources that this practice was going on in most towns. During afternoons when the kids are at school and the husband is at work, there are housewives who will take cash payments from young couples and vacate their apartment for an hour or two. Appropriately enough for the new North Korea, the money received will most likely end up being spent at a semi-legal jangmadang street market.

How do you find love in North Korea?

DT: Korea has a tradition known as jungmae, where families would ask a local matchmaker to find a suitable partner for their son or daughter. Marriage was (and largely still is) a union of two families, rather than just two individuals. Although the love marriage is the standard these days, couples will meet for the first time via introductions from either friends or family friends. Suitability with one’s own family and social status is crucial. Since division though, the South has become a little more liberal, and the North has largely kept its conservative attitudes.

Jae Young Kim:

While you might not think it possible, love exists in North Korea just like in any other country, and people are free to have relationships. However, the norms and social perception of relationships are different to South Korea and other parts of the world.

Romance and relationships in North Korea tend to be quite different, depending on the province. Country areas tend to be very conservative—there can be quite a lot of problems for a North Korean girl if she gets pregnant before she is married. But we don’t have as many problems in the urban centers, where attitudes are quite different. Here, kissing is viewed as quite normal (although not so much in public), and you even find the odd girl who has had a child before marriage. Sex before marriage does take place, but it is not that common.

Although everyone has some idea about what happens when you’ve been dating someone for a while, the way relationships develop in North Korea is far less agreed upon, as it is hard to find scenes on TV or in movies where people physically express their love. As a result, you don’t find many couples willing to express their affection in front of other people, who regard such behavior as awkward. When I first came to South Korea, I was so surprised at seeing couples kissing and cuddling on TV or in public places, but now I’m getting used to it.

My parents married for love. My grandmother (on my mom’s side) didn’t approve of their marriage, but they ended up getting married anyway and went on to have me. This has always interested me, because their relationship grew at a time when North Korea was highly conservative, and yet it still succeeded.

Although things are changing, until very recently the country did not have mobile phones, and still doesn’t have the Internet. So, unless you could plan in person, you’d have to write letters to each other if you wanted to organize dates. I used to help one of my best friends, acting as a correspondent for her and her boyfriend, delivering letters between them whenever they wanted to meet. This is so common in North Korea that there is even a song called "Bbukkugi (Cuckoo") about this kind of love story.

When I wasn’t there to help out, he would visit her house and make a signal outside that only she could recognize. But everything was made easier by the fact that both sets of parents knew about the relationship, allowing them to visit each other at their houses before getting married. I heard they had their first kiss in high school.

When I ask my other North Korean friends about their relationships, there are so many different answers. One of them had no boyfriend back home, but another had so many relationships that the stories she told never ceased to amaze me. I enjoy listening to her stories, since I myself was quite behind on the relationship thing in my life in North Korea. She used to brag to me about going on dates to theme parks, historical sites, battlefields, and our local park; she was even given gifts like a necklace, watch, or ring.

Like I say, I was quite late with all this stuff. When I think about my first love, all I remember is that my heart went pit-a-pat when I saw him for the first time. My love was a military guy and I found him very attractive in his uniform.

We met during the holidays (the only time the soldiers could leave base), and I got to know him through singing and dancing together. He was able to come out to my area quite often, because of his higher rank. Fortunately, my parents liked him as well. However, it was obviously not as easy for me to contact him as it is for couples in South Korea. Even now, I still remember holding hands and walking along the river with him. It was not a long relationship, but whenever I see guys in military uniform, they look very attractive to me because of him!

In short, I believe love and human nature is the same, regardless of whether you are in South or North Korea. All it comes down to is a difference of expression.

Does North Korea have sex education?

DT: North Korea is very small-c conservative and as such, you won’t even see couples kissing on television. As may be imagined, then, sex is not something that will ever be discussed by schoolteachers with their pupils.

Ji-min Kang:

To be honest, questions about anything related to sex in North Korea always make me feel awkward.

In North Korea, sex is restricted and taboo. As such, there are only a few very limited, very exaggerated stories that get shared, as sex is not something that is talked about much in the open. Still, North Koreans are people just like everyone else, so things like affairs and abortion do take place. However, sex is the forbidden fruit that can destroy one’s wealth and power.

North Koreans are never given sex education or an explanation of why such pleasure is something they should not know about. When I was in high school, if a boy held a girl’s hand, it could become a big issue, and a very embarrassing one, since everyone in the school would always find out. Plus, no one really told us what the big deal was. Was it because students who become sexually aware could cause problems? Or was it, perhaps, because sexual freedom could make it difficult for the dictatorship to continue?

North Korea is different from Muslim countries, as North Koreans purportedly believe in materialism, not religion. What, then, is the rationale behind their suppression of this basic human instinct? When I was in school, I never received any sex education at all. I was amazed when I heard that sex education is provided in most countries, and saw students taking classes in it.

After I left the North, I was especially shocked when I learned how in many countries teachers would utilize models of genitalia to frankly discuss sex with students. For North Koreans, everything to do with sex is filthy and embarrassing and you are supposed to hide it. Boys therefore cannot understand the biological changes in their bodies and are not aware of why they start having desires for girls. Nor are girls informed about the changes in their bodies, except from their mothers.

North Koreans are barely aware of the concepts of abortion or contraception. However, I suppose human beings cannot hide every aspect of their desires, and we always need someone who can satisfy our sexual curiosity. There were always guys who were slightly older than their peers in the village that enjoyed telling filthy jokes. But even though the stories they told us were not accurate biologically, this was the only form of sex education we ever received. Whenever one of my friends had a wet dream, everyone gathered to console him over his unknown disease. I didn’t know where a baby came from until I had turned 13.

Due to such ignorance, I was very passive when it came to talking about sex, and people often mistook my awkward attitude for naivety. Boys normally learn about masturbation around the end of their teenage years, as they hear about it from their mature peers or older friends. The distribution of porn magazines or videos is abundant elsewhere in the world but is prohibited in our country, and would surely cause a sensation if discovered.

I guess the North Korean government is afraid that people would be able to resist their authority if they were also free to pursue sexual freedom. If caught looking at or passing around porn, you and your family might be imprisoned—or in the old days, executed. In North Korean movies, there are hardly any scenes that show actors kissing. Foreign films imported into the country are censored, and sex scenes are removed.

For instance, there was a big difference between the version of Titanic that I watched in North Korea and the one I watched after I left—I assume you can guess which scene was cut. Porn videos that North Korean diplomats sometimes brought into North Korea upon their return therefore became the privileged class’s property, forbidden for ordinary people.

However, as government control became weakened due to economic difficulties, there were increasing numbers of prostitutes on the street. What’s more, problems such as sexually transmitted diseases and abortions started occurring more frequently. There were also problems between rich and powerful men and the women who try to benefit by having relationships with them. The problems mentioned here might not sound unusual, as they happen all around the world, but when there is no sex education it can be very serious.

Of course, the extremely closed environment in North Korea worsens these situations. Due to such restrictions, homosexuality essentially doesn’t exist in the North; hardly anyone understands the concept. Not only are people with this preference able to openly reveal their sexuality, but there is actually no way they can fully understand their own desires.

However, North Korea is going to face an inevitable time of transition. Due to the inflow of Western culture and other environmental factors—such as the rise of prostitution following times of economic hardship—people are gradually opening their eyes, discovering their own sexuality and finding out how repressed they are. Despite the taboos, many people are seeking sexual freedom; rumor has it that 80 citizens were publicly executed recently, supposedly for the distribution or watching of pornography.

I hope one day that freedom, and sex education, will arrive in North Korea.

What happens to gay people in North Korea?

DT: It would be ridiculous to say there are no gay people in North Korea. Going back centuries into Korean history, there are records of homosexual relationships, for instance, amongst members of the namsadang traveling drama troupes of the Joseon Dynasty. King Gongmin of Koryo kept a coterie of male lovers, following the death of his wife. Homosexuality, however, was never discussed widely, and those who had such feelings usually had no context to put them into. This has continued into present-day North Korea. It is only in the past ten years or so that South Korea has been any different.

Je Son Lee:

Personally, I never knew anyone who was gay in North Korea, but I’ve heard a lot from grownups about things that happen in the military.

Unlike South Korea’s two-year mandatory military service, North Korean men are obliged to serve in the military for 10 long years. This is tolerable for soldiers stationed on the military bases near neighborhoods. But soldiers who are stationed in the middle of the mountains do not get to see women for 10 years.

In my older brother’s case, he says he hardly saw a woman during his 13 years of military service. He says he probably would have had to climb between seven and 10 mountains to get sight of a woman.

That’s why senior officers have been known to take charge of pretty-boy privates. Some of them might have been gay. But others may have done so not because they were gay but because there were no women around.

In my teenage years, I went to do volunteer works in a farming community. High school students in North Korea are obliged to volunteer at farming communities for one month each year. That’s when I went to a remote village in the mountains for the first time, and it was there that I saw a gay man for the first time in my life.

You could tell even from a distance that he was a man, but he was sitting on a stone by a brook with thick makeup on. I thought it was so weird and peculiar, that I asked local people living in that neighborhood about him.

It turns out that he was a man, but he always put on makeup and lived as a cross-dresser in the city. So his parents sent him to this remote village deep in the mountains.

Of course, I didn’t hear this from the guy himself since I never spoke to him in person, but I often used to watch him from a distance with my friends. We thought it was a bit weird, but still very interesting.

How about lesbians? I’m not sure if it’s because I’m a woman, but I’ve met and hung out with many of them! Most of my lesbian friends loved to dress like men. They wore men’s clothes, kept their hair very short and acted like men, too. They all liked to date women, not men.

Adults used to say that they’re so sweet to their girlfriends. Once you fall in love with them, you’re not likely to be attracted to men again. Still, being in a relationship with someone of the same sex gives one a bad reputation in North Korea and, most importantly, parents are opposed to it.

Parents of girls would do anything to keep their daughters from lesbian girlfriends. So, they would call the police or even slap the girls. But even if the parents of a daughter with a girlfriend call the police, they couldn’t arrest anyone, since it isn’t against the law. You can’t punish someone for homosexuality.

All the police could do was make them write a letter in which they promise not to cross-dress, and then let them go. What’s important is that lesbians would be an object of ridicule or gossip; however, they weren’t shunned or excluded from North Korean society.

Transgender people do exist in North Korea. However, the sex reassignment operation is not done for one’s sexual orientation, but for medical reasons. For instance, if a sexless baby is born, the hospital performs the sex-change operation after discussion with the baby’s parents.

However, bear in mind that this isn’t something that someone I knew experienced, but what I’ve heard from other people while I was in North Korea. But I can tell you with full confidence that it is impossible to be a transgender in North Korea solely for your sexual orientation. There are two reasons: Firstly, medical technology in North Korea is far behind other countries; secondly, no one could afford the surgery.

Since leaving the North, I have learned more about LGBT issues in the women’s studies class I took. When I was in North Korea, I hadn’t heard the terms gay and lesbian. All I thought was that they had different sexual preference. As long as they were good people, we didn’t have any problem being friends with them, regardless of their sexual preference.

Of course, people would gossip from time to time, because they didn’t have anything else to do with their free time. People didn’t treat them with contempt and the LGBT people were never shunned or excluded from society.

I believe there’s no reason to be opposed to homosexuality, as expressing one’s sexual orientation is equivalent to expressing one’s preference in a capitalist democratic society.

I’m well aware that some people think gay marriage lowers the birthrate. But there’s no guarantee that every straight married couple will have a child. Plus, gay and lesbian couples can adopt kids and give birth to children through sperm donation. Thus, this cannot be an argument against gay people.

I think many people share the same opinions as me, but only when they’re not directly involved. But I think they’ll have different opinions if they have someone in their family who turns out to be gay.

I personally believe we need to be more understanding of sexual minorities and, in order to be more considerate, we need to pay more attention to them.

Could I marry a North Korean?

DT: In the early 1970s, a Vietnamese man named Pham Ngoc Cane visited North Korea and fell in love with Yi Yong-hui, a local woman. After lobbying the DPRK authorities for nearly 30 years—and refusing to accept endless excuses (she’s dead; she recently got married to someone else)—he was finally given permission to marry her in 2002, leaders of the two countries having discussed the matter at a summit. The answer to this question is therefore, No, unless you’re prepared to be extremely persistent! The fact is that the DPRK is an extremely ethno-nationalist state.

Je Son Lee:

I’m not too sure about whether an expat—a temporary resident in the DPRK—could marry a North Korean inside the DPRK. But it is possible for Hwagyo (descendants of Chinese immigrants) to marry North Koreans. Most Hwagyo are

men and hold both Chinese and DPRK passports. But when they marry North Korean women, their North Korean spouses aren’t allowed to gain Chinese passports. The DPRK doesn’t allow its people to take on the nationality of other countries—dual citizenship isn’t allowed, nor are you permitted to emigrate. Once you are born in the DPRK, you’re forever a North Korean citizen, unless you risk your life to escape from the country.

All of these stories about marrying Hwagyo were widespread when I was in North Korea. I’ve never been married, so I can’t be 100 percent certain about the legal procedures of marriage in the DPRK. I’ve seen many North Koreans who married Hwagyo in my old hometown, but I don’t know if that’s what you’d call an international marriage, because these Hwagyo held both Chinese and DPRK passports.

When Libya was a socialist state, a number of North Korean doctors and nurses went to work there. Since the majority of North Korean nurses were female, some of them ended up falling in love with Libyan doctors and marrying them. Of course, I should point out that this is just something I heard while growing up in North Korea; it didn’t happen to anyone I knew personally.

One thing I do know, though, is that children of mixed heritage can be found in the DPRK. Most of them are not born through so-called international marriages, though. Usually, they are the children of hotel maids or receptionists who met foreigners visiting Pyongyang.

Both white people and black people live in my old neighborhood as well. North Koreans don’t get to see people of different races unless they live in Pyongyang. So North Koreans, seeing these people for the first time, used to stare at them. The North Korean government takes great interest in those people, too. They want to hire them as actors or athletes. I heard that the government checks on their aptitude early on, aiming to train them to be successful actors or athletes. Mixed-race children I knew in my neighborhood were taller and better-built than ordinary North Koreans. Some became boxers later in life.

People used to say that mixed-race kids are usually smarter. I don’t know if it’s always true. But all the mixed kids I knew were smarter and earned good grades at school, too. When a mixed friend of mine found out that he had been adopted, he went all the way to Pyongyang to find his biological mother. But because his mother wasn’t living a life that could set a good example for him—she probably had been fired after getting pregnant—his adoptive parents prevented him from meeting his biological mother in person.

The adoptive parents told him, Honey, we found your biological mother before you. Unfortunately, she has already passed away. He never tried to find his biological mother ever again.

He was good-looking and had a charismatic personality. So, people were attracted to him and he was so popular among his friends. Because he looked so exotic, he drew attention from people. People loved him because they thought he was so caring and diligent.

I think the North Korean government takes good care of mixed-race kids. Most of them are brought up by adoptive parents. Not everyone can adopt a baby in North Korea. Only those with higher social status and income can adopt babies in North Korea. Hence, those mixed children end up being raised in affluent families.

Do North Koreans use condoms?

DT: The simple answer is no, as Ji-min explains. It is no surprise, then, that venereal disease is a problem. Following the collapse of the economy in the 1990s, many women turned to prostitution for survival. Syphilis and other diseases were rife among such women and the men who paid them. Thankfully, the spread of HIV has been extremely minimal, presumably due to the fact that North Koreans have very little interaction with the outside world.

Ji-min Kang:

While growing up in Pyongyang, I never even heard the word condom. In the early days after my defection, I didn’t even know why condoms existed or how to use one. It was not a matter that I was particularly interested in. I didn’t even know where people bought condoms from.

The most shocking thing I saw in South Korea was nationwide sex education in schools. It was inconceivable to me that students could be taught about sex at school. It was so shocking to see female students being taught how to use condoms in the classroom. It was one aspect of a capitalist society I didn’t understand in my early days in South Korea.

The sex education one can find in South Korean and American schools doesn’t exist in the North. North Koreans aren’t taught about safe sex or birth control. Of course, North Korean teenagers become curious about sex during puberty, but there is no way to learn about safe sex. In North Korea, sex is another form of hedonism people aren’t allowed to know about or experience.

For the same reason, North Koreans aren’t allowed to watch porn, either. If you ever get caught watching porn in North Korea, you’re treated as a political prisoner and punished accordingly. Diplomats did bring home pornographic videos, which were then distributed among people in North Korea. But to watch one of those videos you have to be willing to risk your freedom. How many of you are willing to take that kind of risk to watch porn?

Because sex education doesn’t exist in the classrooms of North Korea, people are ignorant about safe sex and sexually transmitted diseases. Especially for women, getting a STD is one of the most humiliating things that can happen. Consequently, they suffer from it for a very long time rather than seeking medical help. Since people don’t even know about condoms and have almost no information about birth control, illegal and unsafe abortions are common. Due to the country’s financial crisis, the birth rate dropped while the death rate was on the rise. For that reason, the North Korean regime banned abortion. Yet, there were still some people who wanted abortions, and out of desperation, they went to illegal practitioners. Many women lost their lives due to these procedures.

I don’t know if people in North Korea know about condoms, or if they have access to them now. There’s a possibility that things may have changed since my defection. But while I was living in Pyongyang, condoms weren’t available for most people. They weren’t being produced at local factories or imported from other countries. Vasectomies didn’t exist in North Korea, either. The only form of birth control available was the coil (or loop).

A little while ago, I read a newspaper article about condoms being found in the backpacks of high school girls in North Korea. If that article is true—and only if it is true—this means North Korea has experienced a dramatic change in less than 10 years, even if only in Pyongyang. From 1995 onwards, the West provided humanitarian aid, including condoms. The goods ended up on the black market, but the condoms were mostly ignored. Most North Koreans couldn’t figure out what they were or how to use them.

During my high school days, one of my classmates had a father working at a hospital. One day, this classmate brought a bag full of condoms to school. Of course, we had no idea what they were. They looked like balloons to us, so we blew them up in the classroom. But, of course, they were slippery and wider than most balloons.

When I lived there, North Korea was a black hole without any information or knowledge about sex. The North Korean regime doesn’t allow any form of hedonism or pleasure for its people. The government thinks that its people don’t need to know about safe sex. Maybe they thought it would pose a threat to the regime if people enjoyed sex more freely. I can only hope that the people of North Korea will receive education about safe sex sooner rather than later.

Does North Korea have pornography?

DT: As mentioned in the opening essay, things seem to have changed since Yoo-sung left North Korea. These days, there are many young men in Pyongyang who trade Japanese and Chinese porn videos on USB sticks. If caught, they can normally get out of trouble by simply bribing the officer who caught them.

Kim Yoo-sung:

This may sound disappointing to you, but pornographic movies and X-rated magazines are very rare in North Korea. If you ever came across one in North Korea, they’re most likely to have been smuggled and distributed on the black market. It’s not like in America or South Korea, where you can buy this month’s copy of Playboy at your nearest bookstore whenever you feel like it. In the North, pornography is illegal. North Korea simply doesn’t allow it.

In South Korea, movies and documentary films are rated. In the South, you have to be 19 or over to legally watch porn. It’s understandable that people who aren’t familiar with North Korean culture might think porn must exist there, too. After all, people are the same everywhere you go, right? But sadly, in North Korea, forget about sex scenes. It’s very rare to spot even one kissing scene in North Korean movies.

But that’s part of a much larger problem: Sex education doesn’t exist at schools in North Korea. When I was a high school student in North Korea, students went on dates but even hugging was inconceivable to us, let alone kissing. The bravest thing we could do was walk together, holding hands in alleys when no one else was watching. If we ran into someone unexpectedly, they would be startled and we’d pretend we hadn’t been doing anything as obscene as holding hands.

Why would holding hands be considered obscene in North Korea? It’s probably all about comparisons: North Korean high schoolers don’t have a chance to watch porn, while high schoolers in South Korea or America can easily watch it.

Do you want to know what shocked me the most after arriving in South Korea? It was when I watched the news about a teenage girl who was in critical condition following an abortion. I had almost never heard of news like that in North Korea.

The North Korean government strictly bans pornography. They make sure that X-rated entertainment doesn’t circulate among its people. If someone gets caught watching porn or distributing it, they get sent to a correctional camp.

One North Korean guy I met on the way to South Korea said he left the country because he had been caught distributing copies of South Korean porn and he had been interrogated by North Korean police. That’s why he had to get away.

If North Korea opens its doors to the outside world or becomes reunified with South Korea, I can only assume that porn movies and X-rated magazines would be introduced into North Korea. But of course, they should be clearly rated X and kept away from minors.
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PART 11  Fun and Leisure

[Introduction]

Fun certainly isn’t the first word that comes to mind when one thinks of North Korea. The grinding poverty that most people have to live with, and the extreme political control of the DPRK state apparatus, must surely make North Korea one of the least enjoyable or carefree places to live in the whole world.

Since Kim Jong Un came to power, there has been a concerted effort by the regime to present a more leisure-friendly image. I myself was taken to one of the manifestations of that policy—the Dolphinarium in Pyongyang, where the dolphins literally dance to the Kim family’s propaganda tunes. The development of funfairs and ski resorts has also been the focus of strong government attention.

Such things remain out of reach of the majority, though. Those living in Pyongyang and who have a little free time and money may go to a bowling alley or a water park, but for a poor farmer in Gangwon Province, such things would seem otherworldly. Furthermore, the transport network is so poor that people are largely confined to their home towns, and certainly wouldn’t take difficult, time-consuming trips purely for amusement value.

The average person must make their own fun. As anyone who has visited North Korea will tell you, this often means one thing: alcohol. Just like their estranged brothers and sisters in the South, North Koreans really know how to drink. For the majority this means soju and moonshine, and for the rich, imported spirits. Beer is also popular. North Korea actually has an impressive range of beers, since each city has at least one brewery of its own.

Eumjugamu—drinking, singing, and dancing—are part of Korea’s heritage, and have been for centuries. So when North Koreans drink, music will never be far away. For young people, this may mean convening in an abandoned building, rigging up some speakers and dancing to (highly illegal) South Korean pop songs. For all ages, a sing-along with a guitar also does the job. As in any country, a man who plays guitar and sings well can be a hit with the ladies in North Korea.

Do North Koreans drink a lot? If so, where do they get alcohol from?

DT: Anyone who has been to South Korea will know that alcohol is a big part of life there. The same is true of North Korea, and maybe even more so. There’s a jocular expression in the South that beer is not alcohol, but according to Je Son Lee, that’s hardly even a joke in the North. Korea also has a strong tradition of making moonshine; this was stamped out in the South during the 1960s, but has continued unabated north of the border. Furthermore, North Korea is a tough place to live, and also colder than the South. It’s entirely natural therefore to expect North Koreans to enjoy a drink.

Je Son Lee:

There are various ways to purchase liquor in North Korea. The first is by going to the factory (or someone working there), and paying in cash. There were actually several famous beer breweries in my hometown. The second is by going to a local market, where you can buy domestic, imported, and home-brewed alcohol. This is illegal, but the authorities cannot control it. In the past, only domestic booze was allowed at the markets, but imported drinks (including Chinese liquor) also began to emerge. The most common is Kaoliang Liquor from China. As most North Korean booze is strong, Chinese Kaoliang liquor (46–50 percent alcohol) and vodka are popular.

In my hometown, one out of 10 households brewed liquor at home. The most widely used ingredients were potatoes and corn. Liquor produced like this was usually stronger than those of other regions due to the harsh winters. North Koreans have a different name for Korea’s famous soju. We call it nongtaegi. North Korean soju usually contains 20–25 percent alcohol in other regions, and 28–30 percent in my hometown. North Koreans are heavy drinkers and they greatly enjoy drinking. Thus, we would occasionally run low on booze, and it was almost inconceivable for us to have any leftover booze in my hometown.

My mom brewed liquor at home to sell. She usually made corn-based liquor. Firstly, she would leave corn powder with yeast on a heated floor and cover it with a blanket for 10 hours. When malt formed at the top of the liquid, she would pour it into a jar and mix it with warm water and wait until it fermented. After that, she poured it in the gamasot (cauldron) and boiled it. When the brew starts boiling and the steam comes out, that’s the magical moment when the liquid becomes what we call liquor. The final product was always transparent and had a soft taste.

I still remember when I got drunk after gulping down a mug out of my mom’s gamasot. While my mom was away, my friend and I began drinking one cup after another. We got drunk and couldn’t remember what happened after that. But afterwards my mom told us the house looked as if a big storm had swept through it. We don’t remember what exactly we did to trash the house, but we know for sure that we kept giggling and had a good time. That’s the magic alcohol does to you, right? I have to admit, my friend and I kept drinking secretly whenever my mom was not home after that.

My dad was another person who greatly enjoyed drinking. There was a beer brewery nearby and my dad and his friends would bring 50–60 liters of beer home. They would drink all night long. They would jokingly say, We drink beer so we can go to the toilet more often. That’s how bad their sense of humor was. Once they started drinking at 9 p.m., all the booze would be gone by the time I woke up the next morning.

People in my hometown considered beer a soft drink. Thus, both adults and children helped themselves to beer. Age didn’t matter. As long as you enjoyed the taste of beer, you were free to drink whenever you wanted to.

Bars aren’t common in North Korea—at least not in my hometown. People drink at restaurants or kiosks at markets. However, since it is illegal to sell booze in markets, this is done covertly. Until 2000, North Koreans weren’t used to dining out. So, they usually drank at home. However, by 2010, North Koreans became familiar with dining out after coming into contact with South Korean and Chinese cultures. When I was in North Korea, there was only one restaurant in my hometown where they served liquor on the premises and it was run by Chinese people. Such restaurants were popular, at least for those who could afford them.

The legal drinking age in North Korea is 18. But no one seems to care about this: It was normal for North Korean children to buy booze on errands for their parents. It was such a small town, after all. Liquor vendors knew every kid in the neighborhood. Hence, they would hand over liquor to the children on errands without any hesitation because they knew their parents well.

And despite the official legal drinking age being 18 in North Korea, on New Year’s and public holidays, adults would recommend a drink or two to boys around the age of 15. In Korean culture, it is rude for younger people to smoke next to adults. However, it is perfectly fine for them to drink along with older people.

Personally, I enjoy drinking alcohol. So, I would always drink with my dad. I became my dad’s favorite drinking buddy and he always appreciated my company. I hope I’ll be able to drink with him again sooner rather than later.

Do North Koreans like gambling?

DT: There is no formal gambling industry in North Korea, though for Chinese tourists in the special economic zone of Rason, there is always the Emperor, a five-star hotel and casino. Among non-elite North Koreans, gambling is limited to bets between individuals, usually over card games.

Je Son Lee:

Yes, we do gamble in North Korea—at least some people do. Card games such as Go–Stop (which is played in Korea and Japan) and billiards are the most commonly played games. Personally, I’ve heard of people in my hometown that forfeited their houses or ended up in jail as a consequence of their gambling addiction.

Even when they’re not exactly gambling, both grownups and children like to play cards for fun. Playing cards was the most popular form of entertainment in my hometown. Since there aren’t many entertainment facilities or amenities in North Korea, playing cards came in handy. It was common for North Koreans to play cards with their relatives on holidays and weekends.

The rules of North Korean card games aren’t complicated at all. Anyone can learn to play cards very easily in North Korea. But the competition gets fierce once people start betting. That’s what makes the game more intense and attractive, after all. For this reason, both men and women loved to play cards in my hometown. On New Year’s, Chuseok and other holiday weekends, grownups play cards during lunch and dinner. The person who wins the most points pays nothing, the one who finishes second pays a little, and the one with the fewest points pays the most towards the meal.

Then, you may wonder, how much money do North Koreans bet on their card games? When people play for fun and entertainment at home, it is usually petty money, such as 100 won per point. But when you’re talking about gambling—for real—they bet 1,000–10,000 won per point. While in North Korea, I heard that some people blew all of their money gambling. But I haven’t met anyone like that in person.

Students also play card games in North Korea. Schools in North Korea employ janitors, but one janitor cannot watch over the school by himself all day and all night, meaning students have to take turns standing guard from 6 p.m. to 7 a.m. This is not obligatory; only those who volunteer do it. Most students volunteer in order to have a sleepover with their classmates. They play card games together during this sleepover. Since students don’t have enough money to gamble, whichever team loses the game pays for snacks.

I’ve noticed that South Koreans seem to play Go-Stop [a card game] a lot during family gatherings at New Year’s and Chuseok. But some North Koreans don’t seem to like the rules of Go-Stop, so there are other kinds of card games as well. In South Korea, people with low incomes often play billiards. But only the rich play billiards in North Korea.

Rumors have reached the North Korean government that people were gambling at billiards. But so long as I know, they haven’t come up with any tactics or policies to control it. I guess there are some things even the North Korean government can’t control.

What kind of pastimes do people have?

DT: North Koreans have precious little free time, and a lack of options with the free time that they do have. These days though, the uncontrollable influx of foreign media has given young people a new obsession—South Korean Hallyu. In the column below, Mina Yoon talks of DVDs of Russian or Chinese movies; however, since she defected, it has become commonplace for North Koreans to get USB sticks loaded with South Korean dramas and K-pop music. People are now daring to consume such forbidden fruits, for two reasons: USBs are smaller and easier to conceal; and, the increasing bribability of officials means that even if caught, you will most likely get out of trouble.

Mina Yoon:

People do not have much in the way of individual pastimes under the totalitarian system in North Korea. For starters, the idea of free time is not really common. And even if you do have free time, there aren’t many things to enjoy anyway.

The TV we had in our home was an award from Kim Il Sung that my father had received for his outstanding performance at work in 1993. Back then, TV was so rare that only one or two households per town had a set. Our family was the first in our neighborhood. Every evening there was a bunch of kids crowding into my house to watch TV and I had to stand by the foyer like a little gatekeeper. My mother allowed in most of the kids whose feet were clean and who were mature enough not to mess up the house. However, I—as the little autocrat of the house—could be a little bit selective and would invite only kids that I liked. That was why many neighborhood kids tried to impress me. They bribed me with snacks such as corn pancakes, brown rice snack, chestnuts and pine nuts. These days, TV has become more common and the majority of households in North Korea have a set.

But electricity is supplied for only two to three hours per day in North Korea. And even when power is available, the voltage is often too low. When the voltage goes down below 120–130 V, the TV turns itself off. To prevent this, I remember my younger brother always having his hand on the power switch of a voltage transformer. That was our desperate way of watching TV. People who cannot afford a transformer with a capacity large enough to handle this cannot watch TV, even if they have a TV set.

There is only one main channel, the Chosun Central Broadcasting Channel. However, people find it boring because most of the content is focused on Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, or something set up to promote their propaganda. Everyone knows it is all fake. Therefore, people want to watch movies on DVD. People usually watch movies made in North Korea, China or Russia. Only few people dare to watch American or South Korean movies. If anyone is caught watching movies from those countries, there are consequences.

On special occasions, our family split into two teams and played a card game called Joopae. We put a small bet on the game, and whoever loses has to take over household chores like cooking or cleaning up the backyard. Sometimes on sleepless nights, all of our family members would lie down side by side and play a word relay or sing songs. There are not many houses that have more than one bedroom in North Korea, so it is very common for all family members to sleep in one room together. When my younger sister, a tone-deaf singer, set the mood by singing seriously but with lyrics that were all wrong, we all ended up laughing aloud. Now I am in South Korea my sister and I sometimes go to karaoke. It is funny that my sister’s lousy singing sounds way better with the help of the instrumental background of karaoke, but I still miss the old days when we burst out laughing together at her singing in the dark. I remember back then that the game or the singing finished up naturally, and we all went to sleep.

In North Korea, there is a six-day workweek. Even on Sundays, some people have to participate in collective labor, such as road paving, street cleaning or farming. Many in North Korea consider weekends time to work, just like other

days, but only on individual tasks such as laundry, cleaning or gardening. Of course, there are some wealthy people who enjoy their pastimes. They might go fishing or watch DVDs.

When I first came to South Korea, a two-day weekend felt too long and boring to me. In hindsight, I think it was only natural to feel that way because I had never learned how to enjoy free time and didn’t know what to do with it. Now I have spent a couple of years in South Korea trying to catch up with the rapid pace of life here, the weekend sometimes feels more hectic than a weekday. I go to movies, meet up with friends downtown, grab lunch with them and go shopping. I also spend time with my family and, of course, study. Now I know that even a two-day weekend is actually too short.

Do North Koreans keep pets?

DT: Pets are only for the rich in North Korea. For most people, keeping a pet dog would be an unjustifiable extravagance. Dogs are generally kept for guard work, and even eating. That said though, there is a rising class of nouveau riche Pyongyangites who keep animals for companionship.

Je Son Lee:

It is not common for North Koreans to keep pets, because it costs a lot of money to feed them. Still, there are some people who do so.

In Pyongyang, the most commonly found pets include monkeys and dogs. Outside Pyongyang, dogs are the most common. Some keep dogs for their meat and others keep dogs to guard the house when they’re not home. But not everyone—few outside of Pyongyang, in fact—can afford to have companion animals because they require a lot of effort and money.

In 2000, I had a Maltese in my house and many people in the neighborhood wanted my dog so badly. It was a cute Maltese my grandfather had sent us all the way from Pyongyang. People always stopped by my house to see him. My not-so-very-thoughtful parents ended up giving away my Maltese to someone else in my neighborhood. I was so sad to see the dog go but it was my parents’ decision, and there was nothing I could do about it.

While I’ve heard monkeys were popular in Pyongyang, they became less popular later on and there is a story that explains why.

First, you need to remember that North Korea is a so-called socialist state. Therefore, when you pay the bills for utilities, everyone pays an equal amount regardless of how much electricity they used. Moreover, you cannot use the electricity whenever you want to. If you end up using electricity without the government’s permission, you are subject to a big fine. So it’s even illegal to use a microwave or make rice in a rice cooker in the North. This doesn’t sound realistic, does it? North Koreans still need microwaves and rice cookers to feed themselves! Public servants randomly search houses and if you get caught using a microwave, you get fined. So people hide their microwaves, and use them secretly.

So let me tell you what happened one time in Pyongyang. One day, a public servant stopped by to inspect a house where they had a monkey. The family took some time trying to hide the microwave above the closet before opening the door for the official. This official was very suspicious, and demanded that they come clean and admit that they had used a microwave. The family didn’t back off, but just then their pet monkey, who had been observing the situation, climbed up to the closet, grabbed the microwave, and placed it down in front of the official.

Almost every family has secrets—things they do that are perfectly legal in democratic societies but which are illegal in North Korea. In this case—and others—people began to get into trouble because of their pet monkeys. As a result, people’s interest in monkeys declined. Instead, they turned to dogs and piglets as pets.

In regions outside Pyongyang, people keep shepherd dogs for pets instead of small dogs such as Maltese or Shih Tzu. North Koreans feed raw fish or pork to their shepherds, which is easier than buying specialist dog food. Moreover, shepherds are smarter. Other dogs, such as Maltese and Shih Tzu, would eat food given to them by other people. But shepherds only eat the food given by their owners. I always felt that shepherds were like a friend to people, while small dogs like Maltese were little babies that act cutesy to attract attention.

We had a shepherd while living in North Korea. We named him Bun-kae, which means thunderbolt in Korean. After my mother got scammed in 2005 my family went through financial difficulties, so my mom sold our shepherd for money. Bun-kae was about 3 years old at that time. Because he was so well-behaved we made a lot of money from selling him. However, three days later, Bun-kae escaped from his new home and found his way back to our house! My mom was so touched that Bun-kae found his way back home that she wanted to take him back. But because there is a saying, It brings bad luck when an animal which left your house comes back, my family ended up returning Bun-kae to his new home. Later, we brought another dog to our home, but I could never like him as much as I liked Bun-kae.

Are there holidays in North Korea? If so, what do you do on them?

DT: North Korea has rather a lot of public holidays. But when you have a day off, it isn’t realistic to imagine you would be able to go to the beach or a resort. Anyone who has traveled around North Korea knows the reason why: the transport network is absolutely dreadful. There are also the inevitable political duties that have to be performed, cutting into precious free time. However, people do enjoy these holidays as a chance to get together with friends and family in their hometowns.

Je Son Lee:

There are numerous national holidays in North Korea, from Chuseok (harvest festival, the date of which is set by the lunar calendar) to Independence Day (August 15) to the birthdays of leaders Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Il and Kim Jong Un. In addition to these government-declared national holidays, North Koreans work six days per week and get their Sundays off. Workers in North Korea are given 15 days of vacation per year and students two months.

On national holidays, every North Korean older than elementary school has to visit the statue of Kim Il Sung at 7 in the morning. Everyone has to get dressed according to the dress code specified by the government. Women have to wear either a dress skirt or hanbok. Men have to wear a suit and tie. Everyone has to wear the badge of Kim Il Sung. After this mass event, everyone finally gets free time to themselves. But when there’s an important speech by the leader, we have to watch on TV and participate in discussions about it.

The government gives out gifts to children up to the age of 10 on February 16 and April 15. Apart from this, the government also distributes holiday hampers to every family on traditional holidays. These holiday hampers usually consist of a bottle of cooking oil and 500 grams of biscuits, but they’re not completely free—we have to pay one third of the price. Since there’s a shortage of ingredients, you cannot receive one of those holiday hampers if you happen to arrive too late. You have to wait in the queue from early in the morning. We get nothing else from the government.

After this, most workers have their own parties with food and drinks. You don’t have to attend if you don’t feel like going; these parties are purely organized and attended by ordinary North Koreans, but you shouldn’t say anything to criticize the government in any way while you’re at the party. People who are not affiliated with any particular group or working unit throw their own parties with people they’re close to. In this case, if you’re close enough to share secrets, you would criticize the government a little over drinks. But if anyone in your presence happens to be a spy, you’d be faced with serious consequences.

Most people spend vacations at home. Sometimes people visit their hometown or go on a trip, but this costs a lot of money and only people who can afford it do that. Students are the people who have the most fun on holidays. They gather together to share food and dance together afterwards.

There are no clubs or karaoke rooms in North Korea, so students have to organize everything for themselves. In winter, you usually make your own club in an empty house. We have speakers, but when there’s no electricity, we can get power by firing a generator with oil. We wanted to play K-pop to dance to, but it’s dangerous to do so—if the sound of South Korean music is heard from the house, we could get arrested. Enjoying anything from South Korea is illegal in North Korea. In the case of a sudden police raid, if we failed to hide the tape or CD, it would be used as evidence against us.

Therefore, most of us played guitar at these parties. It’s the most popular way of making music, as it doesn’t leave hard evidence that could be used by the authorities. Usually, we played K-pop tunes on our guitars and if a stranger or security guard comes by, we can easily switch to North Korean music.

Did you celebrate New Year in North Korea?

DT: New Year—either of the Eastern or Western variety—is more of a day for family in Korea. Even in the much more Westernized South, you don’t see many big parties for New Year. It’s a time for honoring one’s ancestors, and eating homemade food.

Je Son Lee:

I don’t remember seeing a New Year’s countdown on television while I was growing up in North Korea. However, I remember seeing the sun rising above Mount Baekdu on television on the first day of the year. At Lunar New Year, they would show the General’s Star on national television. They talked about whether the new year would be an auspicious one for North Korea depending on the intensity of the starlight. If the star exuded excessive light, it meant that it was going to be an auspicious year, they said.

Now that I think about it, this sounds pretty stupid. But back then, I really believed that it was true and that our General Kim Jong Il was someone that heaven had sent to us. Like all children in North Korea, I’d been brainwashed about the three great figures of North Korea—Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Il and Kim Jong Suk—since I was very young.

However, not everyone watches the first sunrise or the General’s Star on television. Due to the shortage of electricity, not everyone can have their TV on. Plus, people are usually busy making mandu and songpyeon (rice cakes) at that time of the year. Since the Japanese celebrate January 1 rather than Lunar New Year, the North Korean government suddenly decided to urge its people to celebrate Lunar New Year (Seollal). But, in the people’s hearts, January 1 means a lot to them. It is regarded as the first day of the new year.

On January 1, people pay respects in front of a table full of dishes. This was really for the living rather than the dead, though. For this, participants prepare mackerel, fried tofu, apples, pears, candy, jijim (Korean-style pancake), rice, boiled eggs, pork and other side dishes. There should be an odd number of dishes. I’m not sure exactly why, but I was told that it should never be an even number.

When the food is ready, people begin to pay respects. In the past, only men were allowed to offer a glass of liquor to the dead but now both men and women do so. While they pay respects to the dead, they pray that the new year will be a good one and that their dead ancestors will watch over them. People take turns toasting ancestors and, while they do so, they pray their ancestor will help them realize their dreams for the year. When this is over, they add a little portion of every dish to a bowl filled with water. They add a little bit of liquor to this bowl and sprinkle it on the ground outside. They do so because they believe the dead souls are waiting for them outside.

After sprinkling this bowl of food, they turn around and wait between one and five minutes for the dead ancestor to eat the food they’ve just sprinkled. While they are eating, their living family members shouldn’t turn around to look at them. After the ancestor finishes eating, the whole family are able to help themselves to the food. I was told that if we ate before the ancestors we would get upset stomachs. They told me that they’d seen so many people getting upset stomachs because they didn’t wait for their dead ancestors to finish eating.

A North Korean proverbs says: If you sleep somewhere else on January 1, you won’t sleep in your own home for the rest of the year. That’s why most people try to sleep at their own houses on January 1. Some people would go out to see the first sunrise of the year as well. Before the North Korean government switched to Lunar New Year, January 1–3 were public holidays in North Korea. If Sunday fell on one of those days, we got to take an extra day or two off.

On January 1, the whole family gathers together at 7 a.m. to pay respects with carefully prepared food, as I’ve already explained. After paying respects and having breakfast, people visit family elders and their work supervisors or teachers at their houses from 10–11 a.m., and bring them presents. People who can’t afford to buy big presents will still bring a bottle of soju at the very least. We were taught that it is impolite to go to the house of someone older than you without taking any presents. Adults still visit their teachers from kindergarten, elementary and high schools even after they’ve grown up, on New Year’s Day and other important holidays.

On January 2, people are busy hanging out with their friends. People usually drink, sing and dance together at empty houses, from the age of about 15. You need money to do this, right? Mostly, boys pay but sometimes girls do, too. Adults and older people sing along and tap their chopsticks on the table as if they were playing drums. The younger generation usually sing South Korean songs and dance to K-pop. This means they have to find secret places. If you get caught by the security police, you could be in deep trouble (but mostly you bribe your way out).

When the New Year’s shenanigans end, people go back to work. On the first day back at work, people take a pledge to sacrifice their mind and body for the Workers’ Party and the Leader. They say it is the first day of combat. The first day of combat begins with people bringing manure from the co-op farm, due to a national shortage of compost. It is not possible for co-op members to deliver all the manure, and so everyone in the country helps deliver manure on that day.

For people like me who lived in an apartment, we had to beat other people to the manure by getting washed and ready in the shared common bathrooms first. But after traders began selling compost at the market, people would simply buy it to complete the first mission of the year. If I was still living in North Korea, I would have been pretty worried about the compost task.

Do North Koreans like telling jokes? What makes people laugh in North Korea?

DT: It should go without saying that human beings anywhere like to laugh and joke around. Unfortunately the standard media portrayal of the North Korean is either that of the helpless victim, or the brainwashed robot—there is little room within the stereotype for someone like you or me, who would like to have a laugh to brighten up their day. That said, there are certainly fewer opportunities to laugh in North Korea than in most other places.

Mina Yoon:

I agree that in tough times laughter is the best cure, but in North Korea people do not make jokes as often as they do in South Korea or other developed countries. I think this is because North Korean people are too tied up with the hardships of life to relax and exchange jokes with other people.

It’s not all doom and gloom, though. North Korean people make jokes, too. Despite being struck by poverty and depression, people cannot live their entire life being miserable. And sometimes jokes appear even in the weirdest situations…such as when I recall a goat and a pig that joined the army!

One of my distant relatives was an old man who lived in the countryside raising a goat and a pig. During the daytime, he would stay out cutting the grass to feed his pig and put the goat out to pasture. But one day when I visited his house in the afternoon, I was astonished to find him at home. I asked why he was at home instead of out taking care of his animals as he always did.

All of a sudden—and at the same time—my goat and pig decided to join the army!! he said.

Of course, it did not make any sense. But he explained further.

The situation was like this: A few days before, a couple of soldiers sneaked into his barn and stole his animals. Searching for the animals, he found a note saying, Protecting one’s country is the most sacred vocation on earth. Believing what the pig chose to do was a right thing, I am following him.—Sincerely, Your Goat.

When he showed me the note, I didn’t know whether I was supposed to laugh or cry. Maybe the soldiers took the pig first and later came back to take the goat, too? They must have felt sorry for the old man and left a note attempting to justify their theft.

I was very upset by the incident. It was understandable that the thieves were starving and needed something to eat, but again, the loss of the pig and the goat would have been heartbreaking to my old relative. I knew how much he had been attached to them. Well, unlike what I would have done in the same situation, he kept the note neatly folded in his pocket. He said he got over that incident by looking at the crime in a way that made him feel he was feeding his own son with good meat. And if anyone asked about his pig or goat, he would answer that they volunteered to go to the army thanks to his scrupulous political education. Well, it was his way of dealing with a huge loss!

North Korean people often try to forget about their misfortune by making fun of it. For example, when I used to work in the market there was a vendor there who used to sell medicine. Although she only carried one kind of medicine—for skin problems—she had the loudest voice in the market. Once, when she was shouting at the top of her voice Here, here! A marvelous medicine for cracked heels !, another lady responded, My mouth keeps opening up to ask for more food in these hungry times. Do you happen to have a medicine for that? The surrounding crowd roared with laughter, empathizing with her sorrow and frustration.

Another notable change after the rations stopped was that the status of men and women was reversed. This was because most of the time, it became the women who took charge of the families’ livelihood by making money through market activities. As the men begun to lose their authority in the family, they became known by new nicknames, such as the daylight bulb, the almighty lock or the bow-wow. Let me explain:

The daylight bulb was a joke to describe a man who was useless—like a light bulb during the daytime. The almighty lock, while sounding a little more useful than the light bulb, drew on the fact that at least a family man could keep thieves away from his home. In North Korea, no matter how sturdy and strong the lock you install on your gate is, you cannot completely protect your home from thieves. Thieves always find a way in. So men are called an almighty lock because when they stay home all day, instead of going to work, at least they can protect their homes. A bow-wow has a similar meaning, comparing men to the dogs who guard houses. Despite being the brunt of so many jokes, these men could not really complain because they were dependent on the women who went out and earned for them.

There are many more jokes and funny stories that made me cry with laughter. I think you can really enjoy jokes and have a better sense of humor when you’re young and don’t have too many serious concerns. What I have felt going through all these hard times, though, is that even the best joke can lose its power when people are overwhelmed by constant worry. Sometimes I dream of a day when the people of the North and South finally meet and laugh together at silly jokes, being freed from all these troubles. What happy laughter that will be!
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PART 12  Any Other Questions?

What happens if you have the same name as the Marshal, Kim Jong Un? Would you have to change it?

DT: There is a well-known photographer in South Korea named Kim Jong-il. And Before Kim Jong Un came to power, there was already a famous actress in South Korea with the same name. Obviously neither of these two had to change their names, though the latter is on record as having been shocked by the sudden appearance of a very unusual namesake. Jong Un (or Jeong-eun in South Korean Romanisation) is actually more commonly a girl’s name, too.

Je Son Lee:

I think you would have to.

Kim Jong Un rose to prominence after my defection, so I can’t talk specifically about him. But what I can tell you is that people with the same names as national founder Kim Il Sung, his wife Kim Jong Suk and his son Kim Jong Il had to change their names. You’re allowed to have the same given name as the leader or another important public figure. But you can’t share the full name of the Dear Leader.

For example, when you look at the name Kim Jong Il, Kim is the surname and Jong Il is his given name. You can be Park Jong Il or Lee Jong Il, but you can’t be Kim Jong Il. Therefore, people who had the same first and last name as the Dear Leader had to change their names after Kim Il Sung or Kim Jong Il rose to power. This didn’t affect me, of course; but I heard that the government changes your name immediately after the leader rises to power.

Since the government began deifying the Kim family, parents have taken extra caution to avoid naming their children after the leaders, even if they had different last names. They would have been too afraid to spell out first names such as Il Sung or Jong Il on the birth certificates of their children. In the West, I think parents would name their children after former presidents or royalty, hoping that they would grow up to possess their positive and admirable qualities. But in North Korea, you’re in deep trouble if you have the same name as the leader. Thus, parents wouldn’t dare to give even the first names of the leaders to their children.

One of my friends was named Kim Pyong Il—the exact same full name as one of the sons of Kim Il Sung, a half-brother of Kim Jong Il. As a result, local officials would talk about my friend—just because he shared the same name as Kim Il Sung’s son.

And there are still many people who have had to change their names for other reasons, including people with names commonly found in Japan. Such names include Soon-ja (Junko in Japanese), Chun-ja (Haruko), Kyung-ja (Keiko) or Yang-ja (Yoko). Even if they liked their names, they had no choice but to give them up under government order. A considerable number of people around me had these Japanese-sounding names and were all obliged to change their names, no exceptions allowed.

South Koreans don’t seem bothered about such trivial, petty things, as the wife of former President Chun Doo-hwan kept the name, Soon-ja (Junko in Japanese, as you’ll recall) while in the position of First Lady. Imagine if you were an American named Michael during the Cold War; would the existence of Russians using the name Mikhail have bothered you?

It’s not easy to change your name if you just wish to do so, though. Of course, if you have enough money to bribe the officials, you can. But if you can’t afford to do that, you’re stuck with the name you were given at birth.

As Hallyu (the Korean Wave of pop culture) flooded into North Korea via China, South Korean names became very popular among North Koreans. In North Korea, almost everyone had names that could be spelled out in Chinese characters. We liked to apply meaning to each syllable. But many South Koreans seemed to have pure Korean names, rather than from Chinese characters. Many North Koreans have recently started to follow this trend, too.

Many babies born after 2000 in North Korea have South Korean-sounding names. I hope the government does not force them to change their names in the future. The North Korean regime has made so much effort to purify the Korean language, yet most North Koreans have names that can be spelled using Chinese characters. Isn’t it ironic?

I like that more and more babies born in the 2000s have pure Korean names that sound South Korean. I hope this trend continues. I hope North Koreans are given freedom to choose the names they like some day.

Do North Koreans have cellphones?

DT: Especially in Pyongyang, the answer is yes. When I visited in 2014, I met an Egyptian engineer working for Koryolink, the national mobile network 75 percent owned by Orascom, an Egyptian conglomerate. He said they had 2.5 million subscribers. As of late 2016, there are now 3 million. Koryolink has earned hundreds of millions of dollars in profit on this—but unfortunately for Orascom, they haven’t been allowed to collect any dividends yet. Some wonder if they ever will…

Cho Ui-seong:

One of the things that was of the greatest help to me in adapting to this unfamiliar country [South Korea] was my smartphone. Without the help of Naver or Google, I would have settled in much more slowly. But what about cell phone use in North Korea?

Even before I left in 2014, many North Koreans were using cell phones, and a small number had smartphones. The price of phones in North Korean varied from $150 to $700, depending on each phone’s design and features. Back then, North Korea’s own Arirang smart-phone was very popular. At that time, the government advertised that such LCD touchscreen phones could offer banking and delivery services through an intranet, but I haven’t seen that working in practice.

Cell phones in North Korea began to enter common use in 2009. Prior to that, it was said by many North Koreans that the Guinness Book of Records had named North Korea as the only country in the world without mobile phones. If that was true, the Guinness Book of Records has done a great favor to the people of North Korea.

The introduction of mobile phones dramatically increased access to information for North Koreans. The people most in need of phones are the traders. No one feels the informational backwardness of the country as desperately as them. North Korea already has a fixed-line telephone system, but this is ineffective due to chronic power shortages. Even when the power is on, if it is windy or rainy, lines become crossed and callers are connected to the wrong people. Landline owners have to wait a month for repairs, and there are always many repairs that need making. This is so inconvenient for traders, who need to know what is going on in the market on a daily basis.

As market logic spreads through North Korean society, information becomes money. Prices used to be fixed and economic activity slow, but nowadays the market system (though only tacitly acknowledged) has highly variable prices and a very dynamic economic flow. If traders can make calls on their cellphones regardless of time, place, or the availability of electricity, they can enjoy great opportunities. The cellphone is a big factor in helping those who are taking advantage of the magic of the invisible hand of the market.

Due to the practicality of mobile phones, subscriber numbers have increased massively, in spite of the cost. Over 200,000 people joined in the first year of service, and seven years on, there are 3 million subscribers.

But now the phone is a sort of accessory, going beyond practicality and showcasing the wealth and status of the owner. North Koreans, especially young people, are crazy about cell phones. Among young people who don’t have them, there is a common expression—only dogs and me don’t have cell phones. This self-deprecating phrase shows the strength of the desire to own a phone.

University students have a special affection for mobile phones, and even those without much money feel they have to have one. When I was in college, more than half of the students had one, so I think almost all students will by now. Students say that those who have phones are going to be 12 times more successful at dating than those without.

It was funny, but I had friends who seemed to think their phone completed their identity. Think of it as being like those who are so proud of driving BMWs. The funniest thing is that most of them couldn’t even use their phones. North Korea’s tariff system offers 50 text messages per month, and talk time of 200 minutes. For anything more than that, you’ll have to pay extra, and in dollars. Two hundred minutes is shorter than you think, so those who are dating will go through that time in a week. It is quite amusing to talk with friends who whinge about spending lots of money on talking to their girlfriends.

When making a phone call, you tend to keep it short. Even when talking to parents, it is common to cut out basic pleasantries. Sometimes I would let friends who didn’t have phones take calls from their parents on my phone, and it really ate up my minutes. When it was someone who kept on talking because they hadn’t spoken to their parents in a long time, I would just glance at them with a look urging them to hurry up.

In any case, the cell phone has undoubtedly made a significant contribution to informing the mentality of people in North Korea, the most closed country in the world. It will result in great changes in the future as well. When will the day come when people in the South and the North can talk freely? Let’s try and add this to the list of once enormous hopes that have become ordinary daily reality.

Is there anything good about living in North Korea?

DT: This is a provocative question, but having visited myself, I can say that there isn’t that much. Or rather, there’s nothing much good about how the state or the system works. That said, North Korean defectors will usually say that people back home are warmer and kinder. The lack of industrial development also means that the air is clean and you can see the stars at night.

Jae Young Kim:

Although media and news only show the negative side of North Korea, there are positive aspects about life in the DPRK. Of course there are differences between individuals, but compared to my current life in the South, life in the North was mentally rich—even if it was materially insufficient. The reason for this is because of the pure heart and affection of North Koreans. Though there are lots of kind people in South Korea, affection between neighbors is very pure and deep in North Korea, especially in rural areas.

Families and neighbors gather on birthdays and national holidays and share with each other. My mother used to cook a lot for our neighbors. Even though she had to wake up early and cook, she never refused. I used to wake up early and help her. On major holidays, we invited our neighbors (we used to call my mother’s friends aunt) and shared food and stories with them. My mom was really good at making Jong-Pyun rice cake, and I can still remember my aunts exclaiming how good they tasted. During nights, we gathered together, turned music on and danced. On days when electricity went out, we used to play the accordion, sing, dance and have fun. I used to have so much fun and danced so hard that my socks had holes when I checked them in morning. My father used to be respected as a gagman (comedian).

Moreover, North Korea’s excellent natural environment is another nice aspect of life. Air in North Korea is very fresh. In spring and fall, my school used to go on field trips. Every year, we went to a cool valley. Water was very fresh and lots of flowers were in bloom. For the whole day, we played scavenger hunt, swam, then ate packed lunch, cooked by my mother. After lunch, we had talent shows.

Although from a material perspective things were often lacking, I sometimes miss the pure heart and sharing culture so common to my life in North Korea.

There is another side to your question… In North Korea, although it isn’t common, there are some ordinary people who receive gifts directly from the state. Some people earn the hero title and receive televisions and other goods. These people get better gifts than other people on national holidays. But there aren’t many of these people—I rarely saw a hero in my town. There was one, but he didn’t get as many benefits as other heroes. In truth, the main people who really get benefits from the government are civil servants, such as party officers, police officers, government agents and a few other people. These are the people who live with consistent privileges and have an easy life.

Everything was suffocating and pitiful in North Korea, but it is a country of which I have many positive memories. So if someone asks me What is North Korea like? then I say North Korea is a nice place with plenty of love.

Tell me about student life in North Korea.

DT: Student life is about becoming an adult—making choices for yourself, taking your first strides out into the world, and also experiencing new types of fun. Not so much in North Korea though, where the university is more like a military academy.

Kim Yoo-sung:

I will walk you through what it is like to study at college in North Korea. In order to sit the college entrance exam in North Korea, you must have a reference letter and be endorsed by the National League of Students and your high school. The university makes an admissions decision based on your family background, extracurricular activities and your grades. The Department of Education sends an admissions letter to students who are successful.

One very interesting thing here is that you don’t choose a major for yourself. The authorities at your university choose your major for you! Once the university notifies you what you will be studying, you spend the next four years studying that subject. (Just for your information, the major they chose for me was Wood Processing.) It is very rare for a student to take a gap year in North Korea. Most students study for four full years straight until graduation.

Being enrolled at a North Korean college is like being enlisted in the military. Every class has a leader, vice leader and secretaries below them. Each class has a strong, rigid hierarchy with positions held by students along the power pyramid. Those student leaders at the top of the pyramid make sure that students stick to the school rules and code of conduct, and that the students stay disciplined.

Classes begin at 8 a.m. and students must enter the premises by no later than 7:25 a.m. If a student arrives later than 7:25, that student is forced to make a public apology in front of the entire school after the school assembly. School assembly takes place every morning from 7:30 a.m. and lasts for 20 minutes. Assembly at North Korean colleges is held every morning from spring to winter.

There is also a dress code at colleges in North Korea. You must wear a suit and tie and you shouldn’t forget to wear a hat that has been especially designed for college students when you go. There’s no way around this dress code. A league of college police—not military police—stand at the entrance to enforce the dress code. If you don’t comply, you aren’t allowed to enter the campus.

Once a week, students take turns to guard the campus. That means you’re obliged to stay up from 5 p.m. to 8 a.m. the next morning. In South Korean colleges, guards are hired to watch the buildings and safety of the campus. But in North Korean colleges, it is students that are obliged to perform such duties. Another difference is that cleaners are hired by South Korean colleges to keep the buildings clean and tidy. However, as you can probably guess, it is students at North Korean colleges who have to clean the school buildings themselves.

In addition to taking lectures on the academic discipline chosen for you, you continue to take courses on the three generations of the Kim family and Kim Jong Il’s mother, Kim Jong Suk, throughout your four years of college. In other countries, you usually sign up for classes yourself. But North Korean colleges make a timetable and class schedule for you and you don’t get to choose. On average, a North Korean college student attends three to four lectures a day. On Saturdays, they attend one or two lectures followed by North Korea’s famous self-criticism sessions. You don’t get to go home after the self-criticism session; it is followed by a public lecture which is heard by entire school in the auditorium.

There are other activities. Although not necessarily mandatory, you feel pressured to attend, as people can easily notice who is missing. In the second year of college, students must spend six months training with soldiers at their barracks. Therefore, it takes four years and six months for North Korean college students to graduate from college.

In order to graduate with a bachelor’s degree, you must write a thesis and pass exams on the subject of Kim Jong Il. A professor is chosen to help you with writing a thesis and, of course, your thesis must pass in order to meet the requirements for graduation.

As I’ve already graduated from a North Korean university and I’m currently attending a South Korean university, I’ve found universities in North and South Korea to be very different. In fact, the similarities are few and far between.

What is it like to perform in the Arirang Mass Games?

DT: You’ve surely seen clips of tens of thousands of North Koreans all moving and holding up cards in unison, making a kind of human pixel display at the Workers’ Stadium in Pyongyang. Strangely enough, such infamous card section performances have also been used in South Korea—in praise of 1980s dictator Chun Doo-hwan, and also by workers at Samsung. Nobody does it anywhere near as scarily perfect as North Korea, though.

Mina Yoon:

In case you haven’t heard of it, the Arirang Festival might be the most famous mass performance in the world. It is an absolute masterpiece of performance art, mobilizing about 100,000 people, from kindergarten kids to college students. The Arirang Festival was even listed in the Guinness World Records for its record-breaking scale. However, behind its overwhelming visual spectacle are the painful efforts and hardships of the performers, who must endure repetitive practice and training.

I haven’t participated in the Arirang Festival, but I did participate in similar mass gymnastics events in other cities that also used ribbon and card (human pixel) systems. When the performance date was approaching, schools would cancel afternoon classes and train students for the upcoming performance. And when the performance was imminent, schools canceled classes for the whole day. Instead, students gathered in the schoolyard and repeated rehearsals endlessly. The school would not distribute the equipment for the mass games, such as ribbons or cards. The performers were responsible for preparing all those things by themselves.

I still remember how I once made a very special ribbon for the performance. I had to procure fabric to make a ribbon, which was not easy to get. One day, I came home around lunchtime to prepare a ribbon for the mass game I was participating in. There was no one at home. My mom had gone out to work in the farm that belonged to my father’s military unit. I had to have a ribbon by the afternoon, but there was no way to reach her. There was no home phone and, of course, no mobile, so I started to go through my mom’s closet; but it looked like there was no decent fabric left.

After a while, I finally found a lovely purple blouse of my mom’s. She’d had it for a while. I hadn’t seen her in this blouse, and from the many layers of papers that my mom packed it with, I could see it was one of her favorite outfits. I couldn’t bear to destroy it, so I put it back in the closet. But then I thought of my teacher, who would scold me if I didn’t bring a ribbon. I concluded that I would rather be spanked by my mother than insulted in front of all of the students. There was no way I could stand that much humiliation, so I took the blouse out from the closet. I cut it into 1.5-inch-wide pieces and sewed the pieces together to make a long ribbon. I stuck the purple ribbon on a wooden stick and carried it to training.

What happened when I got back home later? You really don’t want to know. Anyway, I think my mom deserved to be angry after seeing her precious blouse torn to pieces.

Usually, the training for the mass games took place in the schoolyard. The practice was so grueling that the performers were literally knocked out when it was over. The idea was that a large group of people should be able to move just like a single person, and endless training was therefore a must. Even worse than the very tiring training itself were the dust storms from the ground. The schoolyard was covered with soil, and when large numbers of people made a series of rapid movements on it, a heavy cloud of dust rose up from the ground. Blinded by the thick fog of dust, it was impossible to look ahead in line. When I got home and blew my nose, I could see the black dust coming out. In my mouth, I could feel the grains of sand that had blown into my mouth while we were singing. I think it was a miracle that I did not get pneumonia.

The same went for the card section. It was the performers who had to prepare cards that would be used in the performance. At that time, in North Korea, even toilet paper was hard to find. So I tore up my used notebooks, separated all the pages from them and glued them together to make thick cardboard. I then put them under my bed and slept on them, to make them flat. In the morning, I sewed the flattened cardboard and put the pieces together like a big notebook. Finally, I colored the cardboard.

Let me explain briefly how the card section works. We were trained in the actual stadium of the performance. In the card section, there is a conductor standing in front of the group of performers. The conductor would hold numbered plates and blow a whistle. When the conductor raised up a numbered plate, the performers would unfold the color that matched the number. Even though the conductor would show just one number at a time, there would be different colors assigned to the number according to the performer’s groups, so that it would form a huge picture, moving and changing when you watched from a distance.

The performers were divided into many layers of groups, like squadrons, companies and platoons, just like the army. For example, I was number 7 in the 3rd platoon, 3rd company in the 2nd squadron. Squadrons were assigned by school location, companies by schools and platoons by grades. Squads, the smallest units, were divided by classes.

Because the performers were assigned to their spots according to schools and grades, when anyone made a mistake, it was easy to find out who did it. For example, if a performer named Hong Kil Dong accidentally unfolded blue when he was supposed to unfold red, the conductor would call him by name through a loudspeaker, saying something like, Hong Gil Dong in School A made a mistake. We’re repeating this part again. It might feel awful if thousands of students had to start over because of you, so all the performers tried their best not to make a mistake.

As a performer, the most painful thing in the card section was the uncomfortable posture I had to bear for such a long time. We had to crouch and hide under the cards for a better picture. The performers sat down, put the cards on their laps and unfolded them following signals from the conductor, but it would not look very pretty if the audience could see the faces of the performers. Therefore, once we put out the cards, everything beneath our eyes had to be completely hidden under the cards. After curling up like that during day-long rehearsals, my legs felt numb and my neck was practically paralyzed. When I tried to stand up after the rehearsals, I could hear the cracking sound from my joints.

I took part in smaller mass games, but I could imagine how much harder Pyongyang’s mass games would be. The most difficult part must be that it has to be accurate and flawless. Just imagine thousands of people moving, but they have to move as one. They have to move simultaneously, depending solely on the sound of music. How would it be even possible? Only endless repetition of exhausting practice and training could increase their accuracy. The burden the Arirang performers felt seemed very heavy. There are thousands of foreign tourists watching them. And they understand that what they are doing is not merely a performance. They know it is an official event to affirm the national status of North Korea in front of the outside world.

I heard of a student who died of appendicitis because he could not leave his spot in the middle of the performance. His appendix burst but he dared not leave his position. Even when the performers are sick, not many of them would think about skipping the performance. They knew they would not be excused. This kind of obedience must be the result of the brainwashing and repressive politics seen in North Korea for so long.

Why have mass games? First, the government believed that, successfully performed, the mass games would elevate the national status of North Korea. North Korean mass games started in the 1970s for honored guests from foreign countries. They disappeared during the era of famine of the mid-1990s, and were then revived in the 2000s to attract foreign tourists. However, there was a far greater purpose than tourism. The mass games in North Korea were designed to highlight the legitimacy and consistency of the regime by showcasing its strong spirit of community for the outside world to see.

Second, these performances were believed to increase the morale and the pride of North Korean people. The government wanted its people to believe that North Korea was the most strongly united country in the world, and the praise earned by the mass games seemed to inspire pride.

And, finally, there might have been some economic boost expected from increased tourism. You may or may not like to watch the mass games, but one thing is very clear: North Korean mass games are the grandest circus that you could ever see in the modern world. They are only possible under a totalitarian ruling system. In societies where individual human rights are respected and freedom of choice is valued, this kind of performance is impossible.

This year, the North Korean government decided to cancel the Arirang Festival. My guess is they canceled it because they could not afford the minimum budget for the performance to replace old costumes and give snacks to the performers. Since North Korea has been isolated due to its nuclear issues and tourism has shrunk, it seems to me like the mass games literally went bankrupt.

I must say I am glad to hear that this year’s Arirang Festival has been canceled. At least this year, North Korean students do not have to go through all the tiring training I did. I don’t know whether or not the North Korean mass games could be appreciated as meaningful achievements in performance art, but when I think about the price that the North Korean people have had to pay for them, I really hope they will disappear soon. I shall do my share to make it happen sooner.

What is fashionable in North Korea?

DT: When researching my book North Korea Confidential, I heard that skinny jeans had become popular among young women. They usually wear black jeans rather than blue though, as blue jeans are considered too Western by the authorities. Nowhere are skinny jeans more popular than in Chongjin, a port city that receives big shipments of secondhand clothes from abroad. Chongjin is in fact the fashion capital of the country—even more so than Pyongyang, which is a little more conservative due to increased state control there.

Je Son Lee:

I lived in North Korea for 20 years and while I never paid serious attention to fashion, I can tell you a few things about the different fashions I saw during my time there.

When I was born in 1990, the North Korean economy was experiencing difficulties and wasn’t able to produce enough for its people. Despite this, many government officials still had access to products, mainly through a very small black market that existed even back then. As a result of the black market, people in my area began to buy and sell products (including clothes and shoes) obtained from the nearby factories they worked at. This was the start of independent fashion, as I knew it.

Although during the early 1990s, most people wore North Korean-made clothes, Chinese products started to appear in around 1995. Because of those Chinese products I vaguely remember my first day of kindergarten—I wore a dress with frills that was made in China, and shoes with flowers on them. I got a lot of attention from my teachers that day!

You see, in those kindergarten years the government was supposed to provide students with free food and snacks. But when the economy collapsed in the mid 1990s, all the supplies were cut. This meant students from rich families would stand out, wearing nicer clothes than the other kids. And students from rich families would be looked upon by the kindergarten as a jackpot, their parents being able to help out with supplies and food for the others.

From a fashion perspective, things really started to change during my elementary school years. That’s because in North Korea, students from elementary school up to university have to wear school uniforms.

Because of the uniform regulations, a brigade of student guards used to stand at the front gate of my school each day, and students who refused to wear school uniform would be subject to punishment. But many students—including myself—didn’t like to wear school uniforms, as we were much more used to wearing pretty clothes made of soft fabric from China. People like me simply didn’t like the dark, stiff school uniforms that we were expected to

wear.

So, even though students were subject to corporal punishment for ignoring the rules, we often preferred to wear something different to the uniform. Personally, I hated wearing my skirt, so I wore jeans from China and avoided punishment by jumping over the wall to get into class. Fortunately, the brigade of student guards only stood at the front gate in the morning and were given free time in the afternoon. Because other students were doing the same thing, a sort of competition over who had the most expensive, beautiful clothes soon developed.

Unfortunately, when I got to third grade the government imposed an even stricter dress code, so we had to think of new ways to get around it. The best way was to buy clothes of a color and design that looked similar to the school uniform. Many students practically refused to go to school unless they had such clothes. So when white and soft fabrics and frills made their way into North Korea from China, it became a fad to make a blouse with frills to wear to school.

By the year 2000, South Korean dramas were slowly becoming popular. In those early dramas most of the female characters wore bootcut jeans, and soon enough they were not only being worn by North Korean adults, but also by young kids. Of course, many schools tried to stop students from wearing them, but despite their efforts the bootcuts only became more popular.

In the end, the adults who tried to ban all these sorts of clothes at my school gave up. However, by the time 80 percent of students were wearing bootcut jeans, many of us started to lose interest in the style, and soon the trend died out on its own. Bootcut jeans didn’t disappear completely, but no one was obsessed with them anymore. Perhaps it was just because the government was no longer trying to prevent people from wearing them so much.

It would take between three to five years for copied versions of South Korean dramas to be smuggled into North Korea via China. As a result of the lag, we did not realize that the fashions we were seeing had often already gone out of style in the South.

Most people I knew made jeans out of colored cloth. Custom-made clothes were always expensive but people paid big money for them, as they were often very competitive about fashion. But nobody had clothes as pretty as my own blue jeans, I used to think. You see, I got hand-me-downs from my mom, who had owned a pair of blue, bootcut jeans—from a designer brand—since she was young.

So what about other designer brands?

While residents of other towns near the border liked to buy Chinese clothes and home appliances, designer brands from European countries became increasingly popular in Pyongyang. Since my grandfather was a high-ranking civil servant in Pyongyang, my parents used to visit the city frequently. Thanks to this, my dad bought designer brands for me, such as Adidas and Lacoste, at the so-called dollar shops (foreign currency shops that couldn’t be found outside of Pyongyang). As a result, everyone near Mt. Paektu was jealous of me and my branded clothes.

Of course, not everyone could afford brand new designer clothes in North Korea. Some would buy secondhand clothes from China—which were often much more stylish and of better quality than the new clothes being sold in North Korean markets at the time. I was dying to buy those secondhand clothes myself, but I changed my mind when some adults told me that they had probably been worn by dead people. Why else would they give away such beautiful clothes? I was told. Since religion isn’t permitted in North Korea, people tend to be very superstitious, you see.

Five years before I left North Korea, Hallyu (South Korean pop culture) began to dramatically spread across the country. Ever since then, many North Korean conceptions about fashion have truly changed. Lots of the major characters in the dramas and movies were owners of big companies and so they had lots of different clothes. By watching those dramas and movies, we began to realize that the secondhand clothes we were buying from China weren’t being given away by the families of the deceased, and that people gave them away simply because they just had too many clothes.

Many people preferred secondhand shoes, too. Because the new shoes available on the markets were often homemade by individual shoemakers and were of poor quality and wouldn’t last long, young people often preferred to wear imported secondhand shoes.

As for adult fashion, well, adults aspired to look elegant rather than cool. Among thirty- and forty-somethings, secondhand clothes from Japan were the most popular. They were not only of better quality, but also looked classier than the cheap, tacky clothes being made in China. The price of Japanese secondhand clothes was therefore double that of the Chinese secondhand clothes.

How about elderly people and fashion? In my opinion, older men in North Korea tend to dress in a classier way than older women. They refuse to wear bright colors or logos, instead preferring to dress in a way that meant they might be mistaken for a high-ranking official. Tailored clothes that look like the ones Kim Jong Il used to wear are expensive, but look so much better than ordinary clothes if they fit the owner well.

Funnily enough, some North Korean clothes were nevertheless popular. A few years before I left North Korea, so-called general winter clothes (padded jackets) became popular. Although made in North Korea, they were of a surprisingly good quality and expensive. While a one-kilogram bag of rice would cost 3,000 won, a made-in-North Korea general winter jacket would cost between 100,000 and 150,000 won. Unless you were a high-ranking official or a successful vendor with a big business, you simply couldn’t afford one.

I think that North Koreans are even more obsessed with fashion than South Koreans because the clothes they wear indicate their economic status. This notion is still found among North Korean refugees, with some of my refugee friends having bigger wardrobes than my friends who were born and raised in South Korea! That trend is especially prevalent among those who only recently left North Korea.

Funnily enough, some North Korean refugees are still trying to follow trends that have long gone out of fashion in the South, but are still popular back home. I guess old-fashioned trends bring back forgotten memories to us North Koreans in the South.

How do you make yourself pretty in North Korea?

DT: South Korea is a world leader in the production and consumption of cosmetics—for both women and men. In fact, South Korean men spend more on cosmetics than men from anywhere else in the world. This is due to the extremely competitive nature of life south of the border. North Koreans are, like anyone else, interested in looking good, but they have neither the wherewithal or inclination to take it as far as the South Koreans. Often, those who defect to the South feel huge pressure to raise their game…

Jae Young Kim:

In North Korea only people with time and money can really care about beauty. That’s why it isn’t the serious business it is in South Korea, where I live now. In my opinion, the North Korean standard of beauty isn’t therefore on the outside; instead, it’s on the inside—the beauty that allows a woman to take care of both her household and husband.

When I lived in North Korea there was a famous actress named Miran Oh who was extremely beautiful and very feminine. She was popular with girls who all wanted to be like her, and with guys, too (for obvious reasons). I think it’s fair to say that Miran Oh must have been the beauty standard for many North Korean women. But as I mentioned, the ability for a woman to be strong and maintain her livelihood is sometimes viewed as a more important form of beauty in North Korea.

When I was young, I wanted to be like my mother—a woman who even many of our neighbors admired. She was really good at housework, calm, and helped my father a lot. For me, she was a proud woman and the type of woman I most wanted to be like. But now I’m in South Korea I have to care more about external beauty, too, since that’s such an important part of being a woman here. That’s not to say that some of us didn’t think in the same way back in North Korea, though.

At one time, double eyelid surgery became very popular among girls in North Korea and even my mother suggested I get it done. But I was really scared about it! You see, there are no professional plastic surgery hospitals in North Korea. Often, you have to get these types of operation done at someone’s house. They aren’t the most hygienic of places for surgery, but nevertheless many women are on waiting lists to get these kinds of operations. It became so common that the government actually started regulating these types of places.

There are many, many regulations in North Korea on how a woman should look. You’re not meant to put your hair down, skinny pants are frowned upon, jeans aren’t allowed, and there are definitely no short pants. If you’re ever caught breaking these rules you’re forced to write a self-criticism report; or if you have long hair, risk having it cut short. Nevertheless, some girls turn a blind eye to these penalties, all in the name of beauty.

While it is a lot poorer than South Korea, just like everywhere in the world women in North Korea want to look pretty. But unlike other countries, there is a lot less foreign influence when it comes to beauty and fashion. Really, China is the only country that really has much influence over us.

Chinese fashions get into North Korea because of the strong trade between the two countries and the fact that we are able to legally watch some Chinese soap operas and movies. So we see what is popular in China through TV shows or through what people crossing the border are saying. The cosmetics and fashion choices of North Korean girls are therefore influenced by Chinese trends.

North Korean women care a lot about cosmetics and usually Chinese products are more popular than the North Korean ones (I personally always used the Chinese ones). Because my family had a better quality of life than many of our peers, they had the resources to care about my beauty. So from time to time they’d treat me—once, for example, my mother bought me an expensive Chinese cosmetic product for whitening the skin (we don’t like to tan like Americans!).

I think it is normal that women in both Koreas make an effort to look pretty, but I guess the main difference between the two countries is economic. That, combined with all that I mentioned above, is why there are such obvious differences in the standard of beauty between North and South.
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