Should the international society use sanctions against North Korea? - By Joonho Yang

             “Living hell, it was.”  This was the first phrase that the North Korean defector used when I asked him about his home country.  “I don’t know what happened to my family.  They were probably tortured, put in jail, or maybe even killed.  I can only hope that they somehow got out too.”  Being one of the most well known rogue nations, North Korea has consistently violated its own citizens’ rights and threatened world peace for the last few decades.  It has tortured, starved, and killed its own citizens, all the while developing nuclear weapons and long-range missile technology.  

 

As an answer, the international community has tried various ways to stop further harms from being done.  From sanctions to “sunshine” policies, there has been no clear, ideal way to deal with the nation.  However, due to several reasons, I think that the usage of economic sanctions is the best solution to the problems regarding North Korea.

             I personally believe that sanctions serve their purpose best.  Whenever a bully does something bad, the teacher fixes the situation by punishing the bully, so that the bully has a practical harm in his way that can motivate him to stop the bad actions.  As a punishment, sanctions can be extremely effective, since although they are not military actions and therefore will not provoke another war, the economic harms are feared by the leaders of North Korea.

             But it is true that pure economic sanctions, such as the stop of all trade to North Korea can be detrimental towards the citizens of the nation.  When the trade is stopped, the leaders try to minimize the effect of the sanction by ripping off the citizens with increased taxes.  In such a hierarchical society, the citizens simply have to starve while the leaders are barely affected by the worldwide economic sanctions.

             When I went to do voluntary work in Hanawon, the South Korean national center for the rehabilitation of North Korean defectors, the defectors told me that life in North Korea for regular citizens was unimaginably terrifying.  They had to pay whatever tax that was required of them, and less income came their way, even further degrading their life.  Having three meals regularly each day was pure luxury, and they were thankful simply for not starving every day.  But the scariest of all was the propaganda North Korea maintained upon its citizens.  “We learned that the U.S was a terrorist nation.  They were trying to take over the whole world, but we the North Koreans were trying to stop them.”  This was said with so much sincerity and tears that I found it astonishing that the North Korean regime could keep such insane social control.  Upon hearing the words, I thought that the international community must find a way for North Korea’s punishment without is citizen being so harmed.  Then I learned about the steps taken by the U.S to achieve the same goal.

             The only and best way to restrict North Korea’s irresponsible actions, while also maintaining security, is to try to freeze the personal leader’s accounts.  This proved to be best when the U.S froze Kim Jeong-Il’s personal bank account in Switzerland.  At the time, Kim Jeong-Il immediately returned to the six-party talks for the discussion of their weapons of mass destruction.  Also, the economic sanctions on banks that support the North Korean nuclear program, such as Tanchon Commercial Bank and Leader (Hong Kong) International Trading Limited, was implemented recently, on January 24^th, 2013 as a response to the rogue nation’s nuclear testing.  These ways of sanctioning will have a minimal impact on the majority of the citizens, and will simply harm the leaders of North Korea financially.

             Another reason why economic sanctions should be proposed most in the status quo is because of the change in China’s attitude towards the issue of North Korea.  Until just recently, China maintained its position that it would ultimately support the rogue nation in any situations or circumstances.  Although they were severely criticized, the Chinese refused to step back from its closest ally, vetoing most of the resolutions and all of the sanctions targeted at North Korea.  But recently, after the North Korean nuclear test, China has changed its mind.  The only reason why North Korea was able to somehow survive through the numerous, variable sanctions of the international society was because of the superpower China standing behind its back with support.  Whenever such economic sanctions were implemented, China maintained its trade, providing a lifeline for North Korea.  With China in support of the sanction, now North Korea will be much more severely affected, and the economic sanctions will have a much larger effect.

             Rogue nations are called rogue nations for a clear reason: they simply do not follow the rules agreed upon by the world, go against human rights, and make threats against world peace.  There is a need to deal with the situation with North Korea, and using economic sanctions is the best possible way to handle the rogue nation since it can be directed towards the leaders of North Korea, and be effective due to the change of Chinese attitude.

 

Works Cited

"Global Policy Forum." Sanctions Against North Korea. Global Policy Forum, n.d. Web. 01 Mar. 2013.

"North Korea." - Sanctions Wiki. Sanctions Wiki, n.d. Web. 02 Mar. 2013.

"North Korea Sanctions- Nuclear Reaction." The Economist. The Economist Newspaper, n.d. Web. 02 Mar. 2013

Palmer, Brian. "Is There Anything Left To Sanction in North Korea?" Slate Magazine. Brian Palmer, n.d. Web. 03 Mar. 2013.

Should we send propaganda balloons to North Korea? - By Changhun Lee

 

          It’s just another day of arduous labor in the factory. He lays down his tools, takes off his gloves and stands up to drags his heavy body back home. Just before exiting the factory, he pauses. The gigantic picture of Kim Jung Il looms before him, like any other in any other factory. He salutes, for all the marvelous deeds he had done for him, his family, and his country. Walking back home, he stops before the huge statue of Kim Jung Il. He salutes, and moves on. Back home, his wife and children greet him. Dinner is ready. But before dinner, he walks to the portrait of Kim Jung Il. He salute. His children burst open their doors and enter the living room. They show him some balloons, which they had found while playing outside. Oddly, there seems to be objects inside. He pops the balloons, instantly making his children burst tears. News articles, letters, and several photos fall to his laps. He reads them. Over and over and over again. He stands up. He slowly walks towards the portrait he had saluted to half an hour ago. He stares at the man inside. And he rips it apart.

           A likely story? Maybe, maybe not. But it gives a glimpse of what I want to talk about in this paper. But before anything else, let’s go over what is going on.

           North Korea, once again, has successfully dominated the cover of innumerable word newspapers with its usual threat of nuclear tests. Whether it is an empty threat or a real danger is yet to be undiscovered, but North Korea has shown for sure that its change in leadership does not mean softening its barricade against the word. For decades, the world has tried to communicate with the rogue state. But attempts of peace talks, aid, and treaties have proven to be futile; we received more assaults and threats in return.

           Yet the inner side of this seemingly strong and vigorous nation is more tender and vulnerable than that of any other. Its majority of the citizens suffer under abject poverty and fear of the state. The part of North Korea that is revealed to the rest of the world is the brightest side of the dark cave.

           I’ve actually been there when I was a little kid in elementary school. I was participating in a camp to North Korea, supposedly to learn about the country and ponder over unification. Unfortunately, we only visited the restricted area that the government had taken care of beforehand. So we had no actual opportunity to see the life of an average North Korean. During the camp, I never succeeded in seriously musing on unification; I mostly enjoyed playing with my new friends. But I do remember one thing that didn’t involve silly pranks with my friends.

           It was the last day, and I and my friends entered a noodle restaurant after climbing the KeumKang Mountains. We waited, and a waitress approached us to ask what we would like to have. My first impression was that her accent was really funny. We all held out laughter until she left. I even recorded her voice to share the experience back in South Korea with my family. But after talking to her two or three times, something other than amusement caught me. I began to form sympathy for her in the corner of my mind. She was always smiling so brightly when she talked to us with an friendly tone. But I couldn’t erase the thought that her smile and tone were somewhat artificial. Them seemed like parts of a big system, already set and planned. Of course, I might have been wrong. Now to think about it, even South Korean waitresses are told to smile by their employers. But the smile just seemed different at that time. It lingered inside my head for several days.

           This experience taught me something. The reason why we should unify not only lies in the safety of South Korea or its economic development, but also in the North Korean citizens themselves. I genuinely care for them and wish they lead decent lives. But is it any useful that I, a normal high school boy, care about unification and North Koreans? I say yes, because to the surprise of many people, the answer to unification may not be all about President Obama, Park Geun Hye, or even Kim Jeong Eun.

 

     

            Instead,it might be about balloons.

           Yes, balloons, as in the colorful round things that float and pop. South Korean citizens as well as the army have sent balloons that contain messages or articles over North Korean border in the past decades. The messages and articles mainly criticize North Korea and communism. The uniqueness of this method is that it tries to instigate the citizens, not the leaders. Regardless of the strong dictator regime in North Korea, no nation can avert collapse forever when the citizens turn their backs against the government. This is why North Korean government has virtually brainwashed every citizen into believing that democracy is evil and the Kim family members are godlike beings, like the man in my introduction illustrates. To solve this problem is simple: let the citizens know that they have been worshipping charlatans who have ripped off everything from their lives. No matter how hard we try to talk with the government, we will be simply wasting time and money. Propaganda balloon does this job best, thus being the most efficient method to take us one step closer to unification. Once turmoil rises among the citizens, the North Korean government will have to come up with a solution.

           Another reason to allow the sending of propaganda balloons is that North Korean citizens have the right to know. The innocent citizens are suffering under famine and preposterously oppressive policies. The international community, especially South Korea, has the obligation to rescue the North Korean citizens from this abyss of lies. Under the Korean constitution, North Korea is not a proper government. In other words, the people who live in the territory of North Korea are technically still our citizens. To neglect them is abandoning the right over our citizens.

           North Korea has responded to propaganda balloons with bellicosity and hostility. Ithas threatened to shoot missiles if we continue. Kim Jung Il has also stated that the balloons are “an unpardonable challenge to the army and people of the DPRK and a deliberate act to push north-south ties to the lowest ebb”. This has caused many people to stop down with fear. But there can be no unification without sacrifice. We can wait several decades until North Korea yields to democracy. But this seemingly innocuous plan also belies the sacrifice of innumerable North Korean citizens who will be oppressed for years. Furthermore, the threat that North Korea make is usually a simple rhetoric. Therefore, liking propaganda balloons directly to physical assaults is a rash conclusion.

           Right now, the Korean government is prohibiting the sending of propaganda balloons after a hostile threat from North Korea early this year. A group called ‘Fightersfor Free North Korea’ had planned to send 200000 balloons over the border lastyear in October, but South Korean troops banned the act.

 

           We must not forget that change will only come when North Korean citizens start to throw a suspicious glance towards Kim Jung Il’s portrait in their homes, one by one. The few ones, who rip apart the man inside, like the man in my story, will certainly arouse more actions. And hopefully they will be freed.

Education first, if you care - By Chaewon Lim

Every adolescent, including those in North Korea, experiences the pain of growth as he or she is forced to face reality. As I had recently gone through a 6 month long, gloomy phase of hesitation before gaining up my will and firmly deciding to break through the reality head-on, I know very well the pain of growing up. Thus, when I was contemplating on the topic for this essay, the first thought that came into my mind was the state of adolescents of North Korea. 

 

   Growth is not a choice. At some point or another, a young bird grows big enough to break out of its egg. At the moment of the break, two forces act on the bird’s mind: one, to break free, and two, to stay cozy inside, although uncomfortable. I thought that the North Korean teenagers go through a more painful process in growing up than South Korean teens, because they are educated that everything inside the egg is good, and everything outside is bad. However, research on "Life and Development of Adolescents in North Korea," by professor Min SK of Yonsei University, based on interviews with North Korean adolescent defectors and a questionnaire from adult defectors, concluded otherwise. The research states that in North Korea, “Identity crises, which so often characterize the adolescent period, seem not to be so turbulent, and develop later and finish early with resignation, because of the limitations mainly imposed by the political status of their family origin.” Additionally, a Youtube video made last year in North Korea titled, "Life in the People's Paradise of the DPRK", showed a girl of my age who was more than satisfied with her life in North Korea. It struck me for the first time that the teenagers in North Korea might not have as much concern or suffer as much uncertainty as South Korean adolescents. 

I acknowledge that North Korean teenagers could be happier than South Korean teenagers in their forced bliss of ignorance. However, I believe that such happiness is not genuine and is easy to break, and that when it breaks, will bring about severe distress. In the TED speech by Hyeonseo Lee, a North Korean defector, Lee told her story of how she opened her eyes to the reality of her country after her mother’s friend’s family all died of hunger. Although her fantasy and happiness broke with distress, because of the realization, she was able to find her way out of North Korea and live an adventurous life in search of meaning and genuine happiness. Thus, a proper, unbiased education is central for the North Korean adolescents.

"My Escape from North Korea"- TED, Hyeonseo Lee

If only possible, I wish to help adolescents like me in North Korea. I would tell them about good books that had healed me at hard times, and the songs that I love. However, giving direct help in the education of North Korean adolescents is virtually impossible. Thus, realizable efforts must be done by the South Korean government to provide better education at least for the North Korean defectors in South Korea, and to reduce the educational gap when and if the Koreas are unified.

There are increasingly many North Korean defectors in South Korea. A large proportion of them are in their adolescence. From 1998 until December 2012, of the total of 23,879 defectors, 16,773(70%) were middle school and high school students(Statistics from the Ministry of Education Homepage). However, there are very few specialized schools for the defectors in South Korea. The Hangyoere Middle& High School is the only public school exclusively for North Korean defectors. It is a school to help young defectors to adapt to the South Korean society, not only by providing academics but also by engaging the students in various activities such as drama class and sports, providing psychological counseling, and even medical treatment. Before being thrown into a completely different educational and social environment, students at the Hangyoere School get a chance to adapt to the atmosphere and prepare themselves. With increasing numbers of North Korean defectors, I believe that the South Korean government should fund the establishment of more specialized schools for defectors. 

"High School for North Korean Defectors"- Youtube

Education in North Korea is falling behind both in content and environment. In the Youtube video, “North Korea: A Day in the Life”, there is a scene in a North Korean kindergarten. The teacher tells a group of children the story of Kim Jung-il’s boyhood, the core of the narrative being Kim’s charitable nature. Other teachers evaluate the teacher on the effectiveness of her deliverance of the “message,” and later, give advice on what details to emphasize, for example, that Kim Jeong-il lived “exactly the same way as his comrades did when he was young.” As in this example, education in North Korea is not free from brainwashing. Moreover, the educational environment is poor. According to an article from The New York Times, since the 1990’s after a famine, most schools were deprived, and possibly are still deprived, of “heating fuel, adequate food rations and school supplies.” There is also the problem of “unruly mobilization of students,” which is making students gather fuel and fertilizer for the school during school hours, instead of providing them with proper education. 

Considering such limits of North Korean education, the South Korean government should prepare an educational program that starts from elementary education for North Koreans, to facilitate the reduction of educational gap when and if the Koreas unify. Furthermore, the South Korean government should have an open minded attitude about education, since there are also aspects that South Korean education can learn from that of North Korea, such as preservation of pure Korean language. 

At this moment, nearer to me than my family by distance, a North Korean girl may be lying on her bed, looking up at the picture of Kim Il-sung on the wall, and feeling happy. She might have had the incipient signs of cracks in the egg that she probably had buried in her heart as a nightmare; but I believe that tiny cracks are sensitive enough to respond to a stimulus and eventually break open the egg. Efforts must be done to improve education for North Koreans in South Korea, at least to give the hope that in the near future, the efforts will spread out to reach the girl in North Korea. 

Should the U.S take stronger actions against N.K to stop its nuclear tests? - By Taeyoon Lim

After the Cheonan submarine sank deep into the ocean in 2010 March 26, my ethics teacher’s face was red with resentment. Standing on the podium, the teacher ardently criticized South Korean politicians for blaming North Korea with no specific evidence in the Cheonan issue. She merely viewed the issue as political artifice by the South Korean government in order to distract citizens’ attention away from domestic politics. Despite two hours of debate, the ethics teacher, a former North Korean refugee, was firm on her stance that most reported North Korean threats were flawed and did not exist. Though she might have said this in such way due to her love towards her hometown, it is incontrovertible that threats from North Korea do, in fact, exist. With Kim Jeong-Un clutching a switch for a nuclear missile launcher, feeling relief in the Korean Peninsula is premature. For the sake of peace and safety for all, the U.S, a country that can wield the strongest international power, should tighten its grip on Kim Jeong Un. North Korea has refused denuclearization suggestions by other nations, and their nuclear weaponization technology has progressed enough to manufacture more destructive weapons.

North Korea has refused to compromise with numerous diplomatic negotiations in order to continue its nuclear tests. The current dictator of North Korea, Kim Jeong Un, has chosen an extremely illogical diplomatic stance in order to pursue further development in nuclear technology. For instance, North Korea has abandoned multi-national food aids provided by the U.S and South Korea in order to maintain its nuclear facilities. I once saw several photos of dead bodies of North Koreans lying on unpaved roads in rural regions. Extremely feeble limbs and swelled abdomens of the dead bodies lucidly suggested that they died due to malnutrition. Why can’t Kim Jeong Un feel such anguish of North Koreans? Is nuclear technology worthy enough to abandon thousands of people whose lives are being eaten away by poverty and famine? Instead of compromising with other nations to aid innocent lives, North Korea conducted the additional underground nuclear explosion experiment on February 12^th 2013. To make a weapon that can destruct 40% of the western continent of the U.S, North Korea is killing thousands people annually with its merciless exploitation . When there are no restrictions on North Korea, no one can guarantee the future of North Korean citizens and other countries. North Koreans will be ceased by poverty, and the world will be ceased by a nuclear war. Therefore, the U.S should perform stronger actions to sanction North Korea’s nuclear tests to ensure North Koreans’ welfare and world peace.

Advancement in North Korean nuclear technology is enabling  more destructive weapons. Instead of investing financial aids from the Sun-Shine policy of South Korea in feeding impoverished North Koreans, Kim Jeong Il covertly accumulated such aids to propel his ambitious nuclear plan. Today, his successor, Kim Jeong Un, is arduously carrying out his father’s grandiose plan by increasing the frequency of the nuclear tests and fatality of potential nuclear missiles. As an example, the Korean Central News Agency recently reported that North Korea has begun to use plutonium in manufacturing miniature nuclear devices. Such devices can be attached on Unha-3, a long-range missile, which North Korea painstakingly manufactured and succeeded in launching on December 2012. Furthermore,Kim Jeong Un had already conducted two long-range missile attacks and one nuclear test during the 2 years of his reign . My science teacher in elementary school said that a war between South and North Korea in the future would end with a push of a missile switch. Such moment seems to be coming earlier than I have expected. Today, all Kim Jeong Un has to do is to push a button to destruct everything that my ancestors have yielded for the past 5000 years. Only ashes and remnants of human civilizations would be left on the Korean Peninsula after a war, and my science teacher’s prediction would turn out to be true. In other words, the U.S should not hesitate to impose stronger regulations on North Korea before its military power begets irreversible chaos.

To sum up, the U.S should strengthen its restrictions against nuclear-fanatic North Korea, since Kim Jeong Un has revealed no signs of denuclearization in order to fulfill his nuclear plans, and improved nuclear technology of North Korea is now in the realm that can impose serious global threats. I and most of my fellow South Koreans are living in modern society that has a weak personal connection to North Korea other than being South Koreans. However, detrimental impacts that Kim Jeong Un can inflict to South Korea do have powerful connections with our lives. The destiny of people I love and everything I possess depends on a capricious dictator living in the North. Truly, this is an inconvenient truth. Persuading obstinate Kim Jeong Un is incontrovertibly a challenging task. But we cannot allow a single dictator to destroy our land and civilizations that our ancestors have established through innumerable historical turmoil and immense sacrifice. With the help of U.S, South Koreans have to struggle to weather through this diplomatic tension that is swaying the destiny of our nation. 

Can the North Korean government maintain its hold over its citizens? - By Hongmin Sung

Stability of North Korea

Can the North Korean government maintain its hold over its citizens?

I’ve been thinking of pursuing a career in mechanics, preferably robotics with a focus on military technology, ever since middle school. I got to know in KMLA that having a specific career plan, especially one like mine, was uncommon. Well, the reason I decided to commit by studies to work in this field was because of the ROKS Cheonan sinking and the Yeonpyeong bombardments. When I read that several faults in the equipment, such as the K-9 howitzers, caused a lot more casualties, I was angry and upset. A country that prides itself for its technological excellence had lost lives due to its technology, or lack of it. Coincidentally, I also looked into our northern counterparts’ military out of curiosity, and then the nation as a whole.

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, a.k.a. North Korea, is one of the world’s last Stalinist countries, shrouded in secrecy by the extensive power of its government. Its seclusion from the world around it is one of the main reasons why the country hasn’t collapsed. As the country fell under the third generation of dictators, we are still waiting for the “inevitable” collapse of the nation. But after 6 decades and two successions of power, North Korea is still standing. Could this nation actually maintain this status quo, or is this all just a prelude to the nation’s downfall? To answer this question, I looked at North Korea from a social point of view and an economical point of view.

             Domestically, the North Korean government uses three methods to control its citizens. First, it uses propaganda to project the image of a pure, rising nation amongst Western evils. For instance, a typical example of North Korean propaganda will praise the Korean race to be pure and perfect by dressing them in white clothing. Second, the government controls the nation’s media, such as TV, radio, the Internet and newspapers to cloud its citizens from the truth. Last year, North Korea was next to last in the RSF (Reporters Without Borders)’s annual index on media environment. Lastly, the party uses its secret service to instill fear of insubordination to the citizens. North Korea has tripled its secret police in the past 30 years, and controls the citizens as intimately as possible. Internationally, North Korea can be viewed as an isolated country with very few allies. Only China and a few small African, Middle Eastern, and Southeast Asian countries are helping or trading with North Korea in the present. Russia, which was a former ally, is now pressuring alongside the Western powers and South Korea to follow international laws. In order to cover up this situation, the North Korean government has cut off access of the citizens to the outside world. However, foreign goods, especially South Korean movies, dramas, and songs are seeping into the country. This infiltration is triggering more and more defections and also promoting our country's image to the citizens of North Korea.

             Economically, North Korea is quite famous for having a large gap between the classes. North Korea has the 103^rd largest GDP of 40 billion dollars. It wouldn’t be so bad, but the wealth is focused on the top party members and poverty is flourishing everywhere else. As the people died by the hundreds from starvation, “the Great Leader” rode a $400,000 Maybach. After the 1994~1998 famine, which killed millions, North Korea showed immense inflexibility in recovery and is still suffering from the repercussions. Especially in 1995, monumental floods (in one particular case 870mm in 7 hours) sealed the doom of millions of people. Around 12~15% of the grain produce in North Korea was destroyed and even the soldiers couldn’t obtain sufficient food. The soldiers, due to the “military first” policy, got top priority after the party members, but the dire situation of the country has made the soldiers the main body of North Korean corruption. Still, North Korea is using around $10 billion in its military, almost a quarter of its entire GDP. This lopsided system is keeping North Korea in its impoverished state.

             After looking at North Korea in these two sides, I believe that it is safe to say that the Labor party will not be able to keep hold of its nation much longer. Although the government is controlling the media and is using propaganda to brainwash its citizens, more and more North Koreans are gaining access to the real world. They are finding out that they are being deceived and that they could lead better lives elsewhere. They are sick and tired of the endless propaganda and the appeals to work harder for the leader and the coming war. They’ve got no help, no allies, only themselves. The North Koreans are tired, and I think that we all should prepare for the probable breakdown of our northern counterparts.

A Tale of Two Languages: Hangul and Chosono - By Nayeon Kim

I was eating dinner. Only eating, I was not speaking at all. My coworkers were talking very freely and friendlily. They were not oppressed by anything. They did not look like people who joined this company a month ago. They were living in their world, their South Korean world.

Our superior, who was eating dinner with us, said something and my coworkers started to introduce themselves. They said their name, something about their family, and about their hobbies. Someone said that his favorite food was pizza. What could a pizza be? I have never heard of a food called pizza.

When the person sitting next to me finished introducing himself, it was my turn. I had to say something. I wished not to say anything at the dinner table because my accent would reveal my identity. Even though many of them already knew that I was a North Korean, I did not want to tell this with my own lips. Unfortunately, I had to speak with my awkward South Korean accent.

“My name is Lee Hyeon… No, Yi Hyeon-Jin.”

I made a mistake again. My name was not Lee Hyeon-Jin, but Yi Hyeon-Jin. South Koreans never used the family name Lee; it was their grammar. They called this rule the “initial sound law (dueumbupchik),” which states that when the [li] sound comes at the beginning of a word, this sound should change to [i]. I had to think one more time even before saying my name.

 “I like to play soccer with my dongmus (dongmu: Korean for “comrade”). My dongmus are very good soccer players.”

My coworkers and my superior looked at me suspiciously. Using their facial expressions, they said “I cannot understand you.” What a catastrophe. I should have not said “dongmu” when referring to a friend, because South Koreans use chingu (Korean for “friend”) to refer the same thing. I heard that in South Korea, because the word “dongmu” contains a communist connotation, this word is no longer used to refer a friend.

I said lots of more things, and I finally finished my long self-introduction. I finished, but failed the “South Korean Language Test.” They could not understand me, and I could not understand them. The discrepancy between languages was so great that I experienced difficulties even when introducing myself.

Before Korea was partitioned, there were many regional dialects which slightly differed from others. When Korea was partitioned after the Korean War, South Korea chose the Seoul dialect as the standard, but North Korea heavily based their language on the Pyongyang dialect. Even though these two dialects differed before the partition of Korea, their difference was not as great as the difference between North and South Korean language today.

The language of North and South Korea began to greatly differ when North Korea made a new rule for Hangul orthography (“Chosono Choljabop”) in 1954. The rule itself contained only minor changes from the “Proposal for Unified Korean Orthography (Hangul Matchumbeop Tongiran),” the original rule for Korean orthography made in 1933 by the Korean Language Society. After this rule was made, North Koreans started to call their language “Chosono,” setting their language apart from the South Korean “Hangul.”

Affected by the Juche idea, Kim-Il-Sung started to alter the North Korean language by issuing rules such as “A Number of Issues on the Development of the Korean Language” (1964), “In Rightly Advancing the Racial Characteristics of the Korean Language” (1966) and “Standard Korean Language” (1966). The language changing process in North Korea was administered by the National Language Revision Committee, which was under the control of the North Korean government. New rules were still made in the 21^st century, like “Standard Spacing Rules in Writing Korean” (2000) and “Rules for Spacing in Writing Korean” (2003).

As a result, Hangul and Chosono became very different languages. Many words derived from English vocabulary or Chinese characters were changed to pure Korean in Chosono. These words were changed because of the Juche idea, which insists that using vocabulary derived from English or Chinese harms perfect autonomy. Moreover, some words look the same but differ in meaning because of the different political setting of North and South Korea. For instance, the word “dongmu” meant “friend” in Hangul, but the same word means “comrade” in Chosono, meaning a friend in the communist context. Hangul and Chosono also became different in accent, pitch, spacing, pronunciation, and orthography.

The differences between Hangul and Chosono are causing unexpected problems. North Korean defectors are experiencing difficulties when adapting to South Korean society because their accent is different from that of South Koreans. Because Hangul and Chosono have very different accents, almost every South Korean can immediately recognize a North Korean by his accent. Furthermore, North Koreans only understand about 60% of the South Korean language. Moreover, if the difference between these languages increases, North and South Koreans can easily lose their sense of kinship because they lose a crucial bonding element called language. If Hangul and Chosono were not so different, the North Korean defector would have experienced less or no difficulties when introducing himself at a dinner.

North and South Koreans were originally the same ethnic group, so they shared their language. The ancestors of North and South Koreans lived in a same nation called the Chosun dynasty. However, because the discrepancy between Hangul and Chosono increased and increased, North and South Koreans no longer think the other one as the same ethnic group. To North Koreans, South Koreans are people who use a language that they cannot understand. To South Koreans, North Koreans are people who changed their language to serve their ideology. They cannot understand each other. They cannot properly introduce themselves. The bridge between North and South Koreans are blocked; they cannot communicate.

<Sources>

Hyeonseo Lee: My escape from North Korea

Korean Language: Differences Between North and South

North Korea: A day in the life

North–South differences in the Korean language

Crossing the Borders of Heaven - By Wonshik Shin

Crossing the Borders of Heaven

<The Defector: Escape From North Korea (Preview)>

            

     Imagine a young woman living with a son who was born with a crippled leg. She barely makes a living as a prostitute, enduring all the shamefulness and humiliation. One day, she makes a plan to take a long journey to get out of the horrible environment. She makes up a fake ID card, and uses it to get on the airplane alone, risking her life as well as that of her relatives and acquaintances. When she arrives at her destination, she cries in despair, accepting the gloom reality of discrimination and unfair opportunities rather than hopefulness and better living conditions. Miraculously, she somehow settles down as a new-comer and then brings her child by means of desperate begging, bribery, and all sorts of risky actions. At last, she overcomes the difficulties regarding discrimination and finally lives happily with her son.

    








Isn’t this a moving and breathtaking story that you would expect to be the plot of a dramatic movie or a book? Well, there could be similar cases in movies or books, but the very story mentioned above is the actual real-life story of a female North Korean defector. I got to know this touching story of the woman by watching a documentary film called Crossing the Boarders of Heaven. Released in 2011, this Rory Peck Award-winning documentary depicts the desperate lives and living environments of the 9 North Korean refugees who were on their way to the South Korea. Most of the defectors in the film were women in poor living environments with socially belittled jobs like prostitutes, baby-sitters or street salespeople, who had at last succeeded in living a happy life with freedom and economic stableness.

     However, the defectors who starred in the documentary are minor exceptions: we must keep in mind that there many more defectors who do not make it to the South. Many are caught and sent back to North Korea, where they might be jailed, publically executed, or put into prison camp. When the forced return of a number of North Korean defectors was a big moral issue in Korea about a year ago, I had a chance to have a conversation about the defectors with a Chinese. I was stunned by the fundamental difference of Korea and China in the attitudes toward the issue. She told me that it is absurd for the Korean press to be making a huge fuss. She believed that it was China's obligation for North Korea as allies to send back the illegal defectors. Although I cannot generalize her thoughts to be that of the whole Chinese population, I felt the unlikeliness of convincing China with the values of human rights of the defectors, since they perceive this issue very differently.

 North Korean refugee watches her mother being dragged by Chinese policemen 
when her family attempted to flee to the Japanese Consulate.

     Perceiving the inhumanness and seriousness of this issue, South Korea should take more action to save North Korean defectors from their terrible living conditions. The first solution to this heartbreaking situation is to give informal support to the defectors in China through non-governmental organizations and religious organizations. It is extremely difficult to give formal help to the defectors who are stuck in China due to the Chinese government’s pressure on Korea. Because China is allies with North Korea as well as the South, it is unable to reflect the demands of South Korea only; it also needs to listen to the North, who demands the immediate return of the defectors by force. Other than diplomatic problems, there are problems regarding the huge difference in beliefs of Chinese and Koreans. Just like the woman whom I had a discussion with, a huge part of the Chinese population believes that North Korean defectors are criminals who committed treason against their own nation simply because they did not follow the orders of their country and fled. Thus, it is clear that we cannot provide open support to North Korean defectors. Another way to indirectly help the defectors is to improve the environments of autonomous areas of ethnic Koreans in China (a.k.a. “Chosun-jok"), where a huge population of defectors hide themselves - disguised as “Chosun-jok”s. For instance, we could build small, secret “protect homes” for North Korean defectors in those regions.

     In addition, the next solution is the South Korean government giving various institutional supports to the North Korean defectors living in Korea. In many cases, defectors are harshly mistreated even in South Korea as well; they find it almost impossible to assimilate  into the culture and very different living environments. Besides, most defectors who are willing to settle down start with almost no money at all. Thus, it is crucial that the South Korean government not only try to help refugees stuck in China, but also help the ones already in South Korea. One way that the government can aid the defectors is to establish lifelong educational institutes and provide decent education on English and other subjects that are necessary in getting stable jobs. Also, the government should make effort to change the attitudes of its citizens when treating North Korean defectors. Most South Koreans still find it difficult to recognize the defectors as South Korean citizens who truly belong to the society; they tend to alienate and discriminate the defectors. Therefore, the government should try to change this social atmosphere by promoting nation-wide campaigns and encouraging friendship-building activities. 

     In Dante’s Divine Comedy, there is a place that is somewhere in between the concept of heaven and hell: purgatory. Purgatory is a place where the souls of sinners (those who are not ‘sinful’ enough to go to hell) temporarily stay to atone for their sins before finally going to heaven. Today, there are many people -not souls, but human beings -who go through these    procedures before arriving at their final destination of what is expected to be a heavenly place. They are not that far away: the suffering North Korean defectors are the ones currently in the state of “purgatory.” There is an old adage, “Heaven helps those who help themselves.” The North Korean defectors have tried every humanly possible way to help themselves to live a humane life. All they want is a happy life with their basic human rights kept. It’s time that we take action and give institutional support to North Korean defectors to show them the “stairway to heaven”. 

Sources

"China has repatriated North Korean defectors, South Korean official says."

“China’s envoy deflects calls to help defectors.”

“North Koreans face adjustment problems in South Korea”

“The Problem of North Korean Refugees in China and Possible Solutions.”

“Life in South Hard for North Koreans.”
"North Korea's Underground Railroad to Freedom"