Our group, consisting of Hong Sungjun, Kim Hyungcheol, and Park Jonghyun will be studying North Korean defectors, and their lives in South Korea.
Some of the stereotypes of North Korean defectors that we discussed during class included:
- Defected due to tragic events; have often been separated from their family.
- Poor academic achievement due to the poor education system in North Korea.
- Fear retribution from the North Korean regime.
- Physically small and frail. North Korean women are generally more attractive (Namnam Buknyeo.)
- Speak with a North Korean accent.
- Lonely due to a failure to adapt to South Korean culture along with rejection from the South Korean community.
- Feel hatred towards the North Korean regime due the 'mistreatment and abuse' they experienced.
We will study these stereotypes and attempt to gain an insight into North Korean defectors through conducting research and through interviews. The subjects for interviewing will be the North Korean defectors attending Seoul National University (chosen primarily for their accessibility), workers from 'Settlement Support Centers', and possibly some public figures is contact may be reached.
Preliminary Research
1. More North Korean defectors report dissatisfaction with life in South
According to this article, North Korean defectors who risk their lives to resettle in the South are choosing suicide. Defectors face a distinct set of obstacles in the South Korea, including economic difficulties, isolation and loneliness. It was also reported positive feelings about South Korean life have also have declined among defectors since 2012.
2. Escape from North Korea: A Modern Refugee Crisis
This articles is focusing on the two things. First of all, Why North Korean defectors are struggling to flee from North Korea despite the risks. It points out an economic reason. Secondly, It shows how difficult it is for North Korean defectors to succeed in escape from North Korea. They risk the possibility of being sexual slaves, forced laborers or are even executed publicly.
3. Bridging the gap: Where young defectors go to school in South Korea
This article and video shows us how it is difficult for children fleeing from North Korea to adapt in South Korea. They have suffered from teasing or obstacles in the education system. In this video, one principal, who is also a North Korean defector, has set up the school for these children. She is emphasizing the bid for bridging the gap in our society.
4. A North Korean defector speaks out
Hyeonseo Lee, a North Korean defector talks about the life she remembers in North Korean prior to her defection and her experiences adapting to a new life in South Korea. The video provides an impressively comprehensive introduction to the topic of North Korean defectors. She guides us through her story in surprisingly well-spoken English, making the video all the more pleasant to watch.
06:00 mins: Lee begins to talk about her experiences adapting to life in South Korea; those who find the beginning part (life in North Korea in general, executions, Kim Jung Ill, starvation and so on ... ) less-interesting might want to fast forward to this section.
Thank you for sharing valuable information about North Korean defectors. The most intriguing your group's preliminary research was the TED video of Hyeonseo Lee, a North Korean defector. I was really surprised of her English speaking and well organized speech about her experience, a long journey to reach South Korea. After I watched the video, I searched her name and knew that she recently published her memoirs with the title "The Girl with Seven Names : A North Korean Defactor's Story". In the video, she was sometimes close to tears, and I could figure out how big her pain and sorrow was at the moment her families were imprisoned over and over. As other articles proved, North Korean defactors challenge to flee from North Korea in spite of the great risks they confront. I wish more and more educational institutions for North Korean defectors, like Kumgang school reported by CNN news, established in South Korea with a sufficient and continous support to make them fully adjust to South Korean society.
ReplyDeleteIt was so good to read and watch all those stuffs. I was really impressed by the last TED video by Hyeonseo Lee. Recently, I saw some articles showing that famous North Korean Defectors make lie or exaggerate their experiences to become more famous. So now it's quite hard for me to believe all the words they say, but still they're trying to reveal dark sides of North Korea to the world and make NK people free or be helped by many people around the world. I think it's valuable, even though they sometimes lie. Because it's true that NK people are under the NK government's dictatorship and many of NK defectors are struggling against many people(including some Chinese brokers or police officers) for their freedom. This post led me to think that we should help them right now in various ways. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThank you for very interesting ted video clip and news articles. I've known that the North Koreans are suffering, but just vaguely, because I've never met anyone from North Korea directly or heard stories in secondhand. I didn't know that there was a great famine in 1990s in North Korea - and it was very shocking when the lecturer Lee in the video clip witnessed that people had to eat grass, bug, or even tree bark to survive. I had heard of that kind of story before sometime, but maybe I might always have wanted to ignore that because it's so atrocious fact to accept to be true happening just near my country.
ReplyDeleteI hope the North Korea defectors to have happy lives, not having another trouble in here. The South Korean government should not look away the reality of increasing suicide of North Korean defectors in here. I feel a little bit relieved when noticed that there's a school for North Korea defectors' children in South Korea, but still worry if they are well funded from the government to overcome financial matters. North Korea refugees are still unfamiliar existence in South Korea, but it's time to confront the reality and embrace them, not only for a political reasons, but for the matter of human rights.
I liked all your group's articles and I aspecially thought the one about escaping from the north was the most interesting. I have seen and heard of many North korean refugees near me so I didn't think of escaping as a big deal. But while reading the article, I thought back on those refugees I saw. It was hard to imagine they risked their lives to come here. From this article I could think about how hard their lives were in north korea, and how I should treat them with respect.
ReplyDeleteI was very surprised to learn about the North Korean defectors. I only thought that they couldn't stand North Korea which made them escape from North Korea. I never imagined that coming to South Korea would be so hard as to go through China, Laos and such countries beforehand. Also, I thought that it was such an irony that despite the help that our government can provide, there are also Chinese officials and North Korean intelligency agents who would prevent the defectors from getting help. I thought that the international law should be more flexible as to make exceptions toward North Korean defectors because it is actually the law that is clinging the defectors' escape from North Korea and China.
ReplyDeleteI'm Okchul Jung by the way.
ReplyDeleteVery impressing TED video. I've never met a person who are from the North Korea. So I heard about their story in a news, articles, and mostly books which give me a lot of informations. Actually, North Korean defectors have had hard time to adjust themselves to the life in South Korea. I think this problem can be explained with two factors. First, people who were born in South Korea have a differentiative mind to the aspect of culture. In mind, many people yet mind some people from unfamilliar cultures and don't get along with them. I think it is more distinctive in problems of North Korean defectors, second, the hatred against North. Historically we, South Korean have been tought to have such a hatred mind against North Korea ideology. It's very disappointed that many people unconsciously take people from North Korea as having their dictator's ideology.
ReplyDeleteOh it's very hard to point out what I want to say...