5 - Discussion Questions

• Have you encountered any North Korean defectors, if so, then what were your first impressions of them?
• What stereotypes did you have regarding North Korean defectors, and did any of them change as a result of this presentation?
• Do you think that the increase in broadcasting of North Korean defectors in the media has helped strengthen or change any stereotypes?
• What are your opinions about the increase in the number of North Koreans defecting to South Korea?
• Do you perceive the North Korean people as essentially the same people as the South?
• How should we perceive the North Korean people, what would be the ideal perspective through which we may understand these people?

Key Words

- Defect: to leave your own country or group  in order to join an opposing one.

- Flee: to leave somewhere very quickly, in order to escape from danger.

- Loanword: a word taken from a foreign language for use in the domestic language.

- Hanawon: the South Korean re-education center for North Korean defectors, conducting various training programs for a period of 12 weeks.

- Refugee: people who have been forced to leave their homes and country, either due to war or due to their political or religious beliefs.

- Deport: forcing the leave of an individual from a country.

- Imprisonment: denying one's freedom by putting them in prison as lawful punishment.

- Public Execution: putting a condemned person to death publicly, in front of an audience.

- Famine: a severe shortage of food, leading to widespread hunger, starvation, and death.