Ask a North Korean
Page 19
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.
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.
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 t
o 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.