Hello, World

Throughout my sophomore year, I had an opportunity to participate as vice president of public relations in an organization called “Liberty in North Korea.” With my South Korean roots and what little knowledge I gained from high school East Asian class, I was confident that I knew all there was to know about North Korea and that I was more than qualified to bring peace to the Korean peninsula. I soon realized I was dead wrong, however, in two different senses: one, my responsibilities merely included sending out press releases and selling cookies and shirts to raise money (which are totally honorable, yet not exactly world-changing) and two, there were a lot more to learn about North Korea, not from a completely biased, right-winged South Korean’s perspective, but from an objective third party’s point of view.

Growing up in South Korea with super-conservative parents who refused to utter a word of sympathy towards North Koreans did have a certain degree of influence over my way of thinking. In my wildest imagination, our fellow neighbors up north were either starving to death or cooking up their next plot for yet another military attack. I’ve lived through their attempted flight bombings, numerous submarine attacks, and armed quarrels at the border amongst countless other random “tantrums” that killed and harmed clueless citizens of my own country. I despised their reckless and immature actions filled with pure evil intents that benefited no one, not even themselves.

In my junior year in high school, I actually visited North Korea as a tourist. I got on the bus expecting rows of starving people and begging children, but came back with photos of me in picturesque locations and an amazing three-course meal. What did surprise me, however, was the attitude of North Koreans themselves. Whether they were tour guides, restaurant waitresses or “photo models” (pretty women dressed in traditional attire offering to take pictures with tourists), the civilians only seemed concerned with one matter: their mighty general. Commonly known as Kim Jong Il the dictator to the rest of the world, this dear general was praised and honored in every sentence they pronounced. He was basically a god, a holy entity that creates and controls all matters of life. At first I figured they might be faking it due to the hidden security cameras monitored by the government, but their twinkling eyes and solemn faces expressed nothing but genuine gratitude to the “one and only general who has provided them with such wonderful lives.”

Not a lot of people realize that the Korean peninsula is still in the middle of a war; we’re simply “taking a break.” Under such circumstance, it isn’t highly unusual to hear about military outbreaks and Kim Jong Il’s rant about how his army is going to destroy South Korea and the U.S., and it is definitely too idealistic to hope for a peaceful reunification at this point. Quite a few experts have been hinting at a possibility of a war, perhaps the very first high-tech nuclear war the world has ever seen. The method with which reunification takes place, however, isn’t currently within the boundaries of my interest; what I really want to analyze is the aftermath of reunification. As previously discussed in my recollections of the North Korea trip, the civilians of NK possess a certain mindset completely different from ours that messing with their beliefs would be like telling the most devoted Christians that God doesn’t exist – ineffective and a total waste of time. When the entire peninsula merges and the NK “general is god” civilians and SK “Kim Jong Il is a devil from hell” civilians are forced to mingle, what will happen? Would North Koreans be happier where they are now, completely clueless of the rest of the world yet perfectly content with what they have? Are we trying to muddle with their ideology because we, as the rest of the world, are simply too caught up with the idea of being heroes that we are completely disregarding the perspective of the NK civilians? Given that the U.S. wins this hypothetical war, would North Koreans who have been trained from birth to despise Americans reach their hands out and yell “save us?”

In the following weeks, I would like to analyze the mindset and the culture of NK civilians and the relationship between them and their leaders, measure the difference between their reality and what we are assuming it to be, and ultimately determine if reunification would be a successful process for all nations involved. If you are interested in this issue and learn more about it, visit the following blogs:

http://vienna-pyongyang.blogspot.com/2008/04/how-everything-began.html

This Austrian traveler gives a detailed travelogue about his trip to the hermit kingdom. In contrast to my trip that has been strictly censored and probably distorted out of reality, his recollections give a better sense of where North Korea actually stands.

http://friendsofkorea.blogspot.com/

This is a blog created by London-based communists, and thus gives a different perspective on the whole issue of North Korea threatening world peace.

http://nkleadershipwatch.wordpress.com/

Accompanied by reliable photos and official statements, this blog follows Kim Jong Il and updates the world on his whereabouts.