Discovering Joy: Ten Years in North Korea

by Joy Yoon

Although we are both U.S. citizens, my husband and I grew up in South Korea and already had that native knowledge of Korean culture and language as a foundation. The better we came to know North Koreans, however, the more we realized that what we thought we knew of them had often missed the mark completely.

When I was fifteen, I discovered a fascination with North Korea. I had begun to read books on the history of Korea and to my surprise, instead of identifying with South Korea, I found I had an affinity for North Korea. One day, I thought, I would work in North Korea. But I was only fifteen, and at the time, North Korea was in the grip of the great famine of the 1990’s. Everything in the news about North Korea revolved around two themes: nuclear weapons and a dire shortage of food. I had not heard of anyone visiting or working in North Korea. But I was determined that someday I would go there.

She identified with North Korea? Weird.

Growing up I referred to myself often as a boiled egg. I was white on the outside and yellow (Asian) on the inside, I thought. But the older I got and the more I understood Korean culture, the more I realized that I am not yellow or white. I am both. The combination allows me to see both cultures in depth but remain somewhat objective.

This concept is often hard for Westerners to understand because it touches on one of the main differences between socialist and democratic societies: focus on the past versus the future. Although this is a generalization, it is a key aspect of North Korean culture that is worth noting. Socialist countries tend to be collectivistic or group cultures, whereas democratic countries lean toward individualism. As a result, most socialist cultures place greater emphasis on history in order to identify with the formation of the people group and nation. The past very much defines who the group is and where they are headed. Contrastingly, since democratic countries are predominately individualistic, their cultures focus on the future. We think, “The past is in the past”. We are the authors of our own destinies. Therefore, we should focus on the future, and not the past. This fundamental cultural difference leads to huge misunderstandings between socialist and democratic countries. Westerners, typically being democratic, may comment on Asian socialist countries as being “stuck in the past”, while for Asians, the past is what defines their identity as a people.

Slogans such as “Let’s Do It Our Way”, “One Heart, One Mind”, and “Even if the Road is Difficult, Let’s Laugh as We Go!” are plastered everywhere. Although North Korea is making attempts to slowly open up to the international community, they are unwilling to compromise on their way of doing things.

Work would then resume around 2 p.m. and continue until at least 7 p.m. North Koreans work late. There is no such thing as being paid by the hour in North Korea. Almost all jobs are salaried government positions since the country runs on a socialist system. Our foreign liaison at the hospital confessed to us that he would work late most nights, even as late as 11 p.m.

I don't like the sound of working late with only a set pay. Not an hourly pay. Sounds like that is exploitation to me. Hourly pay makes sure you get what you work for. Salary pay means no matter how much you work you will only have that. Making them work late everyday is wrong.

Associating Christianity with American imperialism, North Koreans are taught in school that Christian missionaries in the eighteen and nineteen hundreds only came to Korea to indoctrinate people with Western civilization. During the Korean War, they are taught, U.S. soldiers massacred Koreans like modern day crusaders. The fact that it was Korean Christians who were the largest group that opposed communism when it took over the government in 1948 is something that only fans the flames of hatred for Christianity on the part of the establishment. In North Korea, Christians are considered spies, foreign imperialists, and anti-government traitors.

North Korea is infamous for its lack of religious freedom. But there is a new spirit of religious freedom entering the land. Right now, this freedom is primarily for foreigners living in North Korea, but I hope and believe it is the start of something new. In this atheist land, a crack is beginning to form, broadening tolerance and understanding for people with different cultures, views, and faiths.

I really love this author. One of the millions of people I have learned about that you know that they are a great person. I love learning about great people. Heck bad people to but the shine in this world is much more fun!

Disease prevention takes precedence over maternal bonding. It was challenging for us as foreign humanitarian workers to work in a medical system so focused on contagious diseases and acute care issues. Many long-term medical issues in North Korea are simply being left unresolved in the shadows.

NK's medical situation is just focused on spread. They aren't modernized to fight many diseases but they put forth all their strength to stop spread.

They would use North Korean textbooks translated into English which made it like attending school in North Korea in English without the classes in ideology. This gave us a glimpse into the education system of North Korea. As humanitarian workers, we supported daycare centers, kindergartens, and orphanages throughout North Korea. Each time we visited a kindergarten or school, the children performed for us. Children as young as five or six performed songs and dances to near robotic perfection. Their facial expressions are trained along with the tiniest detail of movement all the way to the twitch of their fingers. While I struggled as a parent of three to control my own children, North Korean children seem perfectly well-behaved. It is only after the performance, when they go out in the playground or the school yard that their individual personalities and playfulness come out.

One of our friends in the expat community in Pyongyang was from Poland. He was interested in the North Korea outside the capital city and so with this curiosity decided to take a trip to explore the countryside. At the end of his trip, I asked him what he thought about North Korea. I was particularly interested to hear what he had to say coming from a former communist nation himself. This is what he concluded, “In Poland, we always viewed communism as something imposed on us by a foreign power (Russia), but in North Korea I discovered that communism is a nationalistic movement, of the people and for the people. The people really believe in it.” He was right. Communism in North Korea is viewed as deliverance from Japanese Imperialism. Comrade Kim Il-Sung was the morning star that saved them from the tyranny of Japanese control. After leading the fight for independence, General Kim Il-Sung returned from his military base in China to establish a government for the Korean people in 1948. A revolutionary leader in the fight for independence from the Japanese and born into humble circumstances, he was one of them! He was their hero.

For thousands of years, Korea was ruled by monarchies. Korea had twelve major dynasties, the last being the Joseon Dynasty. From the North Korean perspective, they are simply carrying on in the long legacy of past Korean dynasties. They have no experience of anything else; they know nothing different.

One day I asked one of our North Korean counterparts, “Would it be possible for North and South Korea to open their borders and co-exist as separate yet friendly nations?” To my surprise, his reply was, “That is exactly what we are proposing! Our unification policy calls for separate yet equally respected countries. We are willing to allow two governments to exist. Since it is difficult for our two countries to agree upon the terms to be unified into a single nation, we are willing to co-exist in a friendly manner as two separate countries.” “Then, why isn’t unification possible? That sounds like a good solution to me,” I responded. “South Korea will not accept these terms,” he replied. It’s obvious that the issue of unification on the Korean Peninsula does not have a simple solution. North Korea is traumatized by the Korean War and South Korea by North Korea’s militarism and human rights abuses. Neither country trusts the other.

Both countries still refer to the other with their own names. South Korea refers to North Korea as “Buk Han” or “North Han”. Whereas, North Korea refers to South Korea as “Nam Chosun” or “South Chosun”. If the two countries cannot even recognize each other’s names, how are they going to cooperate in working through any of the deeper issues surrounding unification?

North Korea is not interested in being pitied or patronized by foreigners. They do not want to be told what to do. They want relationship based on mutual respect and reciprocal give and take.