The Girl with Seven Names is Hyeonseo Lee's autobiography. She tells you how her parents met, and how life was like growing up in North Korea. She saw a man get hanged under a bridge at age seven. Her dog got run over by a car, her dad commited suicide in the hospital. She saw people get shot at the airport, and their family had to sit in the front row. She crossed the Yalu River at age seventeen, right before it would be illegal for her to do so. She enters China and goes to stay with her aunt and uncle, who escaped right before the Korean War. Her uncle tells her everything she learned in school was fake. Kim Il Sung wasn't even born on Mount Paektu, he was born in Siberia. Her uncle and aunt try to set her up with a man named Geunsoo, but all he does is play video games. She moves to a different part of China and ends up working at a male hair salon that isn't really a hair salon. She goes to another different part of China and gets a job at a restaurant. She now begins thinking about going to South Korea. The police come and interrogate her about being North Korean. Her Mandarin is good enough that she passes and is set free. Had she failed, she would be sent back to North Korea. Then, someone hits her in the back of her head, and she blacks out. She was hit in the head with a one liter bottle of beer. She begins dating a policeman named Jinsu. He rounds up North Koreans and sends them back so she breaks up with him. She tried to get a connection back to her family but that gets her involved in a gang. The story keeps going, seriously, we're only 1/3 the way through. But basically, more stuff happens, she ends up in Seoul, South Korea. She wants her mom and brother to come over, but Minho (her brother) has a girlfriend who's mom is in the bowibu (secret police). Once Minho and their mom got over the border, Minho couldn't go back. Their journey is much tougher, but shorter than Hyeonseo's. Her family doesn't know Mandarin, so it is tough for them to get around. Hyeonseo sends them to Laos, and they get stuck in a Laotian prison because the broker that had to take them over went as far as he could. So, Hyeonseo has to work with the South Korean embassy, who wasn't being too helpful. She gets them out of prison, but doesn't have enough money to get them plane tickets. Dick Stolp helps her, and gives her lots of money. Hyeonseo is able to get back to South Korea, but has to wait awhile before she can see her family again. She reunites with them, helps them get settled, and teaches her mom about high fives. Hyeonseo meets her future husband, Brian Gleason in a bar. They date. Brian proposes. Hyeonseo asks her mom for her blessing. In the epilogue it talks about them going to the US for the wedding. Her mom orders a coffee in English. The end. If you want all the details, and all seven names, just go read the book. Here's the Amazon link. It's free with Audible.
)So, this book matters because it tells the story of what North Korea is really like. Had Hyeonseo, or Yeonmi or any other defector not written their books or told their stories, we wouldn't know what life was like inside the Hermit Kingdom. We would be believing that everyone lives like how it is like in Pyongyang, for the elites. I guess the most valuable idea from the book that I got, was that the world isn't always as it seems. Hyeonseo grows up believing her country is the best in the world, that others are living in poverty. Though, later in the book, at the time of the famine, it is shown that they aren't really the best. Though that doesn't change her opinion right then. I believe it starts then, though. Here is when Hyeonseo believes North Korea is the best, "This was a very happy time for me. We were the children of Kim Il Sung, and that made us children of the greatest nation on earth. We sang songs about the village of his birth, Mangyongdae, performing a little dance and putting our hands in the air on the word 'Mangyongdae'. His birthday, on 15 April, was the Day of the Sun, and our country was the Land of the Eternal Sun." (Lee, 22). Here is when her uncle tells her the truth about everything, "'You know all the history they teach you at school is a lie?' This was his opening shot. He started counting off all the fallacies he said I'd been taught. He said that at the end of the Second World War the Japanese had not been defeated by Kim Il-sung's military genius. They'd been driven out by the Soviet Red Army, which had installed Kim Il-sung in power. There had been no 'Revolution'. I had never before heard my country being criticized. I thought he'd gone crazy. 'And they taught you the South started the Korean War, didn't they? Well, here's some news for you. It was the North that invaded the South, and Kim Il-sung would have lost badly to the Yankees if China hadn't stepped in to save his arse.' Now I knew he'd gone crazy. 'Were you shown the little wooden cabin on Mount Paektu where Kim Jong-il was born?' His tone was heavy with sarcasm. 'It's a complete myth. He wasn't even born in Korea. He was born in Siberia, where his father was serving with the Red Army.' He could see from my face that I did not believe a word of this. He might as well have been telling me the earth was flat. 'He's not even a communist.' My uncle had worked himself up into a rage. 'He lives in palaces and beach condos, with brigades of pleasure girls. He drinks fine cognacs and eats Swiss cheeses - while his people go hungry. His only believe is in power.' This rant was making me uncomfortable. At home we never mentioned the personal lives of the Leaders. Ever. Any such talk was 'gossip' and highly dangerous... What my uncle said about my country had a depressing and repelling effect on me. I did not want to know." (Lee, 107-108, 109). Here is a part at the end that shows Hyeonseo's full change, "I started thinking deeply about human rights. One of the main reasons that distinctions between oppressor and victim and blurred in North Korea is that no one there has any concept of rights. To know that your rights are being abused, or that you are abusing someone else's, you first have to know that you have them, and what they are. But with no comparative information about societies elsewhere in the world, such awareness in North Korea cannot exist. This is also why most people escape because they're hungry or in trouble - not because they're craving liberty. Many defectors hiding in China even baulk at the idea of going to South Korea - they'd see it as a betrayal of their country and the legacy of the Great Leader. If the North Korean people acquired an awareness of their rights, of individual freedoms and democracy, the game would be up for the regime in Pyongyang. The people would realize that full human rights are exercised and enjoyed by one person only - the ruling Kim. He is the only figure in North Korea who exercises freedom of thought, freedom of speech, freedom of movement, his right not to be tortured, imprisoned, or executed without trial, and his right to proper healthcare and food." (Lee, 288-289) As you can see, the world wasn't how Hyeonseo believed it to be. It was good, kind of, but her country was far from the best. Had this book not been written, had no defector said what it was like, we wouldn't know about the true North Korea. This book is still valuable today because of recent events at the DMZ, with Moon and Kim meeting, what could this mean for the North Korean people? With the peace talks, we still must remember what is going on in the North, or what was going on. Until the North Koreans know what the world is actually like and learn their true history, the rest of us mustn't fall for the propaganda. So, that's what. We must not forget about North Korea and what went on/is going on until peace is reached. Even then, we mustn't forget.
Here's a sing-along version of Mangyongdae.
If you want to do what Hyeonseo did, put your hands in the air whenever you see "만경대" on screen. Transliteration and Google translation of lyrics will be posted soon.
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***UPDATED: 4.27.18 @ 8.30p -- When I had first posted this, the meeting between President Moon and Supreme Leader Kim hadn't yet begun. But hours later, it did. So, I'm updating the post to fit it so. I will still leave the original post below, but I am adding the connection in regards to the meeting here.***
So; what exactly happened yesterday night and this morning? Kim Jong Un of North Korea and Moon Jae In of South Korea met. They discussed ending the Korean War. The Korean War never officially ended, it's still in a ceasefire. But, the leaders of the two Koreas want to change that. Also, Kim might be leaning towards denuclearization of his side of the peninsula! Yesterday night (4.26.18, our time: around 8pm), Kim Jong Un crossed over the DMZ border to meet Moon Jae In. Had Hyeonseo tried to escape that way, she would've been shot and her family been sent to prison camps. A LEADER OF NORTH KOREA ENTERED INTO SOUTH KOREA!
They talked for a very long time, around seven or eight hours, if I remember correctly. Anyway, this is crazy! This even happening would've been unheard of in Hyeonseo's time. North Koreans were taught that South Korean kids pick through the dirt for food. Now, their own Dear Leader is crossing the border. To talk about peace! The two Koreas are making agreements, and plan to end the Korean War, this year! There are soldiers of both sides of the border, everyday, staring at one another. If peace were to come about on the peninsula, just think of the things that could happen! Maybe reunification won't happen since the two Koreas are now very culturally different. But what if North Koreans could go South, and Southerners to the North! They could learn a bit about the world outside their hermit kingdom. In the book, Hyeonseo's mom didn't know what high fives were, she thought it was the salute of the youth league. Maybe high fives could make it to South Korea. Maybe if Korea gets the Olympics again, they would sing the Arirang (unofficial anthem of Korea, very popular folk song, has an affect on Koreans young and old.) This could mean a lot for the future. As for the American side of things, Mr. Trump believes that a meeting with Kim Jong Un is imminent. Though, I believe that the US should just stay out of this one, it seems that Korea has got it under control.
Now, how it relates to the book. Well, briefly, the book is about the author escaping North Korea and going South through China, with her mother and brother having to go through Laos, a much more difficult route. As I stated before, peace talks such as these were not even a figment of the imagination of the North Korean people. Their class system is based off of how your family was before the Korean War, for goodness sake, so they were still a tad bit salty about the whole issue, although they invaded the South. This is truly history in the making. We might see a reunified Korea in our lifetime! Kim Jong Un, although still keeping his citizens under a skewed view of the world, is doing a much better job than his father or grandfather, who started a famine, and the latter who made North Korea what it is today. _________________________________________________________________ Keep reading if you want to see the original version of this post and some cool videos! Sorry if my writing seemed a bit excited, I just really am, this is crazy historical! Have a nice day, I will continue to update you all on the issues and events as they arise. **NEWS UPDATE 4.29.18** Kim Jong Un said he will denuclearize if the US does not attack North Korea. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The book I am reading is The Girl with Seven Names by Hyeonseo Lee. It is Hyeonseo's autobiography, though she is still alive today. The book is pretty heavy content wise, so here's a quick summary of each part of the book. Part 1, The Greatest Nation on Earth: Hyeonseo's childhood and growing up. Also the story of how her parents met, got split up, and finally married. She learns all the propaganda, and sees multiple public executions. Part 2, To the Heart of the Dragon: Crossing the border into China, getting to South Korea. She almost gets caught, and works at a barber shop that isn't really a barber shop. She gets set up with Geunsoo, but doesn't really like him. All the propaganda she was taught in school is revealed to be false. Part 3, Journey into Darkness: Getting comfortable in South Korea, bringing her mother and brother over. She also meets two people of European descent, Dick Stolp (who helped her family so much, I'll link their reunion down below) and her future husband, Brian. Minho (her brother) also learns English, and so does Hyeonseo. ***If you would like me to post a full summary then please let me know in the comments below! The book is just a lot to summarize in full. If I do a full summary, it will be in a Google Doc, which you can view here. The summary might not be finished by the time this is posted, but it will be completed eventually. ***If you want a summary of Hyeonseo's story but not the book, check out the Historical Connections blog post (keep scrolling), and watch her TED talk, I highly recommend it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Now, for the actual current day connection. I'll do something a little lighter, turning off the propaganda at the DMZ (demilitarized zone/38th parallel). So, when Hyeonseo was growing up in Hyesan, there was no mention of South Korean propaganda. Most likely because Hyesan borders China instead. Had she lived in Kaesong, she might've heard something. So, why is South Korea turning off the music? (Yes, they play music into North Korea, among anti-Kim sayings, and the weather). They are turning it off because soon, Jong-un Kim, Jae-in Moon, and Donald Trump will be meeting. In 2015 there was actually gunfire threatened by the North because of all the messages. So, the government is turning off their music, but other anti North Korean groups are not. The other groups are sending balloons into North Korea, filled with dollar bills, anti-Kim propaganda, western movies, and more. They have been asked to stop by the South Korean government, so that the meeting with North Korea will be peaceful. Also, North Korea has been putting propaganda of their own into South Korea, but I have yet to find videos of that. North and South Korea had a joint concert back in April, called Spring Comes. Ok, so, how does this relate to Hyeonseo's story? Well, when she was growing up, reunification wasn't really on the table, not even peace talks. In school, they were taught that it was South Korea's fault for the Korean War, and that South Korean children aren't well fed. That the rest of the world was poor, and that North Korea is the greatest country in the world. Today, they still teach similar things, but, now it seems reunification, or at least peace between the Koreas, might be coming. North Koreans probably have no idea about the peace talks, but they might happen. I know that Kim Jong-un's sister went to the Olympics in Pyeongchang, and that she and President Moon were polite to each other. The two Koreas even walked under a unified flag, but the North Korean athletes were kept under strict supervision as to prevent defection. As said in the article, the border loudspeakers have been there for ages, and that they are getting turned off, that's a big deal! When Hyeonseo first arrived in Seoul, North Koreans weren't treated very nicely, they were seen as outsiders, such as Korean-Americans, or foreigners. It is often hard for them to adjust to life in Seoul, and for those in Seoul to be nice to them. But now, there's all this progress, such as a show called "On My Way to Meet You", a show whose cast is primarily defectors, and they talk about North Korean things. On a popular show called "Hello Counselor", a North Korean defector came on, and once he told people where he was from, they talked down to him and treated him differently. His episode helped bring light to the issues faced by defectors. In conclusion, these events between North and South Korea are very progressive as compared to the 90s. There could be an older Korean person who was born before the Korean War, lived through it, and could be alive today to see what is happening. Hyeonseo herself even met President Trump herself. A North Korean defector met the President of the United States. So, these events show how far we have come since Hyeonseo was in North Korea, and left. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Here are some videos, hopefully it'll give you a better understanding of the issue. Also, I hope at least one of the videos will make you smile. Here is the article I mainly used for the post. Here is Hyeonseo's Twitter, Instagram, and website. Once the meeting happens between the leaders, I will update you all here if you are interested in the issue. I also highly recommend that you read Hyeonseo's book for a complete understanding of everything she has been through. The way she describes thing can be a bit sad, she was only a little girl when she saw her first public execution. She saw a man get hanged on a bridge, then his body thrown on a truck. Later, she also saw people get shot in the head as a public execution. Their family had to sit in the front row. Her dog got run over by a car, then her dad commited suicide in the hospital. She has been through so, so much. Rundown of the videos: 1. The "Hello Counselor" clip mentioned in the post. 2. Dick and Hyeonseo's reunion (this video is actually mentioned in the book's epilogue.) 3. Report on non-government propaganda balloons going into North Korea. 4. Report on the joint North/South pop concert. (Interestingly- when the concert aired on N. Korean TV, some of the southern performances were edited out.) 5. North Korean propaganda song about reunification (from the mid '90s). 6. Another North Korean propaganda song about reunification (from the mid '90s.) 7. South Korean loudspeaker broadcast going into North Korea, featuring the weather, some news, and a Girl's Generation song. 8. The aforementioned Girl's Generation song :).
The book I am reading is "The Girl with Seven Names" by Hyeonseo Lee.
It is an autobiography of sorts by the author. It starts with her parents meeting, and goes through her leaving North Korea, and ends at her getting her mother's blessing for marriage. (Hyeonseo is still alive today). There are a lot of historical events that take place in the background of the book, such as the North Korean Famine/ the Arduous March, the death of Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong-il being put into power, and, although it isn't super historical, the mass amounts of defectors getting caught at the time of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. I'll mainly focus on the famine and the death of Kim Il-sung. Part 1: First up, the death of Kim Il-Sung. July 8th, 1994. At this point in the book, this is the big historical event going on. For all North Koreans, this was a big deal. The country was in mourning. Kim possessed an almost god-like status among the people, and him being dead, well, their world stopped. "Kim Il-sung, the Great Leader, the father of our nation, was dead. The announcement made on the radio was equally dramatic: 'The great heart has stopped beating'." (Lee, 71) This event in the book was how Hyeonseo heard it in real life, she was going to a friend's house, and Ri Chun-hee was announcing the death on TV. At the time, Hyeonseo was just as sad as the rest of her peers. She mostly believed what the Party was telling her, but she was still like the other North Koreans. (The captions in the below video are in Japanese, but you can just ignore them. Sorry about the video quality, it's from 1994.)
Part 2:
Next up, the famine. Below, you will see two videos. One is Hyeonseo's TED talk and the other is a song she mentions in the video. In the book, the famine begins a few chapters after the death of Kim Il-sung, which is accurate. Kim died in July 8, 1994. The famine lasted from 1994-1998. Hyeonseo mentions it was 1995, and she also starts talking about the famine. Hyeonseo's family was fairly well off due to their songbun (the class system), but people were starving in the streets. The government "let them" eat two meals a day, though, it was mainly because the Russian government had stopped paying North Korea, so the government couldn't give rations to the people. It is quite sad how she describes it in the book. "A few days later, I witnessed famine for the first time. I was at the market outside Wiyeon Station in Hyesan and saw a woman lying on her side on the ground with a baby in her arms. She was young, in her twenties. The baby, a boy, was about two years old, and staring at his mother. They were pale and skeletal, and dressed in rags. The woman's faced was caked with filth and her hair badly matted. She looked sick. To my astonishment people were walking past her and the baby as if they were invisible." (Lee, 80) So, as you can see, Hyeonseo is seeing the famine first hand. At the time, she was only a teenager! She thought that it was so sad, and terrifying. She mentions the "let us eat two meals a day" campaign, but I can't find the quote for it. Poorer North Koreans were experiencing this famine, eating corn cake (a.k.a the poor man's cake), suffering in the streets. But they didn't know why. They still thought they were the best country in the world, and had nothing to envy. "A shadow began to fall across Hyesan. Beggars were appearing everywhere, especially around the markets. This was a sight I'd never seen in our country before. There were vagrant children, too. At first, only in twos and threes, but soon many of them, migrating to Hyesan from the countryside. Their parents had perished of hunger, leaving them to fend for themselves, without relatives. They were nicknamed kotchebi ('flowering swallows') and, like birds, they seemed to gather in flocks. One of their survival tricks was to distract a market vendor while accomplices snatched the food and ran off. In a horrible twist of irony they were regularly seem scavenging in the dirt for grains, peel or gristle - exactly how we'd been told the children in South Korea lived." (Lee, 81) Imagine that. Homeless kids, picking through the dirt, and that's how they thought kids in South Korea lived. Poor Hyeonseo. At this point, she wasn't really buying all the propaganda, but I bet some people were. Also, now, kotchebi has become the name for North Korean homeless kids in general, but they're not allowed to use the word or mention them whatsoever in media. In the eyes of the government, they are still trying to show the perfect country to their people, but I doubt some of them are buying it now. ... I think I answered the questions in the post itself, but in case you couldn't find them, here they are straightforward, and not very beefy answers for some of them, but you can find evidence in the main part of the post. a. What was historically happening in the country where your book takes place? Part 1: The death of Kim Il-sung. Part 2: The North Korean Famine (known in North Korea as the Arduous March or The March of Suffering) b. How do the events in the book compare to the real-life historical events? 1: This was the real-life historical event, told from the perspective of a young girl, from her perspective, the funeral, and the news reports. 2: Again, it was the real-life event, just from Hyeonseo's perspective. Seeing an almost dead mother laying on the ground, seeing kids picking through the dirt. It was all real. c. What perspective or point of view did the people of that country have on the conflict? What perspective do the characters in your book have? 1: In terms of feelings? Well, they had to be sad, for their safety. Had they not cried enough, they would've been ridiculed in front of the class. They couldn't have any other perspective, politically or emotionally. Hyeonseo had to fake some tears, but she was still sad. Kim Il-sung was the only leader these people knew. Some thought he couldn't die. 2: They most likely had to ignore it. Starving was known, but like the experience Hyeonseo had with the mom and baby, people acted as if they were invisible. Hyeonseo, however, wanted to help them instead of ignoring them. d. What other connections are made between your book and the historical events of your conflict? 1&2: Well, I'm not quite sure. Hyeonseo was living through both of these events. Is she a connection? She experienced both of them, and knows what they were like, firsthand. She was there, she lived through it.
Below, you will find some North Korean propaganda posters with the captions Google translated by yours truly. They aren't directly related to Kim Il-sung's death or the famine, but I think you might find them interesting to look at.
I'll add more posters as I can, the translating just takes awhile because I don't know how to copy and paste words from the picture, and I don't have the Korean keyboard memorized yet. Enjoy! **Click on the pictures for where they came from.**
"Misery and rhythm- let's drive the US invaders!"
"Everyone goes through soldier days!"
Yeah... not very accurate. One translation somewhere else said "Let them be soldiers!" or something like that.
"The Great Leader Kim Il Sung is with us forever."
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