***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 :).
2 Comments
hadley
4/26/2018 05:49:25 pm
think this was very interesting
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Nimo Mohamed
4/27/2018 04:42:17 pm
Your story is very interesting and I agree with you that at least knowing story like the girl you are reading about can help people understand more.
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