Campus Talk: University Students’ Bike Tour for North Korean Human Rights & Security
Kang Won Cheol (강원철)
January 27, 2012
Read in Korean
When looking at the Kim Jong Il regime’s provocations, I defined them as a country that does not even recognize its own brothers. However, in this tour defectors also joined in. In talking with them, I realized that North Korean citizens are victims too…. I think it’s a mistake to view them the same way we view Kim Jong Il’s regime.
The following discussion appeared on pages 58-61 in the September 2011 issue of NK Vision magazine. Translation courtesy of NKnet volunteer Tom Stearns.
Date: August 9, 2011, 2 p.m.
Location: NK Vision Conference Room
Interviewer: Kang Won Cheol
Photographer: Kim Bong Seop
Participants: Kim — — (University of Seoul, Freshman
Korean Studies),
Pak Ji Hye (Konkuk University, Junior, Law)
Lee Da Hoon (Hankuk Academy of Foreign Studies, Junior, Japanese Language)
This year marks 66 years of Korea’s independence. Korea’s independence has endured for half a century, and the division of the Korean peninsula for just as long. As such, in the only divided nation in the world, the South and the North—while as close as can be—have grown far apart. For some time now, the pain of this separation has evolved from indifference into apathy. This cultural phenomenon has caused people to have a negative view of unification, apathy toward the human rights of North Koreans, numbness toward issues of security, among other problems. Sadly, standing at the core of these problems is the younger generation. Some young people who view the apathy of their peers with a concerned eye are rising up against it. A group of 150 of these university students participated in a bike tour that lasted five days and four nights starting this past July 21st. They departed from the Unification Observatory in Goseong, Gangwon Province, passing through Hwacheon, Cheolwon, and so on, 240 kilometers to Imjingak, racing for North Korean human rights and security. It carried even more significance because university students originally from both the South and the North participated in the bike tour together. NK Vision took some time to sit down and talk with a few of the students about their impression of and reasons for participating in the bike tour, as well as North Korean human rights and security. - Editor
Q: What was your reason for participating in the bicycle tour?
Pak Ji Hye: Since my childhood, I’ve had many opportunities to meet North Korean defectors though my mother who worked for the Korean Red Cross supporting defectors during their resettlement. Because of the influence of this kind of home environment, I’ve developed a strong interest in, and affection for, North Korean defectors. So as soon as I saw a poster at my school for a North and South Korean students’ bike tour, I really wanted to take part in it. As I’d done with my mother I wanted to meet North Korean defectors and to get to know more about North Korea through them. Even though I was scared of riding 240 kilometers with strangers through unfamiliar surroundings, I ended up choosing to take part because I thought this could be a life-changing moment for me.
Lee Da Hoon: This last semester, I gave a lot of presentations about North Korea in my classes. Studying and doing research for my presentations made me realize just how little about North Korea I actually knew. I wanted to talk a lot with the North Korean defectors who would be participating in the bike tour, and come to know a little more about North Korea through them. I think another reason I became so interested in this bike tour was that in my spare time I like bike riding. Trekking up and down the mountains in Gangwon Province to reach our destination was quite an experience, wasn’t it? While I am young, I think it is good to challenge myself and achieve my goals, and I thought it would be a good life experience. University students are always looking to build their resumes, but it’s also something I can’t help wanting to put to good use.
Kim: This was my first vacation since becoming a university student, and as such I wanted to get a lot of experience and create good memories. We all participated in the camp and did volunteer work together. At the start of the vacation period I was spending my time productively like I’d planned, when a friend suggested this bicycle tour to me. 240 kilometers of road was pretty intimidating to me, too, but I made up my mind that I would do it together with the other students.
From among the various programs about security and North Korean human rights that occurred during the bicycle tour, what is the strongest impression you received?
Lee Da Hoon: Personally, I thought all the programs were good. If I were to choose one out of all of them, it would be the education about the reality of the human rights situation in North Korea. Before participating in the bike tour, I’d only read data and comic strips about North Korean human rights through the internet. In their own way, these things communicate the truth about North Korean human rights situation as best they can, but there was a limit to how much I could believe through the medium of the Internet. But during this event my belief grew by listening to the North Korean defectors’ testimony and the instructors’ discussions. It hurts to think that the things we take for granted here in South Korea do not even exist in the North. Geographically it’s the closest country to us, but after this bicycle tour I worry about what we will be able to do for them when in a way they have become the farthest country from us.
Kim: Being a defector I usually have an immense interest in national security and the issues of North Korean human rights. So all the programs were productive and good. What made even more of an impression on me was the attitude with which so many of the participants engaged themselves in learning about security and North Korean human rights. The educational programs went on at dinner time, so you would think people would have gotten pretty tired of them. On the contrary, not one person lost interest, and I was moved to see how earnestly people took part and asked questions. Frankly speaking, people in their twenties in South Korea are not interested in North Korean issues let alone issues of security. But the people who participated in this bike tour were different. When I saw how they were on this trip, I realized that those who are in their twenties can in fact do something.
Pak Ji Hye: What I liked the most was talking with the defectors from North Korea. South Koreans don’t have many opportunities to meet with people from North Korea. As a matter of fact, people have a prejudice against them. Through this bike tour, people could remove their prejudices about North Korean defectors. Talking face-to-face with them, so many things occurred to me listening to their stories about the hometowns they came from, the process of escaping and the life of someone resettling here in South Korea. I felt it deep in my heart that these people with the same passion and dreams as we have were not different from us in the least. It was a valuable time to knock down the walls North and South Koreans have between one another.
How has your awareness of security and North Korean human rights changed as a result of the bicycle tour?
Kim: I’ve really changed a lot. Despite being from North Korea, I’ve lost sight of my hometown over time. There are plenty of reasons why I don’t have much time to focus on it — my responsibilities as a student or the pressure of resettling in a completely different social system like South Korea. But I participated in this event and as a result I’ve definitely adopted a sense of duty and responsibility. No matter what anyone says, I am North Korean, and I realized that there’s a lot that that needs to be done for my homeland and for North Korean citizens. My mission is to do my best to improve the human rights of North Koreans and to raise awareness in South Korean society of the actual situation going on in the North. During my remaining years as a university student I’ll do my best to work toward this goal.
Pak Ji Hye: Honestly, this event was so strenuous I haven’t really thought about it. I didn’t know it then but I think an obvious change has come about. The biggest change is that I see reality more deeply. When I would talk about “security” before, I didn’t consider it any of my business but rather someone else’s business—the government’s or the military’s. I thought regular people couldn’t do anything about security, but this made me realize that there are many things I can do. Problems with North Korean human rights are my problems, too. One thing I can do on my own is to organize a small program that can get regular students our age interested in these issues. I think the big change for me was realizing that my own efforts could become a force for improving national security and North Korean human rights, one step at a time.
Lee Da Hoon: My view of how things are in North Korea has changed. If you’re a man (in South Korea) you must receive training to prepare you for your period of military service. I was outraged by the suffering caused by the Korean War and North Korea’s continued military provocations since the war. When the Cheonan submarine incident and the Yeonpyeong Island incident occurred, as a reservist I was as infuriated as anyone else was. When looking at the Kim Jong Il regime’s provocations, I defined them as a country that does not even recognize its own brothers. However, in this tour defectors also joined in. In talking with them, I realized that North Korean citizens are victims too, just like us. Even now they endure an arduous life day after day as their human rights are oppressed under the dictatorship. I think it’s a mistake to view them the same way we view Kim Jong Il’s regime. I think the biggest change for us is changing our awareness like this.
University students who come from both North and South Korea participated together. Let’s each talk a bit about how you felt about each other over the course of the five days and four nights.
Pak Ji Hye: When I first met our team members, I couldn’t distinguish who was from North Korea and who was from South Korea. If my North Korean friend hadn’t taken the initiative and told me I would have had no idea. As I watched my friend, what I felt the most was an endearing affection (정, 情). Since the first day I was so weak and my legs were so tired that I could barely walk. Strained, I was just barely making it up a slope pushing my bike when my North Korean friend gave me a push from behind. I mean, it was hard for my friend, too. I was touched to see how he helped me, and even though we’d only met by chance, I felt that we could depend on each other for help.
Lee Da Hoon: As we progressed together, North and South Koreans together, there was a closeness between us as we had the same skin color and used the same language. However, we had our own separate cultures just as our nations have been separated over the last 60 years. The defectors told me that when they came to South Korea and watched our TV shows, they understood the words they were hearing but they struggled to understand what our expressions meant. That’s how much of a culture difference there is. The time we spent on the bicycle tour inadvertently revealed these kinds of cultural differences. Still, when I saw that this was a complete success, granted whatever cultural differences there might be, I saw that students from North and South Korea can be united.
Kim: I came out of it thinking that we should have more events or activities where students from North and South Korea participate together. There’s usually plenty of opportunities to meet South Korean students at school, but since we don’t really have the chance to open up to each other at those events it can be hard to get close. I think group events like these are a way to bring together students from North and South Korea and unite us; it was like my team members and I opened the doors to our hearts. My team from the bike tour is currently forming a club, and we still exchange information and get together often. If there were one point we hope to make to South Korean students, it’s that we don’t want them to pity North Korean students when they look at us. If they think of us as being the same as they are, we can get rid of the barriers between us more easily and quickly, don’t you think?
Do you have any ideas or ways to help South Korean students find out about what’s really going on in North Korea?
Lee Da Hoon: University students have a lot of exposure to social networks and mass media outlets like TV and movies. I think this is a good alternative use of these media. I think we can make good use of the commercial aspects as well. We can produce movies and shows and then use user-friendly media like Facebook, Twitter and blogs in a way that gets university students’ attention. And if we do that, then I think that we can offer a number of classes in universities to shed light on North Korea. All the schools currently offer classes related to North Korea but they are unpopular. I think this reflects a lack of interest in North Korea. So if we make it compulsory to take a class related to North Korea, I think it will help a lot of students to understand North Korea better. Someday the North and South are going to have to reunite. We need to accept it and prepare in advance for realizing a society in which we can coexist.
Kim: Here in Seoul there are a lot of university students who come from North Korea. I think there’s a way to make the most of this situation. If we all come out and let others know more about North Korea, the South Korean students who take an interest will appear. There were lots of students who participated in the bike tour because they wanted to get to know students from North Korea. I think if we get university clubs or organizations to host activities related to North Korea with students who are from North Korea it will be very popular. I organized a simple gathering in my school about North Korean human rights in my first semester. If we post announcements on the school’s bulletin boards, not just South Korean students but international students will show an interest as well.
Pak Ji Hye: There aren’t a whole lot of university students who are interested in North Korean human rights. There’s even fewer who will bring up the topic when they’re around others. The topic of North Korea is a heavy one and I think political reasons play a role in that. So I think it’s important to find a way to approach the topic lightly with university students. During this semester’s school festival we held a photo exhibition on our campus for a campaign to prevent child abuse. To our surprise, a lot of students took an interest in it. I think holding a photo exhibition on campus that informs students about North Korea would be a good way, wouldn’t it? I think we’ll get the most student interest if we set ourselves up in a way that is approachable for students and do it in a way that surveys their opinions.
What do you want to do for security and North Korean human rights when you get back to campus?
Kim: I want to start a North Korean human rights student group. Unlike some of the other universities, at the University of Seoul there are four of us who come from North Korea. Last semester, I got in touch with them about this idea to make a student group, but I didn’t get much of a response. But I’m not going to stop. I want to make a student group to bring students from North and South Korea together to share their stories, volunteer and hold camps. We currently have about 20 students who participate in some small-scale gatherings, but it’s not a formal group or anything. When the new semester begins I’m going to be more enthusiastic about these activities. I hope we can combine with other student groups for North Korean university students in Seoul and promote more gatherings with their help.
Pak Ji Hye: It would be great to be able to do things for human rights in North Korea on a much larger scale, but realistically it seems to be difficult. So in my opinion, after participating in this bike tour, I want to share what I experienced and felt with the people around me. If I keep talking about it with the people I know, it will get their attention, and in no small way either. I think by getting others interested one person at a time, lots of people will end up taking interest before you know it.
Lee Da Hoon: I’d like to start a group or organization if I could. It’s not true that most students don’t care about these issues. I think I’ll also be talking about these issues with my friends a lot. If we approach this topic in a somber way it can weigh down the mood — I mean over dinner, at a café or bar, or something like that. If we bring the topic of North Korea into the conversation naturally in a personal setting, I think our friends will also show interest in the matter. I think that this is the role I can play at present.
Related Daily NK article and photos:
Trans-Korea Ride to Unification
Tags: refugees / defectors, resettlement
Filed under: No. 27 – Sep 2011
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