College was finally over and I walked across the stage at Spring Arbor University to receive that ever so expensive piece of paper that said I was smart enough to live in the real world. As most of my fellow graduates were busy celebrating and stressing out about what to do next, I was all ready to board a plane headed back to the Land of the Morning Calm (South Korea). I would take my first teaching job at the very same school that I graduated from a mere 4 years earlier. There was no doubt that I was excited and feeling like I was at the top of the world. But more importantly, I felt like I was finally going home after a crazy college experience. The first time I arrived in Korea with my parents, we arrived at small little Gimpo International Airport. I was just a young teenager with immense fear and curiosity. This time was different, I was an adult and super excited to start a new life and it was exciting to arrive at the newly opened mega airport of Incheon. South Korea was changing rapidly and the economy continued to explode up. The small traditional little houses I once saw litter the city landscape were now replaced with super tall apartment complexes that made the city of Seoul look like a massive chaotic domino set. My years that followed in the classroom had its share of ups and downs but there was no doubt that I loved the kids and teaching Social Studies. I was always a little disappointed when students didn’t feel the same passion for politics, maps and dead people like I did. But I enjoyed working hard to keep students engaged. The student I taught were literally from all over the world and listening to their perspectives on various topics was always fascinating. But most of the time, no matter where they were from, the students all shared the same disdain towards their classes and were united in their belief in sleeping through my classes. However, regardless of where they were from, they would always sit up if the words “North Korea” were ever strung together. Regardless if NK was a real day to day threat or not, its mere presence nearby was always looming in the back of all of our minds. My passion for North Korea decreased to virtually nothing during my years of college and early in teaching career. Oh sure, I would always take notice of the news when NK was brought up and our school would routinely practice air raid drills and evacuation exercises in the event of an invasion. But even those reminders became the equivalent of a fire drill that most schools in America trudge through. North Korea’s nearby presence no longer became something I cared about or found concern for. Every once in a while a speaker would come to chapel or church and lead us in a prayer for NK. But that was the extent of my spiritual concern. I was happy in my little bubble 20 miles from the NK border. As far as I was concern, my life was too busy and important to be concerned about what was going on up there anyways. I stuck with my teaching and basketball routines. That was much easier than worrying about the mystery up North. The reality was simple; I grew very apathetic or indifferent towards North Korea and the plight of their people as did millions of others. Much of this apathy grew as South Korea became more and more concerned with materialism, travel, education, coffee, plastic surgery, etc. The time that was once spent in praying for NK was replaced and I was caught up in it. I would often take small little road trips with friends up North to the border and observe the vast emptiness of the NK countryside and lob up an obligatory prayer for their nation and figured I did my duty as a good Christian resident of South Korea. But every time I practiced this yearly exercise I purposed in my heart to never ever go there and get involved in the work of North Korea. NK was too complicated and I literally had no interest or desire. I did not hate North Korea, I just didn’t care. There was even a really beautiful girl that I got to know while in Seoul that I really liked but never tried to pursue because she had a heart and desire to be a missionary in North Korea and China. As much as I commended her calling and supported her in any way I could, I just didn’t want to get mixed up with that. I also would be constantly asked to join different groups all over Seoul that prayed and supported NK missions and programs, but I declined them all because I just had other things going on. I basically became like so many other millions of people living in South Korea. NK just became a novelty and an empty threat that very few people took notice of or even worried about. But something was about to change...
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As I boarded a plane in 1999 to leave Korea, I was certainly going through a wide range of emotions. I was excited to see what college would be like along with living in America again. But I was also heartbroken at the thought of leaving the place I learned to call home and the friends I had made, and I had no idea if or when I would ever come back or if anything would ever be the same again. My college education began the moment Freshmen Orientation began. I was super excited to meet new friends and see what girls might be available of course. It is a common tradition for people to ask simple questions when they meet each other for the first time. One of these simple questions is “So, Luke, where are you from?” I realized for the first time that I may have a slight identity crisis because I would stumble trying to find an answer. However, I eventually settled in on just simply saying “Korea.” Plus I thought it sounded cool and would distinguish me from the others. Well, it certainly made me stick out. What I did not anticipate was the wide variety of ignorant responses that would follow. One person responded to my claim of Korea by saying; “Do you ride elephants there or have a pet lion?” another said, “Where in Africa is that located?” I guess that was better than the three people that have not heard of Korea at all. Two people asked me which county Korea was located in. One guy was a little bit more geographically sound when he immediately busted out a Bruce Lee impersonation and pretended to speak in what I can only assume was Chinese gibberish. My favorite response was from a girl who looked at me for a moment after I said “Korea” and finally said “AHHH… that would explain your slanted eyes. I could tell you were probably not American.” I am not sure how one should respond to such a statement, and yes, she was dead serious. I did find a little hope for this very non diverse group of people when a student did finally ask me in response, “Did you live in the North or the South?” I affirmed him I did not come from the North. He smiled and said “Yeah, I hear things are quite crazy up there. I wonder what it is like.” Needless to say, that was the one person I ended up talking to and spending the most time with over the next several months regardless if he wanted me to or not. As college went on over the next 4 years, I certainly longed to return to Korea where I still loved. Every time I walked by the news and heard North Korea being mentioned I would stop whatever I was doing and listened. Since my major was history, I would take every opportunity to study East Asia and learn. I would get into arguments with professors about the Korean War and what really happened and how it impacted Asia. But no matter where I went and how enthusiastic I was about having peace on the Korean peninsula, the truth was, no one really cared. Even a lot of the Korean students on campus were more preoccupied with other things. I was a bit discouraged and admittedly I did spend more time worrying about my basketball career than Korea. I started to think about other things after September 11, 2001. I knew as I was watching the TV as planes crashed into the World Trade Centers that history was being made and things would never be the same. As the United States was preparing for war in the Middle East, I knew I would hear less and less about North Korea. However, not only was history changing geopolitically; internet technology was starting to catch fire and the information media age was about to launch into new heights. New social media platforms were about to be born and a new generation of people will be formed around it. I was optimistic that more people would be able to learn about North Korea and what we can do to save it! I was of course about to be sadly disappointed. So, what did I learn from my college days? I learned that no one knew where Korea was located on a map and or could even care what was going on there and its future. I learned that my life experiences shaped me to think about life in a different way than that of others. I also learned that it is not good to judge others based on the experiences I have had. After all, as a teenager I was busy looking past the DMZ wondering if peace or war was coming, while my college counterparts were busy wondering when Britney Spears was going to come out with a new album soon (By the way, I was the only person on campus who had no idea who that was). I guess I was the weird one thinking North Korea was more important. August 2017 has brought us a lot of news concerning North Korea. The most concerning or provocative was the missile that flew over mainland Japan. Under normal circumstances, this type of action from North Korea would be an automatic call to war, but as we have learned, North Korea has worked hard since the 1950s to create a circumstance that has challenged all perceptions of what we would call normal. I think it is safe to say that they have been very successful in this endeavor. It was just weeks before my senior year of high school would begin when life on the Korean peninsula seemed as if it would change forever. It was August of 1998 when Korea was barely hanging on as the IMF (financial) crisis seemed to have no end and most of Korea had to ban together with shovels and mops to clean up after one of Korea’s worst floods in history that killed several and left hundreds of thousands of Korean lives altered. I will never forget that fateful night when the rain seemed to never end. Just when we thought things couldn’t be more complicated, I remember coming on to Camp Red Cloud in Uijeongbu, Korea for my normal daily routine and the base was a bit frantic. This wasn’t too abnormal but it will always raise concern in my mind. I asked a soldier where I was standing why there was a high alert. He quickly explained to me that North Korea just sent a rocket that crossed over Japan. I then asked innocently “Are we going to war?” The soldier shrugged his shoulders and gave me a not very assuring “I don’t know.” For the first time in my years there in South Korea a tingle of fear came over me. An image of a North Korean army storming across the DMZ seemed real and I began to wonder if this was the end of my life as I knew it. I honestly can’t remember what else happened that day. I was consumed with the thought of war and if I was ready to fight in case I couldn’t get evacuated. I wondered if the US was even ready for this war considering just days earlier our Commander and Chief Clinton admitted to the world that he did indeed have an inappropriate relationship with Monica Lewinsky and lied to America about it. My world around me seemed to be a mess and completely out of order. It is interesting how the news coverage of this latest missile launch over Japan is virtually the same as the one that occurred 20 years earlier. I even pulled up some articles online from 1998 and if you didn’t know the names or dates you would assume it was the same story. So, why is this? That is a question for a different time but one that needs to be talked about when understanding this “endless cycle of madness/mystery.” After a few weeks of crazy media cover and hysteria and what seemed like inevitable war, the North Korea tensions seemed to settle down and once again war was evaded on the peninsula. Not only that, but the economy began to improve and life began to start getting good for me and many others. For many years I was angry that my parents would drag me to this crazy complicated country as a missionary kid. But as graduation was looming and I was preparing to leave Korea for university in the states, I actually didn’t want to go. I wanted to stay. I found out as the end was nearing that I really learned to love this place called Korea. The last few years of the 90’s proved to be intense on the Korean peninsula and would set a standard for the media driven hysteria that we are accustomed to today. North Korea is a real place, with real struggles and a real threat that I believe needs to be taken seriously. My experiences in South Korea shaped me more than I realized. After several years of living just miles from one of the most hostile borders in the world, I was preparing for a new experience living in the cornfields of the Great American Midwest where the letters D-M-Z meant nothing to anyone there. The most hostile border people recognized where I was going was the state line between Michigan and Ohio! BONUS VIDEO BELOW! Korea is a peninsula that juts out from Eastern China. However, to those who live in the South, it feels more like an island. Water surrounds South Korea on three sides, but because the northern border is virtually impossible to pass through, it can be viewed as an extension of the vast ocean. And just like people in the South would take a day trip to sit on the beach and look at the ocean; the same people will take a trip and sit on the border and look out into the vastness of North Korea. Both filled with awe, beauty and never ending mystery. On July 27, 1953, the leaders of the United Nations Command (USA), China, and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) got to together in Panmunjom and signed an Armistice agreement that halted 3 years of fighting on the Korean peninsula, killing upwards to 3 million people, and devastating a generation. Unfortunately, the Armistice did not end the war, it was simply a cease fire that allowed all parties involved to stop fighting for a while and figure out what the next move would be. Part of this agreement was establishing the DMZ (demilitarized zone) which is a 3 mile wide no-man’s land that separates North and South Korea. Over time, the DMZ has become far more than just a barbed wire and landmine infested border separating North and South Korea. To many in the world today it represents the last true frontier of the Cold War. To many in the South and the North, it represents the mysterious end of the world. The DMZ has become just a wall that hides a mystery; the type of mystery that peaked the curiosity of explorers like Magellan, Columbus and Drake. However, this boundary is not the type that can be pushed. It is a place that is real and clear and can have devastating consequences for those who dare to challenge it. As a young teenager looking across that very barbed wire, I had a lot of curiosity. But there was not too many ways I could feed the curiosity. There was no Google to turn to. There were no guided tours in and out of the North. Although I have heard rumors of a few people that have been able to get in and out of the North, I have never met them. And there were the occasional opportunities to go and listen to a defectors testimony. However, most of the knowledge of the North I was given was from the stories of some of the older people in my community who escaped during the war some mere 40 years earlier. The conditions in which they escaped and survived were not pleasant. When I met my first defector, I was 16 years old. I was captivated by the thought of being able to talk to someone who was recently from there. I was taken by surprised by how normal the man seemed to be. He did not fulfil the expectations I had created in my mind. Although he did not wish to talk about how he escaped in detail, he was very clear about why he escaped. His parents were in the process of being arrested for political reasons and the parents knew they needed to get their kids out. Although he was a college student at the time, he was able to secure passage out of the country with a small group of people. This would have been 5 years before I met him. He was quite cordial as he explained in broken English how he said good bye to his parents and that he knows he will never see them again. He continued to explain that since coming to the South, he became a Christian. I asked him if there were any Christians in the North. He said that he heard that there were but that he has never met any of them. He only knew that religion was frowned upon and often punished, sometimes by death. Just then, my brief interview abruptly came to an end when my mom called me and said we had to go. But this brief conversation opened my eyes as a 16 year old that peeled away just a small layer of mystery of what happened north of the DMZ. This was very important to me because for the first time in my young life, North Korea became something more than just a mysterious blank spot on the map or just a name associated with all things evil in the world. North Korea became a real place with real people. I realized that there was something north of the DMZ. And I told myself that day that someday I want to see it for myself. North Korea has gained quite the reputation over time. The Western media has painted a picture of this country using descriptions like Rogue Nation, the Hermit Kingdom, the Biggest Show on Earth, The Cold War’s last outpost,” etc. I feel like these are Hollywood titles to an upcoming blockbuster. These notions tend to be reinforced when we see photos or videos of people in North Korea. These images are often looped time and again showing us soldiers with determined faces and fixed eyes, citizens crying in reverence to their leaders, people cheering at a parade featuring the latest weaponry designed to turn Washington DC into ashes and of course the money shot photo that was smuggled out of a poor child in need of food. These were the images and their captions that shape our view of North Korea and their people. When people think of North Korea, there are usually not happy thoughts of flowers. kittens and rainbows attached to them. The thoughts are usually disgustingly negative at worse and indifferent at best. Positive thoughts and feelings are virtually nonexistent. This perspective is undoubtedly influenced but the negativity produced by the media. And the simple reality that very few people have ever been there to paint another picture for us. But does North Korea get treated fairly in the news? Is there any silver lining associated with North Korea? Does the media over blow things to just sell stories? Is there a world government conspiracy that insists on unfairly making North Korea look bad for some political narrative? Do people in North Korea even smile? These are some of the questions that I can honestly say never really crossed my mind when I was growing up in Korea. I only knew what I was told and never bothered to question any of it. After all, life has enough to think about without adding more stress to it. In history class we went over the Korean War (1950-53) in detail and no matter how we spun the words on the page; North Korea was the villain. If there was news involving border conflicts or security; North Korea was to blame. If there was a political issue in the government that hinted at Communism; North Korean spies must have infiltrated the government. If a child was reported missing anywhere in the South or a mysterious crime was committed; North Korea was the first suspect. This was the propaganda that was forced upon all of us living in the South. In all my years living in Korea or being observant of the North Korean state, I have never heard a positive story associated with them. I grew to believe that North Korea was an oppressive, godless state that only worshiped its leaders out of fear of severe punishment, persecuted Christians horrifically, killed political dissidents or forced them into labor camps, a place with no food or industry, and completely impoverished. Basically a snapshot of a prison from hell with Satan as its warden. My thoughts of North Korea were pretty well cemented in my young mind and rarely ever challenged because most people would claim the same thoughts. However, my senior year of high school would be the time when my thoughts were finally challenged. One day our school secretary brought her new fiancé to work one day. He spoke a little English and since we were both randomly in the office I casually said “hi.” I proceeded to ask him a very standard question which was “So, where are you from?” He smiled and nonchalantly responded “A small village in North Korea.” I was completely taken by surprise. Once my mind grasped the notion that he was probably not a spy who was ordered to kill me, my head immediately flooded with a lot of questions. After all, I have never met someone from the other side of those barbed wire fences. When you see North Korea on the news, internet, Twitter, etc. what emotion are evoked? I would imagine most people in the world will barely give it a second thought. But since you are reading this blog, I will assume you are a bit different. Something about North Korea garners your attention. Perhaps you have first hand experience on the Korean peninsula, maybe you know someone who lives on it, or you are the type who is fascinated by interesting history or politics. Or for most people I talk to, you have seen North Korea on the news so much lately you are finally annoyed into curiosity. Whatever the reason may be, I want to know: how do you learn about North Korea? What is your view of this volatile nation? and what contributed to your building of this view? I was fifteen years old when I stepped foot into North Korea for the first time. Literally, it was only a foot; maybe two. I remember walking around the table there in the Panmunjom Joint Security Area. Anyone who has ever been on the DMZ (border between North and South Korea) tour are more than familiar with the “table.” The border of the two nations runs down the middle and in this one little building, people have the chance to walk around the table and take a photo that proves that you have been in North Korea. It was a surreal experience for me as a young teenager. My knowledge of North Korea was limited and being there on the border gave me chills. I had no idea what to expect. I was excited to learn all I could from the tour guides. They continued to echo the negative rhetoric I have grown accustomed to at that point in my life. It was loud and clear, we were the good guys and North Koreans were crazy savages that represented all that was wrong with the world. It was the mid-90s when my parents announced to me that we were going to move to Korea. As a young teen, I really had no idea where Korea was nor did I even have a clue about the war that took place a mere 40 years earlier. There was no Google to turn to, so we did what all studious families did, we got in the car and took a family trip to the local Library. After a few hours of research, we didn’t find much. We found a tour guide for Americans visiting Seoul for the 1988 Olympics and a dusty book called the Forgotten War (Clay Blair Jr, 1987). I did not read the dusty book, but the title did stay with me. The moment our plane touched down at Gimpo International Airport, my life would start to change in a way I could never imagine. As if puberty wasn't hard enough, within days of arrival we were instructed by the US military to be on guard and be ready to evacuate at any moment. Part of that preparation included survival bags with food and supplies that were always packed and ready to go. Our school would practice air raid drills and school administration would constantly drill us on emergency evacuation procedures. We were all taught what different threat levels meant. We did all this and more because we were told that the threat from the North (only 20 miles away) was real and imminent. I began to wonder why on earth my parents would bring us to such a war zone where my life was in danger daily. Any time we saw North Korea in the news we paid close attention. Our first week in Korea was a bit frantic as the headlines were filled with North Korea. A North Korean submarine was captured off the coast and all the fanatic sailors on board committed suicide instead of surrendering. This told me that the enemy was ready to give it all for their nation. A few weeks later there was word that another infiltration tunnel was discovered under the border. This screamed loud and clear that the enemy was serious about taking over. There was story after story about several North Korean spies being hunted and often shot on the spot when caught. Needless to say, my initial education concerning North Korea was quite intense and not very positive in their favor. For further education, my parents would take us as a family on day trips to Korean War sights and museums. I started to learn more about that mysterious threat up North and the atrocities committed by them during the “Forgotten War.” At this point, I have never met a North Korean or anyone who has ever even been there. No one seemed to know much about what was going on up there. We heard rumors of famine and that the nation was still mourning the loss of its founder Kim Il Sung. Other than that, North Korea was considered the enemy and all they wanted to do was kill us. In my young mind, I assumed that all North Korean people must have horns, pointy tail and wielding a pitchfork. It was this initial impression of North Korea that shaped my view as I stood on the DMZ and looked off into the vast nothingness of a nation that I grew to associate with death, evil, backward, etc. I wondered with immense curiosity as to what that nation was truly like and why on earth they hated me so much. As I turned away from my last look of the North and boarded the bus, I thanked God that I was where I was and not there. As we drove off, my dad asked me; “What did you think of North Korea?” I responded and said; “I am glad I never will go there.” Unless you choose to live under a Himalayan size rock, it is virtually impossible to not be inundated by the information that is spewed out by the endless flow of the United States News Cycles. These cycles are created by news outlets that are obsessed with Russian Conspiracies, political madness, Donald Trump, Fake News bashing, a plethora of tragedies on the local scene and in distant lands. However, in the midst of the chaos of this planet spinning out of control is a mysterious little isolated nation tucked away in East Asia, lost in time and with a reputation unparalleled in the modern era; The Democratic Republic of Korea or better known to you as North Korea. Hardly a day goes by it seems without hearing about something involving North Korea on the news, internet or just people sending me messages on social media. Rockets or missiles are being launched with regularity, threats of "annihilation, destruction or judgement" are proving that we are running out of words in the Webster dictionary and American detainees being accused of outlandish crimes dominate headlines. And this is just the beginning of the list. It is not easy in today’s world to stay in the spotlight, but yet this so called archaic nation continues to do so. How do they do it? Why do they do it? Will we ever get sick of it? Should we even take notice of it? There are so many questions surrounding this nation and I have heard countless “experts” on the topic. The North Korea question has become an incredibly polarizing discussion and people are left shaking their heads in confusion because at the end of the day WE HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IS GOING ON THERE AND WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN! So, who is an expert on this controversial topic? What is an “expert” anyways? I’d like to think that an expert on a topic is someone who knows more about it than anyone else. Experts are those who dedicate their lives to a subject and are often sought out for advice or consultation on that certain subject. You know? those people you see on the news who are interviewed for their expert knowledge on topics. Do I consider myself an expert on the topic of North Korea? Not really. But it doesn’t mean my view of the topic, studies and experiences should be ignored because I don’t have a PhD behind my name. After all, I am no “expert” on predicting the weather like a professional meteorologist. However, do I need to consult one in order to interpret the dark clouds and winds outside? Of course not, most of us can predict the rain that is about to come about because we know how to understand what we see. We have seen it before and experience tells us what is going to happen next. And let’s face it, how many times have we been disappointed because of what the “experts” say and were completely wrong? But experts, just like anyone else, can only understand what they see. The problem with North Korea is that what we see is not what it really is or is it? I am not going to begin to pretend to have an idea of what the future may hold on the Korean peninsula, the place I have called home for almost 20 years. However, I would love to share insight on things I do know and feel I have a great understanding of. I hope to shed light on a few things about North Korea that may add to a less confusing discussion. I hope to answer many looming questions and perhaps raise new ones. The following info was born out of a lot research and mostly firsthand experience. I have never once really wrote about my North Korean experiences in details and my thoughts. But for the greater good and to maybe bring more peace of mind to my family and friends, I believe it is time to do so. Enjoy the journey into the Hermit Kingdom that I am going to take you on. |
AuthorLuke Elie Archives
June 2018
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