lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="blue">Interview of Ms. Ju Yeeun by Lee Seonyeong lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;">

lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="blue">Prayer is answered.

lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="navy">A year after escaping from North Korea, Yeeun, whose sister was
caught during escape, could do nothing but pray. style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;">
color="purple">“There's no God,”
color="navy">someone whispered. Startled and frightened, she looked around,
but no one was there. It must have been Satan. Satan's whispering echoed over
and over again; his words didn't leave her mind until she ended her prayer.
Since her faith in Christianity was still new and untested at that point he
was more stirred and exhausted. However, she soon put her hands together and
started to pray louder. ‘Help the evil voice disappear. Please save my sister.’A
miracle occurred; her sister was released in thirteen hours and joined her in
South Korea. Her prayer was answered.

lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="navy">After this incident, Christianity became a more important part
of her life. Having selected theology as her major in order to learn Christianity
further, she works at Durihana International School by day attends college by
night. She had not ever dreamed of this kind of life, of having a belief in
God, entering the College of Theology, since a faith in Christianity in North
Korea was punished by a sentence of death.

lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="navy">Finishing her freshman courses, Yeeun is becoming accustomed to
South Korean life. Even though she neither dislikes a particular subject nor
is in an academically challenging program, she is acutely aware of the achievement
gap. Especially, the lack of English skills is still a major barrier for her.
Moreover, her hectic schedule prohibits any form of leisure. She had dawn prayer
at 5:30 a.m., works at Durihana International School until 6 p.m., goes to college
at night, and only then is able to catch some sleep after midnight.

lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="navy">She somehow takes time out of her busy schedule to study English
and read books. She reads about five books per month, mainly biographies that
show how people with difficult situations have succeeded in their lives. Such
books give her inspiration to develop her own life. She recently read lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="purple"> color="purple">“ color="purple">The Pleasure of Learning color="purple">” color="navy"> and was deeply impressed. Due to her busy schedule, she has little
time to spend with her sister but is generally satisfied with her life in South
Korea.

lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="navy">She was shocked when she first realized that she could board airplanes
and subways whenever she wanted. She had never been on a plane in North Korea
and only had ever seen one twice, so it was a dreamlike experience for her when
she first took an airplane flight from Laos to South Korea. She'd never forget
the thrill when the plane took off. Nevertheless, unpleasant things happened
because she was so alien to them, She had to learn how to use and adapt to these
new technologies. Modern tools such as computers are handy and convenient, but
because she was clueless, she was often distressed and became miserable in some
situations. She feared, “How can I live on if I fail to adapt to this life?”
Also, a sense of inferiority poured in during the learning process; that she
was far behind, bothered her.

lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="navy">One of the difficulties that people from North Korea undergo is
discrimination. Fortunately, Yeeun hasn't had such experiences since she goes
to Theological College. She related a story she heard of a boy, who had attended
a regular school before coming to Durihana International School. In the regular
school, he had a hard time adapting to South Korean school life. Fortunately,
a class president helped him with many problems. He was very grateful. One day,
he accidentally overheard a conversation of the class president with other classmates.

lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="purple">“I have to take care of him. He's a baby. I hate him.”

lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="navy">All his utterances and bitter curses were about the boy.

lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="navy">If the president had been unkind to him since the start, he would
have ignored it. However, those words brought a huge disappointment since he'd
relied on the president more than anyone else. Yeeun is concerned that South
Korean teenagers have different faces and wants us to notice that all people
are equal.

lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="navy">She already knew about some South Koreans’ callous attitude,
but what really hit her was the concept of outcasts. When she went to school
in North Korea, all the students got along with one another. They did not bully
others as they are immersed in living hand to mouth.

lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="blue">about DPRK

lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="navy">In North Korean school, she had vacation homework. During summer,
she had to press oil from the seeds of pumpkins and sunflowers. During winter,
North Koreans kept warm with a stove at home, so she had to gather firewood.
In addition to vacation homework, this gathering of wood caused her to work
during her whole vacation. If she didn't complete her homework, she had to pay
a fine to the school. Not only adults but also children had no down time. She
had read only two books in her 20 years in North Korea. In one instance, after
she had read a book, she was blamed by others and judged for idling away while
everyone was working hard. Ironically, reading is vacation homework in South
Korea, and students tend to skip reading, making many ridiculous excuses to
their teachers.

lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="navy">Talking about schools led to further discussion about general
life in North Korea. Classes, such as farming- class and working-class, as divided
there, and certain classes were robbed of basic freedoms. Passing a university
entrance exam is near impossible without a bribe. There are no workbooks or
reference books for poorer students; only the children of the wealthy can thrive
and study. It is almost impossible to work and study for entrance at the university
at the same time. Also, children whose parents work at a factory or a farm must
take over family occupation as they are handed down. Once, the law had banned
children of farmers from entering college. Although the law was later abolished,
it is rare for these children to enter college where others go by paying bribes
to enter. Yeeun, a daughter of a farmer, could not think of migrating to other
areas. She couldn’t enter college or take another occupation; she could only
consider farming.

lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="navy">She had no choice because if she didn’t do farming, she would
be subject to imprisonment, a so-called place of re-education. In North Korea,
not even children arc given opportunity to think about their studies or to dream.
A country which its citizens may not go to the beach near their homes; and every
men must serve in the military for ten years- A country in which people die
rescuing their tyrants' portraits from a fire. Citizens are not allowed to decide
their own future. This is the nation where Yeeun had to live tor twenty years.

lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="navy">Although she has many terrible memories, she has fond memories,
as well; she recalls that towns in North Korea had cultures of sharing foods
and stories at holiday season, This is unlike urban South Korea where neighbors
mean little. Sometimes she reflects a warm memory, hanging out with village
friends. Thinking that she would rather die if caught, she attempted to escape
from North Korea. In August 2014, she arrived in China and then stayed in Laos
for a month. She finally reached South Korea in October that same year. Now,
living in South Korea, she is willing to learn Chinese to help North Koreans
to escape and has also formulated plans of improving her English skills to study
in the United States or Canada.

lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="navy">While talking with me, what she mainly revealed was her hopeful
future, not her bleak life in North Korea. One of the similarities between us
was that we were both interested in education. When she was in elementary school,
she studied twelve subjects; Korean history, Korean language, math, science
and biology; science and biology were separated. In school, she received only
two textbooks. During four years in elementary school and six years in middle
school, students learn English for the first time in the 4th grade, unlike South
Koreans who start English classes at second grade elementary school. This slow
start in English causes North Koreans feel behind when they learn English in
South Korea. To solve this academic gap, a systematic educational program only
for North Korean students with governmental support is essential. This program
will focus on English education to help the students follow the same class level
of a South Korean regular school after finishing the program.

lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="navy">If reunification is ever achieved, she would like to teach orphans.
We must establish schools that guarantee students’ rights and let them study
as much as they desire and develop their own dreams. A time when people spend
their lives, not working for survival, hut paving a way for themselves is what
she looks forward to.

lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="navy">People have different standards of success. Someone wants to earn
more money and gain fame, while another simply wants to have his own family.
Yeeun's success is color="purple">“to live a happy life.” color="navy"> She wants to show others that people from North Korea can also
"succeed" and live life to the fullest. I do hope that her dream comes
true; I wish her a bright future.