◆ Laughter, Smells... Truly Experiencing "A Country Where People Live"
What kind of lives do North Koreans lead today, and what are they thinking? To find out, two ASIAPRESS journalists headed to the North Korean-Chinese border region in mid-October 2024. Starting from Dandong at the lowest reaches of the Yalu River and traveling upstream to Fangchuan at the mouth of the Tumen River, they covered approximately 1,000 kilometers of accessible border areas out of the total 1,400-kilometer journey over ten days. One journalist, JEON Sung-jun, is a North Korean defector, while HONG Mari is a fourth-generation Korean-Japanese whose grandfather's hometown is in North Korea. Through what these two people with Korean Peninsula roots saw and felt at the border, they reflected on North Korea as a neighboring country and the people living there.
◆ Two Korean Roots
I quit my job in 2022. It might sound impressive to say I did it to confront my roots, but honestly, there was no particular reason. I simply wanted to know where my grandparents were born and raised, and why they left their homeland. Despite being Korean-Japanese, I knew nothing about my family history. This curiosity, born from that void, led me to language studies in South Korea, where my grandmother was born.
However, visiting my other ancestral homeland proved much more difficult—North Hamgyong Province, where my grandfather was born and raised. I never heard stories about his hometown during his lifetime.
All I know is that during the Japanese colonial period, he worked at a nitrogen chemical factory known for Minamata disease, and that he met my grandmother in Seoul after fleeing south to escape the Soviet army that invaded in August 1945. That's the extent of my knowledge. Because of this, I always wanted to visit the border region—the closest I could get to that land.
◆ Being Called "Enemy Nation" in First Conversation
My first conversation with North Koreans was at a North Korean restaurant in Shenyang, Liaoning Province. A female employee approached me speaking Chinese. When I instinctively replied, "I can understand Korean," she glared at me and snapped, "It's not Korean, it's Chosun language!" Her attitude was so intimidating I nearly backed away.
"I'm from Japan."
"Go away."
"Why?"
"Because Japan is our eternal enemy."
I was eventually allowed in but was seated in a far corner and not even offered tea—clearly unwelcome. However, her attitude softened as the meal progressed, and she even mixed my cold noodles with a smile.
When I asked, "Why aren't South Koreans allowed in?" she immediately replied, "Because those puppet (South Korean) bastards are part of an enemy nation." The mechanical way she spat out these words left a strong impression. In late 2023, Kim Jong-un declared, "South Korea is the enemy," and this directive was being strictly applied even to workers dispatched to China.
