The Great North-South Divide of Public Mood
Hamkyong/Yanggang (N. East) -- "War is not my concern"
Pyongan/Hwanghae (S. West) -- "Will follow (Kim Jong-il's) order"
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Pyongyang citizens passing by(Yonhap News) |
A N. Korean defector, Ahn Young-bae(alias, entered S. Korea in 1998) in Pusan, had a phone conversation with his family back in N. Korea not long ago, and they told him, "There are words going around here, which say, 'The South goes its own way, and so does the North.'"
We are not talking about S. Korea and N. Korea. What it means is that public mood in the Southern region of N. Korea is drastically different from the one in its Northern region.
According to Mr. Ahn, "'People in 'frontline' areas,' such as S. Pyongan and Hwanghae Province, including Pyongyang, are all worked up with the news of war breaking out, or orders issued by the commander-in-chief(Kim Jong-il.) However, people in Sino-N. Korea border region, such as Hamkyong and Yanggang Province, are really tired of war talk. They are only interested in making their living by doing their business."
The gist of public mood in the Northern region is that N. Korean authorities have been trumpeting American invasion so many times that people no longer take it seriously. Even if war breaks out, a majority of them say they would run away and take shelter in China.
Mr. Ahn added, "People in the north say they really doubt that they would fight for Kim Jong-il. Most of them are into business, and many of them have relatives in S. Korea, so public mood (there) is totally different from the 'front region' like Pyongyang."
War or not, we are dead anyway.
The following is the (partial) transcript of Mr. Ahn's conversation with his sister in N. Korea.
Ahn: How are you?
sister: Fine. I make a living as a street peddler, with the help of the money you sent me.
Ahn: What is on people's mind (these days)?
sister: Everybody who is into business agrees that N. Korea would go down soon. Nobody cares about what is going on in the country. Nobody knows whether the government would let us live or be killed."
Ahn: N. Korean authorities are reportedly trumpeting that America would start a nuclear war.
sister: Recently, they claimed on TV, 'We have nuclear weapons,' but nobody cares about nuclear weapons or war. They have been making the same noise for so long that everybody takes it in stride. Everybody doubt that it would really break out. We are all busy making money, so we do not have time to worry about war.
Mounting discontent in the Northern region
Why such a vast divide in public mood between the two regions? There is a reasonable explanation.
People in the northern region have pent-up anger against those in Pyongyang. In Hamkyong Provinces, food rations had already stopped in late 80's. Those in Pyongyang still received rice rations even in mid-90's(the period of great famine.) For last 50 years, Hamkyong Provinces have been the dumping ground for people with bad ideological background, banished people, political prisoners, and their families. If there is food shortage (in the country,) Hamkyong Provinces were always the first region to suffer ration cut. The discontent of people in the region are really long-running.
People in the north feel, "those guys(Pyongyang folks) have been doing well so far, so perhaps they should go out and fight a war, but we don't want any part of it." They say, 'Since when do they treat us as humans?'
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| A gloomy-looking resident of Musan, N. Korea |
In mid-90's, many loyal followers to the Party and Kim Jong-il died (of hunger and related complications.) They kept waiting for food ration from the state, to no avail. When those who did not care about business realized that they should make money, it was too late. Naturally, these days, we hear a saying among people, 'Money is the king. If we believe you(Kim Jong-il,) we would end up being starved to death.'
Strong traditional regionalism
There is a history of regionalism between the Southern region centering around Pyongyang(Pyongan and Hwanghae Provinces) and the Northern region(Hamkyong and Yanggang Provinces.) Southerners feel that the Northerners are too calculating, while the Northerners feel that the Southerners are wimps.
This conflict become more pronounced as the absolute dictatorship of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il intensified and became a source of class discrimination. In particular, both Kim's purged their political enemies and sent them to Hamkyong Province, where, as a result, people with all kinds of background were mixed up together and central authorities maintain shaky hold.
Many of officials are from the area around Pyongyang. Authorities said they wanted to make Pyongyang 'a model international city,' barring provincial residents from entering the city. Even when you had to go to Pyongyang for business, they checked your document at every step. Naturally, those from provinces have been hostile against Pyongyang residents.
As more outside information flows into the Northern region via China, the North-South divide would widen further.
Han Young-jin (from Pyongyang; entered S. Korea in 2002) hyj@dailynk.com
