Hyeonseo Lee: My Escape from North Korea and Life Beyond

[Billie Johnson]

"North Korean defector and human rights activist Hyeonseo Lee shares her harrowing trials escaping from the North Korean regime, her defect to China, and ultimate asylum in South Korea. Despite all she has experience, Lee advocates for us to embrace the obstacles in our lives as they reveal opportunities in “the road less traveled.” This video is part of the Global Speaker Series at Stanford Graduate School of Business."

https://youtu.be/Aoq5wDLbIqE

[Billie Johnson]

I noticed over the past couple days that K-Pop has been in the news and not for good reasons.  Of course salaciousness sells so I am not surprised that these articles are getting a lot of recognition. However, this does say plenty about the pressures placed on both men and women in this industry. The article below says a lot about how the #Metoo movement is affecting change in how the laws are applied to men in a male dominated society.

Two high profile K-pop stars found guilty of sexually assaulting women incapable of resisting: https://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/ny-two-kpop-guilty-sexually-assaulting-women-incapable-resisting-20191129-vwjhlk7jkza6vh35xo3ybqq7fa-story.html

I found it interesting especially with how closely this information was released in proximity to our conversations on this forum. 

[Billie Johnson]

A 3rd K-pop star has abruptly died within 2 months, showing the squeaky-clean industry isn't as wholesome as it seems

https://www.yahoo.com/news/3rd-k-pop-star-abruptly-111034424.html

Any other time I would have read the headline, silently gave condolences, and moved on. However, since taking this class I am starting to notice all things Korea.  It is so sad that the pressures of celebrity and the infiltration of their lives are having these awful consequences.  Let's hope that this is the last loss.

 

 

 

[Maria Blake]

Billie--

      Thank you for sharing such an interesting documentary about the North Korean experience from a first account experience. It made me think of the following things in relation to teaching,  literature, and students: 

    This video clip provided a glimpse into a system of government that uses propaganda to carry out its aims, which are to oppress and manipulate the people’s opinions and galvanize society’s commitment to obeying the government and preserve, thus, its influence for years to come. There were some things that shocked me, and the information and experience of Hyeonseo Lee can be useful not only as an eyewitness account of a personal story about the human need for freedom and self-expression, but also an illustration about what propaganda does when it is applied at a large social scale with long-term and blinding effects on the consciousness of the people. Terror shuts down all resistance and exacts a compliance from people that is robotic and unnatural. 

            Moreover, the shocking stories the video described made me think of how propaganda can be used to such an extreme effect. It is unthinkable that a government, for instance, would allow school classes to be disrupted so that students would attend an execution of an individual who disobeyed the government for probably trivial matters, such as watching western movies. As educators, we are worried every time we show movies that present some kind of violence, whereas such an inhibition is nonexistent in the way the government in North Korea sees the role of violence as a way to discipline and instill fear into its peoples. It was shocking, also, how the presenter in this video described the public execution and imprisonment of people not conforming to the strictures of the government as the number one cause of deaths in North Korea, the second being that of starvation. 

            Finally, students will benefit from knowing how such realities exist and render the fictional narratives they read more meaningful and appealing. Studying the story of Hyeonseo in conjunction to the story of Animal Farm, an allegory George Orwell developed to highlight the negative dimensions of oppressive governments disguising themselves as governments that serve the needs of people, but actually seeking control and submission of the people’s will, will serve to bring home the ideas Orwell foregrounds. Literature gains more appeal in this light. Yes, it is fiction, but fiction reflects kernels of truth when representing visions and ideologies that help concretize the abstractions of political systems of thought and applications. Students tend to connect better to stories that connect to real events, particularly, when such events constitute risky attempts at freedom, the cornerstone of American cultural experience and constitutional ideology. 

            

            

 

            

[Billie Johnson]

for sharing your thoughts and reflection with me. It seems like, depending on whose perspective you get the information from, that North Korea has had a stronghold on the narrative to its people, but there appears to be some cracks starting to surface. Technology has had profound effects on how information is shared and how communities and countries have been transformed because of the ability for people to connect who may not have been able to otherwise.  I think advancements in technology and people's natural curiosity is going to get the best of North Korea. It looks like the world is closing in on them and there will be no choice but to soon open up. What will opening up North Korea look like? I wish I knew, but it will be interesting to witness a transformative period in history. Hopefully this transformation won't have adverse effects on the citizens on North Korea. It's past time that people are given a choice in how they want to live their lives.

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