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Julie WakefieldSo more recently there were reports that there was a first case reported in North Korea - a case that was brought by a person who had defected a few years ago to South Korea but returned for some reason. Now, is this what we believe? With the lack of travel in and out of the country, I find it plausible. But there is a population of people who cross the northern border to buy supplies to bring back to to North Korea to sell on the black market. There is potential of exposure there. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-northkorea/who-says-north-koreas-covid-19-test-results-for-first-suspected-case-inconclusive-idUSKCN2511CG
Julie WakefieldI know many leaders of the countries on this map have had some education in the 'western' world as their wealth and privilege has allowed for this. If not a formal education, definitely time spent studying and traveling. They are not unaware. I still wonder if we are going to see any of the Swiss education the current NK leader received come through....at least that was my hope! He definitely is not unaware!
Julie WakefieldIn my World Geography class, I will continue teaching about Korea. However, I have some new resources and updated information and perspectives to include. I teach both about South Korea and North Korea. So much of the information we read and talked about in this seminar have been incorporated into my lessons. (Yes, I have already updated most lessons because if I don’t do it now it won’t get done!!) My lesson I am creating will focus on maps skills, critical thinking and synthesizing information about South Korea. It will draw on 7 months of geographic thinking. It is a spiraled lesson that begins with some basic map skills and data presentation, as we saw in our first class with the infographics. The lesson progresses to an application and simulation level of choosing a location for an industry. This will allow the opportunity to bring in the Kaesong Industrial Complex and introduce the idea/theory of industrial location (labor, transportation and access to materials). This will challenge the students to use the information they have learned and provide for a nice assessment at the end of the unit.
North Korea lessons in class are a little different. We watch a couple videos and I am replacing the Lisa Ling National Geographic Inside North Korea with scenes from Crash Landing on You. This will allow for some new, updated images for the students. Additionally, we will study the political geography and territoriality (the pattern of behavior associated with the defense of a territory). This discussion will include the Treaty on the non-proliferation of weapons and North Korea’s present day geopolitical position.
In the AP Human Geography class, there are no specific lessons planned but there are definitely opportunities to bring in North and South Korea as case studies and talking points.
Unit 2 – Population and Migration
- escaping from North Korea
- demographic change in South Korea
Unit 3 – Cultural Patterns and Processes
- culture of consumption/materialism in South Korea as a result of economic growth
- culture of juche in North Korea
- hierarchical diffusion of ideas from outside of North Korea
Unit 4 – Political Geography
- government structure and territoriality
- boundaries
Unit 5 – Agriculture
- access and distribution of food in North Korea
- South Korea’s limited agriculture capabilities as a result of physical geography
Unit 6 – Urban Geography
- growth of cities in South Korea to accommodate rural to urban migration and industrial expansion
- planned urban areas (if I remember correctly, the region of Incheon where the international is was planned not only for the airport but also other residential and commercial spaces) that are not a result of growth of small areas but new areas being developed
Unit 7 – Industrial and Development
- economic growth and place in the global economy for South Korea
- development of both North and South Korea with access to health care, education, etc.
So, as seen, there are so ample opportunities to use what we talked about in this seminar in class and I am thankful for all the amazing questions during our online days and the rich conversations on the discussion boards.
Julie WakefieldHello, I am Julie Wakefield from Reno, NV. I teach high school World Geography and AP Human Geography. Most of my students are 9th and 10th graders. I am really looking for to learning from the course and other and finding new resources I can use in my classrrom.
Julie WakefieldJulie WakefieldA certificate of completion will do fine! Thanks
Julie WakefieldAgain, another loaded question because there are many different perspectives.
Some people don't know much as they choose not to follow anything related to North Korea other than what they might see in a news story or on a social media feed - so maybe a missile launch or potential meeting between the two governments.
I think there are a few different categories in which North Korean is seen by outsiders: the people (work camps, famine, brainwashing, and economic disparity etc); the dynasty of the Kim family; the fear North Korea can create around it's actions. They may be more but these are the three I will address.
Outside of North Korea, many believe much of the country lives in poverty, lives meal to meal (and misses many meals), the people lack daily luxuries like running water and inside plumbing. They lived in a state of fear of being punished for crimes their family members may have commited (rule of 3 generations). Their education solely revolves around the ideologies and texts written by the dynasty itself. There is little to no official information about the rest of the world, yet there is a lot of smuggling and black market activities. While most are subsistence farmers, there are an elite few who live in Pyongyang and have access to almost all the luxuries the rest of the world has - with the exception of information about the rest of the world.
The Kim family is also known...they are viewed as dictatorial leaders who live in luxury and allow their people to live in poverty. The rumors of the video collection and preference for imported, expensive whiskey(?) and cigars (?) - I don't remember exactly. The current leader received part of his education in Switzerland and has continued to live the lavish (unhealthy) lifestyle of his father. There is little known but more and more comes out. Once you start digging there are many reports, stories, books, videos, etc. But, the question the outside asks is - what of this can we believe? We may be a little skepitcal about what we see - I compare it to the information we received about the Soviet Union - what they wanted us to know, they told us!
Politically, I think there may be a little more awareness of the meeting with Trump and some of the other events from the present administration (from name calling to being best friend and receiving personal letters). With this, there is the nuclear development that North Korea continues to defy - although face to face saying they will cease developing nuclear weapons. We know this not to be true. Regularly (more so than earlier) we see stories of rocket and missile tests - the distance, the direction and the nuclear capability. This does cause some concern for some of the outside world - not necessarily that North Korea will strike the US mainland, but that North Korea could attack and heavily damage our allies of South Korea and Japan.
I think the rest of the answer to this question is: Is the information we are receiving reliable? Sources like National Geographic and PBS have produced documentaries over the years, but we also see some scenes that might make us question the reporting these (referencing not only my own viewing of these but discussion for others).
I kind of have a high level of fascintation and intrigue with North Korea and I have for quite a while. I have read many of the books referenced here, but I have a large pile to go. I have watched most of the documentaries mentioned and have added some of the movies to my list for the last few weeks of my summer!
Thoughts on any of the books in pile would be appreciated....good, bad or otherwise! 🙂
Julie WakefieldVICE News has a reputation for being on the liberal side. I use their videos with caution in my classroom, but there are two on North Korea that are interesting.
The Hermit Kingdom (2014) when Dennis Rodman visits for the first time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrCQh1usdzE
Back in the DPRK (2020) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYd9gd6sNMY
And here's one from DW Documentary which is German public broadcast
Life in North Korea (2020) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StjIv33zJ9c
Julie WakefieldAny thoughts on the 4-part series on Amazon Prime - Inside North Korea's Dynasty, produced by National Geographic? I have watched the 4th episode with students and like some of the others - PBS and the previous Nat Geo Inside North Korea with Lisa Ling.....there appear to be some really valuable parts, but also few scenes a little sensationalize. What do you think?
Julie WakefieldThis is such a broad question - not sure it is approachable on that large of a scale. So I will focus on few ideas from the lecture to talk about.
Demographics of South Korea....https://www.populationpyramid.net/republic-of-korea/2019/
The population challenges South Korea faces today have been many years in the making. For close to 50 years, South Korea has experienced some population decline to now actually experiencing negative population growth (deaths out number births). Some data shows a very light growth rate of .03% other resources show a slight negative. (Is it possible this slight growth is as a result of the immigrants mentioned in the lecture? I know traditionally South Korea has not had a reputation for being open to many migrants but now welcoming more in an attempt to address the demographic divide). However, the challenges this brings forth has led to many different policy changes. The demographic dependancy for South Korea has shifted from supporting the younger population with education and other related services to needing to focus on the elder cohort and services related to their care. Pension policies are reflecting the lack of work force as the ages of early pension collection and pension investment goes up slowly. This policy changes requires people to work longer in their lives, again addressing the lack of children therefore a reduced workforce.
Industrial and economic growth are definitely something to cheer for! Their place in the globalized economy is solid and they have created a specialized niche in the electronic and other industries (ship building, cars). Samsung and Hyundai make more than just phones and cars. Samsung has a strong hold across the technology world with phones, TVs, household appliances, etc https://www.koreaexpose.com/samsung-products-basic-information/#:~:text=Samsung%20Electronics%2C%20the%20largest%20subsidiary,and%20security%2Fmonitoring%20systems%2C%20to. Hyundai has the cars but also the ships and other things like construction equipment (forklifts) and factory equipment! Each of these two major corporations have many branches that have created these niches. The technology is always pushing and the production quality has a strong reputation - these two things have helped South Korea carve it's place in the globalized world. https://atlas.cid.harvard.edu/countries/121
And then there is Korean pop culture - strong and influential throughout the world. I have numerous students 'obsessed' to different levels of different aspects - K-pop, K-dramas, etc. I volunteer for a exchange student program and help conduct interviews for students who want to study abroad. One of the programs is a State dept spronsored language focused program. There are many applicants, usually 5 - 10 from our small region (1000s nationally) who express specific interest in studying Korean due to exposure to the multiple variations of Korean culture.
Julie WakefieldThe Birth of Korean Cool (2004) https://smile.amazon.com/Birth-Korean-Cool-Conquering-Through/dp/1250045118/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3NE81X8H1MBU0&dchild=1&keywords=the+birth+of+korean+cool&qid=1595180920&sprefix=the+birth+of+korean%2Caps%2C216&sr=8-1
If I had Your Face (2020) https://smile.amazon.com/If-Had-Your-Face-Novel/dp/0593129466/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=if+I+had+your+face&qid=1595180968&sr=8-1
Julie WakefieldI, too, have been considering some of the language scenes. There are so many different scenes of the language between the north and south. One of the questions I have though....I have heard that the language is much more significantly different than being portrayed here; to the degree where there is some challenges in communicating. Have you heard that?
Julie WakefieldKim Jung Un has taken numerous steps to prove his worth, not only to the elite in North Korea but also the rest of the world. He has had some of his advisors and family members killed in an attempt to control information and send a message that some things were happening that he did not like. Whether or not these stories that we heard are the actual truth, theu do go so far as 'get the message' out to others and to the world. He also regularly and diligently shows that he is advancing the study and product of nuclear weapons and different short range and lang range missiles. Many of these missile test end up near US allies so that makes many people nervous. As he received some education in Switzerland, there was some hope that he would modernize some policies (economic and political) of the country. Additionally it was hopeful that since he had experienced the 'world outside NK' that he would be more willing to open the country - culturally, technologically (communication and entertainment), economically and politically....all around people were hopeful, but that does not appear to be happening.
However, observation from my part....there are more memoirs published of people who have defected and escaped from North Korea since he took over in 2011. Does that mean more people are leaving? Or are the people leaving just feeling braver and willing to share their stories? Baek's book (which I just happened to read last month) gives many, many examples of technology (DVDs, USB Drives, laptops, etc) being smuggled into North Korea? It appears from his perspective, there are large numbers of people being exposed to information from outside. Does this mean Kim Jung Un is ok with this? He can't be in the dark about this, can he? Or is this is passive way 'opening' up the country to more outside information while he can still maintain that he controls the stream of information the people receive. (And one of the soldiers in Crashing Landing on You is obsessed with K-drama - watched episodes while on duty!)
The next part of the question - do we need to worry about North Korea? I guess my first response is from what perspective? Economically? Politically? Militarily? Humanitarian? All of these have such different answers. I don't think we need to worry economically, politically and militarily. Making a military move towards South Korea or towards Allies of the US would be detrimental to the people of North Korea who suffer most as a result of this type of action. However, from a humanitarian perspective, yes, we need to worry. There are still many people living in poverty, being illegally imprisoned, and huge divides in access to services, information, care, etc. This is really a loaded question!
Julie WakefieldHi Jasmine, do you believe there is unification in the future for North and South Korea? I know this is looking into a looking glass. I hear interesting stories (some from students I talked to while visiting on a teacher trip) that there was a division between those in South Korea who wanted reunification and those who did not. This divide seems to be generational, not necessarily political. Yet, all generations seem to recognize the economic stress this would put on South Korea. Just curious. I also realize that it is not a topic many of the memoirs of the exiles talk about.
Julie WakefieldTom, thank you for such a thorough response that helped me understand a little more about military strategy and the nuclear situation. I agree with you that part of the mentally for developing nuclear weapons is to show they do have the technological ability to be a strong country - both in military and innovative (nuclear) advancements. We do use technology and military as a measure of a country's development yet this alone does not show the whole picture (of North Korea) as we know.
