Chuseok in North Korea

*Article derived from Joy Yoon’s blog

September 10, 2022 was the Korean Harvest Festival, otherwise known as Chuseok. Chuseok is a time for Korean families to gather together, pay respects to their ancestors, and enjoy a festive time of eating and drinking. Women wake up at dawn to prepare delicacies including Korean pancakes and rice cakes for the ancestral table to then later be enjoyed by the entire family.

Songpyeon, a traditional Korean rice cake

From our ten years of living in North Korea, one particular Chuseok stands out to me. That year the holiday landed on a Sunday. As was our weekly custom, our family walked to Bong-Su Church to participate in congregational worship Sunday morning.

We arrived at church to be greeted by the senior pastor. As he ushered us into the sanctuary, we noticed a stark difference from other Sundays. The entire building was empty. We were the only ones that week who showed up to observe the Sabbath.

On any other typical Sunday, Bong-Su church was attended by a few hundred congregants. Women and men in their forties, fifties, and sixties made up most of the congregation. It was uncommon to see young adults or children at church. Only once did I see a child, and the preschool boy who attended was obviously a grandson of one of the congregants.

Despite most of the Korean church members boasting middle-age or above, there were a few young adult singers in the choir. Both official State churches in Pyongyang have proficiently performing choirs. Perhaps this is an allowed exception because musicians are more free to serve in church, whereas most other young adults in North Korea have demanding full-time jobs requiring their services on the weekend.

As we walked down the aisle of the church and sat in the empty pews, the pastor explained to us that everyone had gone to the mountainside to pay respects to their ancestors. There would be no regular Sunday service that day. In light of this, though, the pastor graciously allowed us to stay for as long as we desired for a quiet time of reflection and prayer.

On the walk home, it was close to noon and families were congregating outside. On the sides of the road, the riverside park, and every green spot of grass, the city was full of picnicking families.

Initially, communism put a halt to celebrating Chuseok in North Korea. Because ancestral worship is considered a religious practice from Confucianist tradition, the atheistic nation did not encourage their people to pay their respects.

But around 1980, North Korea reinstated the holiday. This was to preserve their traditional roots within Korean culture. Today North Koreans are given one-day off from work to celebrate the Harvest Festival.

Those families unable to travel to the mountainside along with those who possess urns of their loved ones gather outside in the refreshing early fall weather. Throughout our 20-minute walk home, we could see entire families from grandparents to grandchildren line up and bow before the framed pictures of their ancestors. Ceremonial bowing was followed by the family circling over deliciously prepared lunchboxes.

Traditional Chuseok Delicacies

This custom is similar in South Korea. Typically, South Koreans receive a longer three-day holiday to travel to their hometown, gather with family, and visit the graves of their ancestors. Some of the foods and customs of Chuseok ceremonies differ, and South Koreans typically do not picnic outside but rather gather at the gravesite or in homes. But the fundamental holiday is the same.

Over the past 70 plus years, North and South Korea’s cultures, languages, and way of life have diverged. But one thing is clear. They both are still very much Korean. Despite some drastic differences, North and South Korea remain more alike than different. Koreans are the same people on both sides of the border, and the way they celebrate Chuseok is one evidence of that fact.  

Shifting the Paradigm: North Koreans are People, too!

*Article derived from Joy Ellen Yoon’s blog

Ask the average American what they think about North Korea, and you may receive the following responses: “North Korea is an axis of evil… a tyrannical dictatorship that poses a nuclear threat to America.” “North Korean leaders care little for their own.” “They cannot be trusted.” “North Korea is unpredictable and volatile.”

Almost all the information fed to the American public supports these statements. The news, the research, and articles published on North Korea unilaterally declare the same message. Americans view the DPRK negatively, tainted by a political lens and bias. As one of the few remaining communist regimes, they are our enemies, we believe.

In reality, what does the United States have to do with a country half-way across the world? The answer may shock you. Whether you are aware of the facts or not, the U.S. has not only been intricately involved for years on the Korean Peninsula but also largely in control of the outcomes.

In 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for negotiated peace in the Russo-Japanese war that lasted from 1904-1905. Ironically, the peace settlement during the 1905 Korea-Japan Convention included making Korea a protectorate of Japan. The full annexation of Korea to the Empire of Japan was finalized on August 29, 1910. The subsequent Japanese colonization was a dark and gruesome time for the Korean nation. Koreans were severely mistreated, forbidden to speak the Korean language, and were forced to either worship Japanese Shinto shrines or face imprisonment.

Treaty of Portsmouth ended the Russo-Japanese War

It was not until August 15, 1945, at the end of World War II that Korea was liberated from Japan. As allies in WWII, the Soviet Union and the United States had already determined how to ensure Korean’s liberation from the Japanese. It was decided that the Soviet Union would enter the peninsula from the north while the U.S. entered from the south. The two met in the middle at the 38th Parallel. But instead of allowing Korea to become its own liberated nation, with the onset of the Cold War Era just beginning, Korea was divided into two nations. In the North, a communist government was established while in the South, the United States helped establish a democracy. This division occurred without the consent or intent of the Korean people.

War, as a result, was inevitable. Korea desired a unified nation, but due to the establishment of two stark, contrasting governments, conflict was unavoidable. On June 25, 1950, the North invaded the South. And although the Korean War today is known as the “Forgotten War” in America, it very real in the hearts and minds of Koreans. At the end of the war, more than 3 million Koreans had died, and 10 million families were divided. Resulting in 43% of the population at the time being directly affected by the war through either through death or separation. Through the United Nations’ involvement, the United States Air Force used 386,037 tons of bombs, 32,357 tons of napalm, 313,600 rockets, and 167 million machine-gun rounds against the North in a short three-year period. North Korea was flattened through these air strikes, and both the North and the South at the end of the war were left in ruins.

Although fighting ended with the signing of the Armistice Agreement on July 27, 1953, a peace agreement to officially end the Korean War was never signed. Therefore, in the minds of North Koreans, they are still at war. In fact, the Korean War has been the longest unresolved conflict in American history, now lasting more than 70 years.

Truce Signed on July 27, 1953 but the Korean War Never Ended

Since my husband and I have worked and lived in North Korea as humanitarian workers for over a decade, we are beginning to discover what makes North Koreans tic. We have first-hand experience of what their lives are like. And through deepening relationships with local people, we have begun to understand what North Koreans are thinking and feeling and why.

Living in North Korea is unlike any other nation on earth. Standards of living may be similar to other third-world countries, but North Koreans live by a different set of rules compared to the rest of the world. They have a completely different value system with unique end-of-game objectives. If a person does not understand where a North Korean is coming from, it is almost impossible to obtain positive outcomes from any talks or negotiations. 

North Koreans live as if they are in a war zone. The Korean War was extremely personal to them. They literally saw their mothers and fathers, uncles and aunts, grandmothers and grandfathers, brothers and sisters killed. Stories of trauma from the Korean War has been passed down from one generation to the next. And every person in the nation was elicited to rebuild their country from the ground up.

Media highlights negative aspects about North Korea, but it would be inaccurate to leave it there. These descriptions of North Korea are not untrue, but they are also not the full picture. It is like describing the United States as a country rampant with gang warfare, homeless drug addicts, and violent schools. These facts are all true, but there is also a vast treasure cove of beauty waiting to be explored. 

Instead, we need to begin viewing North Koreans through a human perspective rather than through a political one. The fact is that they are people, just like you and me. All they really want is to defend their country and bring about healing for their nation, that is to stop the cycle of violence and trauma. They want an end to the Korean War.

Ironically, apart from the United States, a peace treaty ending the Korean War cannot be signed. Once again, Korea’s fate is in the hands of America.

Broken trust and disappointment between countries is obstructing the United States from declaring an end to the Korean War. However, without this crucial step, there is little hope for a peaceful future.

Koreans are worth getting to know better. North Koreans are a tough people who resist the attempts of powerful world-leaders to dominate their country. But even though they can come across as threatening and firm, they respond well to the hand of friendship. Those who persist to get to know them will discover a remarkable nation full of people who have unlimited potential.

March 18, 2021