CLS Korean Alumni Conduct Study on North Korean Language and Culture

In the summer of 2011, two CLS Korean Institute alumni* used funding from the Alumni Development Fund to study North Korean language and culture in Seoul, South Korea.

Our grant money was used for a ten-session (July-September 2011) study of North Korean language and culture in Seoul. We met in tutoring sessions with former residents of the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, and the Northeastern province of Hamgyong. Our goal was to better understand the differences in language between North and South Korea through the reading and discussion of DPRK media, including newspaper reports, academic articles, poetry, novels and songs (see attached for examples). This media enabled us to practice North Korean grammar, pronunciation, and tone while at the same time learning about North Korean society and culture. Learning North Korean words specific to parts of society (e.g. education, the military, government, and recreation) was particularly interesting and helpful.

In addition, this media also provided an excellent setting for hearing stories, both positive and negative, about daily life in North Korea from people who have lived there. This experience was positive for both our tutors and us. We both feel this experience helped to add a more human, or on-the-ground perspective, to our understanding of North Korea.  Our tutors also enjoyed the opportunity to share about their hometowns and reflect on their past lives in an informal setting with people who were interested in listening. One of the most interesting and also moving conversations was hearing positive memories of life in North Korea, however few they might be, as they serve as a reminder that people everywhere live similar lives despite very different circumstances.

We hope to be able to apply these perspectives and our enhanced understanding of the language to our on-going work related to North Korea. Raul is currently working at the North Korean Database Center for Human Rights to translate defector testimonies into English, and Joshua is currently doing work related to rural development in North Korea. Already our experience has aided us in better reading and understanding the intricacies of North Korean documents and in conversation with North Koreans. One of us recently had a conversation with a North Korean citizen abroad, in which the North Korean remarked, “Unlike other foreigners, you speak Korean like someone from Pyongyang, not Seoul.” The man was very moved that an American would take the time to learn North Korean, despite our two countries’ poor relations. We both hope to continue work related to North Korea and hope this experience will lead to many more conversations of this type in the future.

Over the course of our project we created a Google blog to share information we learned from our independent readings and research. This blog was further shared with our former Korean language teacher in the U.S. in order to provide us with more in-depth comments about what we were learning. We also plan to write a short writing sample using unique North Korean vocabulary and grammar for use in our teacher’s next Korean textbook. This writing sample will include vocabulary and cultural explanations in English. In this way, we hope we can share our knowledge of both language and culture with current university-level Korean learners.


*Due to the sensitivity of these projects, pseudonyms have been used.