Sun Mus Satirical Art the Korean Detnete Through the Eyes of a Defector
A poet laureate, a state propagandist, a land historian ― writer Jang Jin-sung, whose memoir "Dear Leader" about his life in North korea was published in English in the U.Chiliad. in May, was all this earlier he escaped Northward Korea in 2004 at the age of 34.
Past his account, Jang'due south life in the North was comfortable, materially at to the lowest degree. Equally leader Kim Jong-il'southward favorite poet, Jang was given the task of writing epic poems honoring the Dear Leader. His flair for writing found him employed by the United Forepart Section responsible for inter-Korean espionage, policy-making and diplomacy, where he wrote under the names of Southward Korean publishers that would somewhen be passed on to democratic resistance movements in the S. At ane point, he was part of an viii-member team of writers charged with compiling the "Register of the Kim Dynasty" as a state historian.
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| The encompass of Jang's "Honey Leader," a memoir published in the U.One thousand. past Random House Group |
All seemed well until that fateful twenty-four hour period in January 2004 when Jang and his friend institute themselves with nowhere to get but across the Tumen River into Mainland china to escape what would surely be execution for smuggling a S Korean monthly magazine out of the UFD part.
When Jang made the escape, he was carrying with him two notebooks of poems. The poems dealt with mass starvation, a female parent trying to sell her daughter in a marketplace, the general misery of the people and the worsening tyranny of the North Korean regime ― an eyewitness account of what was happening inside one of the near reclusive and repressive states in the globe. The heartfelt poems were written in secret, in the evening hours later on Jang returned from a day of writing lies.
During the twenty-four hours, Jang worked in a bubble of mocked-up South korea, writing praises of Kim Jong-il from the viewpoint of a S Korean writer. "Information technology was creative writing, using Southward Korean expressions. It involved having to lie twice," said Jang at the New Focus International office in a rundown building in northeastern Seoul on June 10. New Focus International is a website on North Korean news that he founded in 2011.
The discrepancy betwixt the lies he had to write and the reality he witnessed and turned into poems suffocated Jang to the betoken where he wanted desperately to exercise something to disrupt the surface calm of his life. "I wanted to break the traffic law, at the very least," he said, so restless and stifled and yet powerless he felt. "I fifty-fifty wished for something bad to happen to the regime," he said.
It was purely past chance that Jang's writing talent was discovered. Jang who was studying music at the Pyongyang Arts School, happened upon a collection of poems by the British Romantic poet Lord Byron, including "The Corsair."
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| Writer Jang Jin-sung speaks at the New Focus International role in northeastern Seoul. Behind him is a satellite epitome of Pyongyang. (Park Hyun-koo/ The Korea Herald) |
"It was the showtime time that I saw a pirate as a protagonist. For the first fourth dimension, I cried reading," Jang said. Earlier his encounter with Byron'due south poems, Kim Il-sung was the only hero Jang had ever known. He resolved to become a author.
Eventually, Jang's poems reached Kim Jong-il and led to a face-to-face coming together with the Due north Korean leader ― a cracking award, Jang idea.
Yet, meeting the Dear Leader had an unexpected bear on on Jang. "Seeing him in person made me realize that he was only human being, non a god. He was non interested in his people. He treated his officials worse than his dogs," he said. "I realized Kim Jong-il was a domestic dog," Jang added.
After escaping to People's republic of china, Jang wandered nearly the border for 32 days, looking for a way to get to the South. Along the manner, he was helped by several Korean-Chinese but was also turned away past as many. In retrospect, Jang understands why people were reluctant to help. "The defectors are also at fault. They had earned a reputation every bit thieves, bad people," he said.
It was only when he called a South Korean newspaper bureau in Mainland china claiming that he had information on Democratic people's republic of korea that he was finally able to make his mode to Seoul.
After a year of debriefing, Jang worked at the Found for National Security Strategy for six years before leaving to found New Focus International. It is the but media dedicated to North Korea that is run by a Northward Korean defector.
"There are some 25,000 Northward Korean defectors. I wanted to offset a newspaper that would correspond their interests. Also, much of what passes every bit Due north Korean news is fiction. I idea this needed to be corrected," Jang said, chiding the South Korean media for existence irresponsible.
"There is a perception that Northward Korean defectors ofttimes prevarication," Jang said, just he claims that New Focus International has never been establish inaccurate with its exclusive reports. "The goal is to be faithful to the truth," Jang said. The site is run by six reporters and several advisers equally well as Due north Korean defectors.
North Korean defectors experience difficulties leaving the nightmare of North Korea behind and adjusting to the life here, according to Jang. "The biggest difficulty they experience is emotional instability. For 4-5 years, they continue to accept nightmares," he said.
"The fundamental difference between successful and maladjusted defectors is interpersonal relations. The defectors must settle emotionally starting time ― Kim Il-sung has ruined people'southward character," Jang said.
Living in the South has brought about a change in Jang's writing. "I find that my poems take get slow. I want to write novels. I want to say that honey is stronger than hatred," he said.
Married with a 3-twelvemonth-former son, Jang said he would similar to raise him away.
"I desire to teach him English and I want him to relish all the things his father couldn't bask in a free globe," said Jang. Even now, the son accompanies Jang on his international book tours and speaking engagements.
"I don't experience free here either. In the Northward, I enjoyed unlimited freedom within the confines prescribed by the leader. In the South, at that place are many upstanding, moral restrictions," he said.
"Just here I feel a great sense of achievement each time I accomplish something and I feel that possibilities are infinite," he added.
Past Kim Hoo-ran, Senior author
(khooran@heraldcorp.com)
hollinworthkone1963.blogspot.com
Source: http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20140627000810&np=691&mp=1