North Korea’s Youth (Jangmadang Generation): Transforming how a country thinks
In the dead of winter, a girl takes the goods that she bought from Chongjin, North Korea, a two day walk from her hometown, to the border in China. Careful to not get caught by border guards and bribing them in order to avoid imprisonment, she finds a Chinese trader who would buy her goods at a reasonable price. Her hands shaking from fear, or maybe it was from the cold, she arrives at the trading site. Sliding what she brought across the ice, the trader slides illegal South Korean products to her, completing their transaction. She, Danbi Kim, was 15 years old.
Danbi Kim grew up in Hyesan, North Korea which sits near the border to China. Her hometown became an advantage where she slowly gained knowledge about the outside world. Smugglers, such as herself, bring in a plethora of South Korean dramas in the form of DVD’s and USB drives which are secretly distributed around the area, typically near the border. At night, all doors would be locked and the shades pulled down so no one could see the flickering lights of the TV or computer screen displaying illegal dramas coming from South Korea and even America.
Smugglers are at the forefront of providing North Koreans with a new wave of information that the regime has tried so hard to conceal. Young millennials take it into their own hands in order to reach freedom or use illegal tactics in order to survive. Young millenials, also called the Jangmadang Generation meaning market generation, were born in a time of the Great Famine where the government could not provide enough for its people, pushing this generation to pursue illegal businesses or become smugglers in order to survive. This fearless generation has continued to push back against the regime’s economic policies, slowly destroying the people’s trust in the government.
Although the North Korean regime does everything in its power to control their people, the Jangmadang Generation has begun to envision a new way of life. By communicating with each other about what goes beyond their borders, they incite some resistance within the younger generation. This creates a need for change in the minds of those who are held captive by their own country.
The years of great change
What caused the emergence of the Jangmadang Generation? It all started in 1993, after the country was hit by what is now known as the Great Famine. Millions of people died through starvation due to the corrupt nature of the government. In an attempt to help the people, rations were given out, but at each level in the government, officials began to take food for themselves until there was nothing left for the general public. Of course the government kept quiet about the issues plaguing their country. They tried to convince the people of North Korea about their great wealth in comparison to foreign countries. To achieve this, they delivered their message through propaganda in the form of posters and news. The leader pushed these tremendously in order to brainwash citizens into only placing trust in the regime.
Once other countries knew about the Great Famine, world organizations turned to help the citizens of North Korea. After two years of Kim Jong-il rejecting aid from foreign organizations, he finally allowed select agencies to come into the country, such as the World Food Program. Many may have heard of the difficult circumstances the North Korean people face, but most of the time it is overshadowed by media containing headlines regarding nuclear weapons and the dictator. Surprisingly, in the WFP Annual Report 1997, it documents the operation in North Korea during the famine which they claimed was “[b]y far the biggest WFP operation in 1997.” The idea of North Korea having the biggest operation in terms of lack of food, was never discussed at length in America and seemingly brushed off. Many times, the news will talk about poverty in other countries that were listed in the WFP Annual Report 1997 while ignoring the country who was involved in the biggest operation. It is important to know the difficulties other countries face, especially those who actively attempt to hide any pernicious issues. While North Korea received assistance, even with help from these agencies they were not only able to aid certain areas. Those who did not receive aid continued to find ways in order to receive food, such as working on farms or crossing the Chinese border.
Survivors note the horrors they saw walking through the town as bodies dropped left and right due to malnutrition. The youth quickly began to distrust their leaders. They became bold and taught themselves how to survive in a corrupt country. Many began to develop a business mindset, another reason why this generation has “market” in its name. Luckily, the government’s control diminished due to the country’s impoverished state, allowing the people to begin trading across the border with China and begin to privately trade within communities, giving the youth an unique opportunity.
Trading from the bottom
The communist regime does not allow for any private businesses or trading. All must be through the state, but for many people breaking this rule was imperative in order to live. Before the famine, the country was dependent on a distribution system to deliver food and other goods to their citizens, but the system began to fail. This caused local markets, called Jangmadang, to spread throughout North Korea. First, Jangmadang began by selling food items such as corn and other critical goods such as medicine. As time went on, it transitioned into selling other “luxury” items such as clothes and skin care products. At first government officials would find traders at markets and confiscate all items, hoping that this would stop the people from illegally trading with one another. However, the officials began to realize the financial benefits of aiding these markets. Once the markets began to boom, the government was too powerless to stop them, so they instead began to profit off of bribes from the traders since, by law, it was considered illegal. By going against any laws, it will result in harsh punishments, so the younger generation who did not want to conform, needed to out of fear of being sent to prison or being executed for committing an act of treason (the government labels almost everyone who goes against the law as a treasonist).
Unlike that older generation who grew up with an indoctorined sense of loyalty towards the Kim family, the Jangmadang Generation grew up seeing the lack of support given by the government and found the importance of social interaction within the market, finding a faint awareness of what freedom could be.
Media bringing about new ideals
An emergence of foreign media was brought through smugglers, such as Danbi Kim, who risked their life to bring in any kind of information into the country. Because the regime eliminated any way to connect with the outside world, by limiting their access to the internet, to keep the citizens loyal to the regime they would use propaganda, essentially brainwashing them. In schools, they would teach courses in glorifying the Kim family and even find ways of placing propaganda into math and english materials. An example of propaganda being implemented in school, given by Yeonmi Park — a defector and human rights advocist — is, “there are 4 American bastards, you kill 2 of them. How many American bastards you left to kill?” At first defectors discussed the difficulties in facing the truths brought through foreign media because their whole lives were built off of propaganda and lies given by the regime. Later they began to break out of the mentality instilled in them, which allowed the younger generation to see past the lies the school system fed them.
In 2006, laptops began to emerge in the market scene (primarily near the border) allowing more access to different types of information. DVDs became more popular since it was able to hold around 6 movies that ranged from American movies to South Korean drama. American and South Korean ideals piqued the interest of the younger generation, finding that they could have the capability to do more somewhere else. They realized that anyone could have the opportunity to become successful just by working hard. This is exactly what the regime tried so hard to avoid — individualistic thoughts — yet we now see their utter failure. Incapable of stopping this wave of information, they turn to drastic measures in order to silence their citizens and keep up their image.
Silent Subversion
Unlike free countries that allow any form of protest and judgment towards the government, North Korea does not allow for any criticism and if anyone stepped out of line, they would be severely punished. While the Jangmadang Generation found more of the truth through the media, many began to support the idea of free thinking, which may sound like nothing in the minds of Americans, but this is now possible for them because they finally were able to break out of the brainwashed system that the regime created. Hyeonseo Lee suggests this by explaining that she was conditioned to believe in only her leader, but later developed “curiosity and attraction [towards] the new world, … decid[ing]to cross the border to find the truth” after encountering South Korean dramas. Hyeonseo Lee’s subversion was blocking out the regime’s indoctrination which gave her the ability to think more clearly and free herself from the country’s bondage.
Danbi Kim expressed her silent subversion in an open way compared to Hyeonseo Lee. Instead of keeping her ideas and thoughts all to herself, she decided to use beauty as a vehicle in order to share what she discovered. North Korea has strict rules when it comes to fashion and beauty. If you thought school dress codes were too strict, think again! The regime only allows for certain types of hairstyles that are approved by the dictator and this extends to clothes as well. Danbi Kim began watching dramas with her friends and became intrigued by the different styles of clothes and accessories that were shown. With her business up and running, she wanted to advertise South Korean fashion to the rest of her town. Getting her friends to wear fashion styles found in the most popular South Korean dramas in their school, they would walk up and down the market area to attract customers. Those who have watched the drama would immediately recognize the style and support her business. The community would then begin to undermine the fashion industry in North Korea which explicitly goes against the regime.
Changing the minds of the people
What is so important about this generation? They are the key in revealing information to the world about the truth behind their borders. With knowledge about how the government controls its people to the devastating conditions that aren’t escapable, this generation speaks up about their hardships. The older generations lived during the prosperous times where the government provided everything to their people, but sadly they were confronted with reality once the famine hit. After years of living in an age where the government fulfilled their duty, change became a difficult pill to swallow as they were not having their basic needs met. The Jangmadang Generation woke up quickly after seeing the damage the regime had done to their country. They took action, although not all were directed to go against the state, but by taking matters into their own hands they were able to build connections with the outside world that gave them proof, in the form of foreign media, of a life that they could live. Together, this generation spread these new ideals across the country enlightening many people about their personal potential.
Little by little more information can change how citizens think of their country and leader which could possibly cause a silent revolution. While people may believe that silence would not aid the citizens in any way, within communities they will slowly break away at the propaganda and beliefs that have been instilled in them since the beginning inspiring others to finally have their minds free. Although the ultimate goal would be to free the country, the Jangmadang Generation has made it possible for people to have more knowledge and freedom in their ability to think. This is the greatest power that can be given to them and it is only the start.
