The wind of change is being felt on the Korean Peninsula as never before. This wind we feel nowadays is a soft breeze, a culmination of the silent murmurs that have been brewing under their breath, incognito, among the people from the northern regions of the peninsula. This breeze is filled with voices that pine for a better life that would include regular meals, basic medical care, education, and a meaningful future for their children. 

About 30,000 of them are in the South today and elsewhere, in a brave new world, glimpses of which they had only caught in forbidden movies, dramas that had quietly made their way into North Korean society via memory sticks, and CDs. They manage to make a living in the South, some better than others, and some struggle to acclimatize themselves to new ways they had never imagined. There are hurdles, to be sure. Northern refugees have to learn the new Southern language, which is heavily peppered with unrecognizable Western words; and deal with discriminatory behavior by some South Koreans. Despite these new, unforeseen struggles, most have become accustomed to their new way of life in the South.

As they transform their lives, they are informing the people in the South about the cultural gap that exists between the two … along with clues on how to close those gaps. I have a name for this process — dialogue — real dialogue that connects people. And that’s what has been going on and prospering.

Collectively, they bring a common message: North Korea is in transition. The source of this revelation is none other than their own personal interaction with their relatives and friends back home. Those relatives and friends who reside near the border region with China are in regular contact with their transplanted relatives and friends in the South. People exchange information about their respective lives, becoming informants in the process. In addition to the information exchange, Southern relatives send money to their relatives in the North. In a sense, they are pioneering a new world of their own and this trans-DMZ community is growing like never before imagined.

The community is growing, despite the tightening of the border. The number of crossings has decreased these past three years, but it is evident that no tightening is going to stop the migration.

The late Hwang Jang-yop, the former international secretariat of the Workers Party who defected to the South in 1997, repeatedly said that 100,000 defectors would form a critical mass to trigger the unification movement in earnest. He foresaw the coming phenomenon, but he may not have foreseen the efficacy of the latest technology and the communication tools.

The dam of isolation that was once considered formidable has been rendered porous, and the information flow has had a measurable impact on the population, according to a study conducted by Cha Sung-geun in his Ph.D. dissertation on the changing North Korean perceptions. A defector himself, Cha conducted an extensive survey of 300 former North Korean residents via a questionnaire on their thoughts prior to defection. His analysis of the responses has revealed an interesting trend in their views.

Most notable is their response to the question, “What was your view of the South (before you left the North)?” The majority (52.3 percent) expressed that “good relations with the South” were important, 20.3 percent regarded the South as an enemy to destroy because of its alliance with the U.S. imperialists, and 17.6 percent said that the poor southern brethren must be liberated from the U.S. imperialist rule. And some (9.3 percent) expressed that they had no special feeling toward the South.

The “good relations with the South” is an interesting departure from the usual Party line that features “destruction of the South” and “rescuing the poor Southern brethren from the U.S. imperialists.” This departure is an indicator of the independent thinking surfacing on the part of people in North Korea. 

In addition, when asked about their view of the hereditary power transfer, 79 percent of the 300 responded negatively, which paints a far different picture than party loyalists would like to see and project. The party loyalists should be concerned about the acceptance level of the current power structure; the wild clapping and cheering for the party leader is only for show. Most likely, party elites know that people remain silent about the corrupt leadership because they fear reprisals.

The wind is in the air, carried by those brave souls who, despite multiple reprisals, made their way into the arms of freedom. All we have to do is stop and listen to the agents of change reaching out across the border with a clear message — peaceful unification starts with people.

By John H. Cha

John H. Cha, an award-winning translator of Korean literature into English, writes in Oakland, California. He has written several biographies about Korean and American leaders, including “Willow Tree Shade: The Susan Ahn Cuddy Story,” “The Do Or Die Entrepreneur,” “Exit Emperor Kim Jong-il,” and “A Small Key Opens Big Doors.”  ― Ed.