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| Children return home after school on a rainy day in Pyongyang. A boy, center, holds a yellow umbrella patterned with the face of SpongeBob SquarePants, a popular U.S. character in an animated television series. Courtesy of Jin Chun-kyu |
By Jung Da-min
South Korean photographer Jin Chun-kyu started making trips to North Korea last October, when tensions on the Korean Peninsula were palpable.
On Sept. 3, the North conducted its sixth nuclear test. The tougher round of United Nations (U.N.) sanctions followed Sept. 12. On Nov. 29, the North tested an intercontinental ballistic missile. War was becoming a distinct possibility.
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| Jin Chun-kyu at a cafe in Seoul during an interview with The Korea Times. Korea Times photo by Jung Da-min |
In his book, "Time in Pyongyang flows along with time in Seoul," he gives a close-up and personal view of the North. He is in North Korea from Aug.15 to 29 for his seventh visit _ five times since last year, besides visits in 1992 and 2000.
His status as an independent journalist, who is a permanent U.S. resident, has helped his frequent visits.
While visiting the North's capital Pyongyang, Gaeseong, a border town that hosted an inter-Korean industrial complex, and Wonsan, a key port on the West Coast, among others, Jin saw North Koreans living a peaceful life, as if they were oblivious to what could be seen as an existential threat building up outside.
"When I visited Pyongyang for the first time in 17 years last year, I was more than surprised," Jin said. "What shocked me is that Pyongyang citizens looked just the same as those in Seoul. Most of them speak on smartphones and take pictures with them. Stores are crowded with customers."
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| The Taedong River in Pyongyang. Courtesy of Jin Chun-kyu |
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| People take photos of a performance on a ferry on the Taedong River, Pyongyang. Courtesy of Jin Chun-kyu |
Jin said he has a big advantage over foreign journalists: he speaks the same language as North Koreans.
"I talked to them naturally and exchanged jokes with them," he said. He wanted to catch their real life rather than one staged to impress others.
His favorite photo is the one where two North Korean girls share an umbrella.
"They have two umbrellas but share one, while also sharing snacks together," Jin said. "I felt pretty warm when seeing the girls walking in the rain chattering away."
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| Jin's favorite photo. Courtesy of Jin Chun-kyu |
He saw the North changing far faster than he and others outside had thought.
"Changes in North Korea are happening at a tremendous pace, faster than we imagine, even at this moment," Jin said. "It is just that we have not been aware of it.
"Whether people of the South know about it or not, they have been and are living their own way."
He wants to convey this fast-clip changing North to the outside by launching a cable channel titled "Tongil TV" in the South. For that, he plans to talk to the DPRK Copyright Office in Pyongyang.
"The purpose of the channel is to show the North Korean society as it is," Jin said. "I want to make documentary films of history, drama, nature and other things." Political issues that can serve as propaganda would be off his list.
His first item could be "meokbang," a binge-eating show in the North.
"Many would be curious about what kinds of foods North Koreans enjoy," he said. "I would show the inside at Okryugwan, a cold noodle restaurant in Pyongyang, made famous after it made it to the menu of the April 27 inter-Korean summit. The restaurant's signature Pyongyang naengmyeon is a new symbol of peace between the two Koreas."
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| North Koreans eat jumbo-sized cold buckwheat noodle dishes and boiled chicken slices at Okryugwan in Pyongyang. Courtesy of Jin Chun-kyu |
"I personally like a coffee-added Patbingsu (a popular Korean dessert of shaved ice with sweet toppings) and Myeongtae Sikhae (fermented walleye pollack)," he said.
Jin was born in 1959 and received a fervid anti-communist education. Before he migrated to the United States, he worked as photojournalist, having visited the truce village of Panmunjeom in 1988 and Pyongyang in 2000.
"The South Korean intelligence agency could suspect that I work for the North to promote the regime," Jin said. "The North could suspect I am a South Korean spy."
Feeling precariously on the edge of sword, he has stuck to one key principle of journalism ― reporting as it is.
"I want my reporting to contribute to 'cultural unification,' which may take longer than political unification," he said.
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| A room in an apartment in Pyongyang. A rag doll on the right side of the bed is the South Korean character Mashimaro. Courtesy of Jin Chun-kyu |
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| Pyongyang citizens enter a subway station during the morning commute. Courtesy of Jin Chun-kyu |
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| The scene at a Pyongyang bus station in the morning. Courtesy of Jin Chun-kyu |
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| Pyongyang citizens ride bikes or run alongside the Taedong River. Courtesy of Jin Chun-kyu |
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| North Koreans enjoy a wave pool inside Munsu Water Park in Pyongyang. Courtesy of Jin Chun-kyu |
