Jung Da-hyun is a reporter at The Korea Times, covering social issues in Korea, including foreign residents, education, environment and politics. Driven by a deep interest in people’s stories, she focuses on investigative and feature reporting through direct interviews and field coverage. She received the Amnesty International Korea Media Award for her “Deepfake Crisis at Schools” series. Reach her at dahyun08@koreatimes.co.kr. Always open to hearing your stories.
Event at Cheonggye Plaza sheds light on North Korean lives, human rights situation
"Denbaram Maparam" exhibition in Seoul shows what a North Korean family's house looks like. Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Government
By Jung Da-hyun
Exhibition and experience program aims to enhance understanding of defection
An event called “Denbaram Maparam," which aims to promote understanding and interest in the lives and human rights issues of North Koreans, kicks off Tuesday at Cheonggye Plaza in Seoul and will run until Nov. 19.
The title of the event, Denbaram Maparam, means the wind from the north and wind from the south, symbolizing the warm breeze of freedom and human rights being sent from South Korea to North Korea.
Co-hosted by the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Citizens’ Alliance for North Korean Human Rights (NKHR), the event aims to showcase the real lives and human rights issues in North Korea as well as the defection process via an outdoor exhibition and experience program.
Outdoor exhibition held in Incheon from Sept. 21 to Oct. 12 showcases firsthand testimonies from North Korean defectors. Courtesy of Incheon Metropolitan City
The event features an outdoor exhibition with a range of pictures and explanations that shed light on the reality of North Korean people. This includes topics such as poverty, child labor, family violence and the suppression of enjoying South Korean culture in North Korea.
The sources for this exhibition are derived from the 2023 Report on North Korean Human Rights, published by the Ministry of Unification, and firsthand testimonies from North Korean defectors. The exhibition is open to everyone and is free of charge.
In addition to the exhibition, attendees can indirectly experience the process of defecting from North Korea to South Korea in a container site that authentically recreates the risks and difficulties encountered by North Koreans during their defection.
Participants can engage in this experience by taking on missions including problem-solving within a limited time by escaping the container space. The space is designed to start from a North Korean family's house and go through the correctional facility in North Korea and the border area of Tumen River.
This program was developed to allow citizens to indirectly experience the defection process, empathize with the feelings of North Korean defectors, understand their journey to South Korea, and accept them as members of society, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Government.
The exhibition and experience program is part of a campaign by the unification ministry, aimed at supporting and promoting human rights in North Korean society. The event began in September and ran for 22 days in Incheon, followed by stops in Daegu and Busan in October, and is scheduled to conclude in Seoul.
A disciplinary facility in North Korea is recreated for the program so that people can indirectly experience the process of defecting from North Korea to South Korea at Cheonggye Plaza. Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Government
A total of 523 people participated in the event from September to October. And those in their 20s comprised the highest number of visitors at 39 percent, followed by those in their 30s at 21 percent, thereby, indicating strong interest from the younger generations.
The results of a perception survey among participants showed a significant improvement in their understanding of North Korea and defectors.
The percentage of respondents who expressed a high level of interest in North Korean human rights increased from 36.7 percent before the event to 85.8 percent after participating, and the percentage of respondents who claimed to have good knowledge of the North Korean human rights situation rose more than five times, from 6.8 percent to 36.1 percent.
Most participants expressed that the event provided a valuable opportunity to gain deeper insights into North Korea and allowed them to immerse themselves realistically, as it was presented in the form of storytelling, according to NKHR which co-hosted the event with Incheon, Daegu and Busan.
"I hope this event will serve as an opportunity to understand North Korean defectors who came to South Korea in search of freedom and recognize them as fellow members of our community," said Jung Sang-hoon, the director of the Local Autonomy Administration Bureau at Seoul Metropolitan Government.
For those interested in participating in the program that simulates the defection process, it runs 10 times every day from 12 p.m. to 10 p.m., except on Mondays. The program will last for approximately one hour, and registration can be done through the official website, free of charge.