Defectors speak on freezing reality of North Korea's winter

The Korea Times

The Korea Times

Opinion

Sat, December 9, 2023 | 09:12

Defectors speak on freezing reality of North Korea's winter

Posted : 2018-02-04 11:17

Updated : 2018-02-14 15:36

In this Thursday, Dec. 3, 2015, photo, North Koreans pick from a crop of cabbage covered in snow in Pyongwon county, South Pyongan, North Korea. / AP-Yonhap

Casey Lartigue Jr. , co-founder of the Teach North Korean Refugees Global Education Center, compiled these statements from interviews with the refugees.

Chang-geum, female, arrived in Seoul in 2007

I lived in the northwestern part of North Korea, but I prefer not to say which area. We were not in a good situation, so I always wore a sweater and thick clothes at home. We burned wood to keep warm and always used a blanket to cover the floor because it was so cold. We would boil water at home to have hot water.

Home was cold, but school was even colder, I don't remember ever having a heating system in school. I preferred to skip school so I could stay at home to keep warm. There were times that we were so cold at school, shivering, that we would tap our feet on the floor to keep our feet warm. Our teachers would tell us to pay attention, but sometimes it was impossible. At school, we would burn wood in the classroom. I don't think we thought about any health issues, we just wanted to stay warm.

When the famine hit, we would take wood from the mountain so we could burn it. But everyone started doing that, so later there was no wood, then we were all freezing. I have no good memories about cold weather in North Korea.

Hyekyung, female, arrived in South Korea in 2014

I lived near the border with China. It is cold here and there, but it is easier to be warm when you are inside. It was inconvenient because there was a town on the other side of the river and it was a long walk to the bridge nearby.

Sometimes it was tempting to go across the ice, but it was also dangerous because the ice wasn't always thick. I remember when one of my neighbors was going to marry a girl on the other side of the river. He drowned on his wedding day because the ice wasn't thick enough. I would guess that about 10 people died every year crossing that icy river.

Geum-byol, female, arrived in South Korea in 2015

It was much colder in my hometown, in the northwestern part of North Korea. The people in Pyongyang are usually fine, but outside of that, many people lack facilities to stay warm. We always wore padding and extra layers of clothing. I don't remember anyone in my area ever having a coat. I did know some people in Pyongyang, they would also wear padding, but they also had coats. And the trend was purple in winter for women, red in other seasons.

Humans in North Korea must be stronger. My friends here say the same thing, that people in South Korea don't seem to be physically strong. In Seoul, everything is so convenient. Here, I can take a bus or the metro almost anywhere, but in North Korea, even to go the distance of just two stops here, I would have to walk in the cold.

CJL@alumni.harvard.edu