Have you met a North Korean before?

[Deleted User]

I've always wanted to meet a North Korean. I brought this up once with a South Korean friend. She said she's never met a North Korean before. I don't think she was lying but I don't think what she said was correct either. I think it's more likely that because of the social stigma associated with being from North Korea most North Koreans who've made it to the south are discrete about their hometown.

 

[Taffy]

Well I'm SOUTH Korean. That doesnt count though I guess.

I have never met another Korean, north or south. Aside from my sister, at least. We're adopted, my parents are white. Sister is not biologically related.

 

[JellyPerson]

Actually here's a funny story. A part of my family lives in Switzerland and they have for a long while. A few of my family members ***allegedly*** went to the same school as Kim Jong-Un himself at the same time he did! If you don't believe this, well I don't really either. I mean, it's a little bit of legend passed around in the family nowadays.

 

[PuNKeMoN]

Nobody has met a North Korean except for Dennis Rodman because North Koreans ain't allowed to leave the Motherland

 

[FAST6191]

Nobody has met a North Korean except for Dennis Rodman because North Koreans ain't allowed to leave the Motherland

There are those that escape


In any case I can't say I have met any.

 

[The Catboy]

I've met a few Koreans before, but I have no idea which part of Korea they actually came from. Chances are extremely high that they were all from South Korea, but who knows.

 

[RattletraPM]

I've always wanted to meet a North Korean. I brought this up once with a South Korean friend. She said she's never met a North Korean before. I don't think she was lying but I don't think what she said was correct either. I think it's more likely that because of the social stigma associated with being from North Korea most North Koreans who've made it to the south are discrete about their hometown.

Not really met as in "get to know each other" but I've seen some in person. North Korea had a "pavillion" (more like a room, to be honest) at the Expo in Milan and I've been there out of curiosity.
I didn't really talk to anyone, a bit because they weren't all that talkative themselves and also because I was filming - and they seemed a bit suspicious because of that. I was pretty much constantly watched and because of that, it was a legitimately scary experience. It didn't help that the guys at the counter were probably officers in plainclothes.

I still have the short video somewhere on my hard drive but I don't know if I'll ever upload it. To be honest, I'm a bit scared - not really for myself, but mostly for the staff. Some of their faces are clearly visible in the video and you may never know what Crazy Kim might to do them.

EDIT: I know nobody asked so far but considering the internet's "pics or didn't happen" nature, here's a screenshot of the video (with blurred out faces)

Spoiler

Nobody has met a North Korean except for Dennis Rodman because North Koreans ain't allowed to leave the Motherland

Depends, on some occasions they are. Like those who work abroad in their state-owned restaurant chains. They're on 24/7 strict surveillance tho and getting a visa to go outside is a huge pain, even for high ranking government officials. Hell, you even need a government-issued approval to travel between cities there.

 

[DinohScene]

Met all sorts of Asian people.
I don't ask them where they're from, I just talk/interact with them like any other person.

Asking Asian people if they're North Korean...
How dare you people!
You're all racist!

 

[Lucifer666]

Met all sorts of Asian people.
I don't ask them where they're from, I just talk/interact with them like any other person.

Asking Asian people if they're North Korean...
How dare you people!
You're all racist!

Are you fucking serious?

 

[oji]

I met a few of adult Northern Koreans, there're quite a number of them where I live, mostly working at constructions as they're diligent & ask lower prices for their job.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

I met a few of adult Northern Koreans, there're quite a number of them where I live, mostly working at constructions as they're diligent & ask lower prices for their job.

How did they get there though?

 

[Minox]

Are you fucking serious?

I would assume he is, but I suspect it might be for different reasons. If you find out that someone is Korean most people would just assume South Korean and move on, asking whether someone is from the North is an incredibly odd question since it's not at all a common occurrence.

 

[Taffy]

I know a few viatnemese, one chinese, and one other Korean. I know my share of Asians.

tbh most people assume we're just chinese or japanese, and/or then they give me some kju shit and I walk off.

Met all sorts of Asian people.
I don't ask them where they're from, I just talk/interact with them like any other person.

Asking Asian people if they're North Korean...
How dare you people!
You're all racist!

Being asked ONCE if I'm Korean would be a blessing. Again, usually I'm asked if I'm chinese or japanese (and in one case Italian, don't know what that was about) and then I scold whoever asked me.

once I was even asked "Are you Asian or Chinese?"

I nearly slapped the guy.

 

[Lucifer666]

I would assume he is, but I suspect it might be for different reasons. If you find out that someone is Korean most people would just assume South Korean and move on, asking whether someone is from the North is an incredibly odd question since it's not at all a common occurrence.

I meant the "asking Asian people if they're North Korean"... as if that's supposed to be such a horrible thing.

Asia is a HUGE continent. An Asian person 'at random' is likely to be from a bajillion different places; it's very plausible to ask and not at all racist?

I'm from one of those countries in Asia that people wouldn't classify as "Asian" for some reason. There's 48, which is sizeably more than the usual 8-10 that people usually think about when they think "Asia" (China, Japan, NK, SK, Philippines, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Thailand, etc.)

 

[Minox]

I meant the "asking Asian people if they're North Korean"... as if that's supposed to be such a horrible thing.

Asia is a HUGE continent. An Asian person 'at random' is likely to be from a bajillion different places; it's very plausible to ask and not at all racist?

I'm from one of those countries in Asia that people wouldn't classify as "Asian" for some reason. There's 48, which is sizeably more than the usual 8-10 that people usually think about when they think "Asia" (China, Japan, NK, SK, Philippines, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Thailand, etc.)

It's not racist, just an odd question unless you happen upon some indication that someone is from there. Most North Koreans are not free to travel meaning you would have to encounter someone who's fled from there or who left before the war.

 

[Lucifer666]

It's not racist, just an odd question unless you happen upon some indication that someone is from there. Most North Koreans are not free to travel meaning you would have to encounter someone who's fled from there or who left before the war.

Agreed. It's definitely an odd question if it just comes up out of context/for no reason. Nobody was talking about asking random Asian people if they're from NK and the post I quoted just erroneously accuses everyone of being racist

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

There are more North Korean defectors than I think a lot of people realize, it's something like ~1000+ a year who manage to successfully escape North Korean and find better lives in other places, whether it's South Korea or the US or other various countries in Asia. I think you're correct in a sort of way regarding your friend, it's entirely possible they've met someone who's fled from North Korea to SK, and that person just never expressed that sort of thing. But I would disagree with the whole "Social stigma" thing, that'd be the wrong phrase for it since it implies South Koreans will somehow act negatively towards a person from NK (which is quite inaccurate, really). It's likely more because they just want to get on with their lives and focus on the future and not dwell on the past.

When I was about 11 or 12, we had a school assembly where a North Korean defector came and talked to us about what North Korea was like growing up, and why they decided to escape and how much better their lives were once they got here. I remember it was a couple years or so after the US signed a Human Rights Act for North Koreans, essentially giving them a sort of refugee status in the US if they were able to escape and immigrate here. Was an interesting thing to hear at that age, that there were some places where people lived with such awful standards and limitations.

 

[DinohScene]

Are you fucking serious?

What do you think?

Being asked ONCE if I'm Korean would be a blessing. Again, usually I'm asked if I'm chinese or japanese (and in one case Italian, don't know what that was about) and then I scold whoever asked me.

once I was even asked "Are you Asian or Chinese?"

I nearly slapped the guy.

In all honesty, unless the topic is brought up, I wouldn't ask.
Why would I care where you're from? (aside possible international trading)
Basically, you're just another human being in me eyes.
I'll treat you the same way as you treat me, regardless of skin colour/race or sexual orientation.
I mean, why would someones country of origin matter?

 

[FAST6191]

once I was even asked "Are you Asian or Chinese?"

I nearly slapped the guy.

For giggles I should note that in UK English Asian tends to refer to India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and such like. The China-Korea-Japan +Thailand thing would be oriental, something I am told causes some to take offence in the US. It can get a bit blurry at times but it is what it is.

In all honesty, unless the topic is brought up, I wouldn't ask.
Why would I care where you're from? (aside possible international trading)
Basically, you're just another human being in me eyes.
I'll treat you the same way as you treat me, regardless of skin colour/race or sexual orientation.
I mean, why would someones country of origin matter?

I am genuinely confused over the strong negative reaction you have here. First time I have seen such a thing, and I dare say similar things would apply to most of those that quoted you on it. I could possibly understand if you were mischaracterised it might get tiring for some, and a further failure of geography ("I'm from the UK" "oh I once went to Sweden" sort of thing) can also not help matters, but the mere question asked because the person is curious is never something I would have considered any kind of poor form to ask. Equally I can't see the mere question belay any desire or notion that someone intends to treat someone other than as a person.

There are questions and lines of conversation that have implications; I think I joked before that if someone asks me about my job then it is as big a clue as any that I am speaking to an American, and similarly if someone is telling me about their kids then I only really care if I know said kids in and of themselves. Again though a simple "where are you from?" is plenty innocuous as these things go, and actually a useful question.

To further answer the question of "why would someone's country of origin matter?" then if I am seeking common ground (fairly common in conversations with new people or people you are attempting to get to know better) then one's country of origin tends to provide a starting point for all the various forms of media and entertainment, geography, history, food, language, industry, politics/current events, sports, science and if I must be British about it then even the weather. It gets even better if your general hobbies are a bit obscure to begin with; I can't say I meet many ROM hackers or people interested in the maths and manufacturing of old school heavy engineering*, some like old machines but the approach there is quite often radically different, and if I start talking about anything that with a completely random person it tends to go nowhere and makes me look very strange.

*choice video

 

[oji]

How did they get there though?

Read this article, also NK isn't that bad place as a western propaganda tries to depict, they surely live pretty ascetic but not even close to beggary. And this is mostly due international sanctions which almost isolated the country. But still their internal economic is slowly but steady growing & they have a courage to live their own way to build a socialist community, I personally don't ever blame them for this.