Is South Korea starting to give up on re-unification?
When North Korean leader Kim Jong-un announced in late 2023 that re-unification was no longer going to happen, the reaction in South Korea was as...
The horizon I had to cross, the life I had to endure
The nights in my hometown were not a time for dreaming. Life then was a matter of endurance and the night the only time to...
Party Congress reaffirms rejection of reunification, South Korea is now an “enemy”
The 9th Congress of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK), which ended on February 25, reaffirmed Kim Jong-un’s position as General Secretary, solidifying his absolute...
Why is the government changing the official way of referring to defectors?
One of the questions I was asked most often as I settled in South Korea was whether I preferred to be called a defector (talbukmin),...
2025: A year of milestone anniversaries for Korea
The year 2025 saw some significant anniversaries for Korea, some of which were for the better, while others were for the worse. The best known...
Proposal to amend Article 3 of the ROK Constitution is a flawed effort to accommodate North Korea
The debate in South Korea over North Korea’s “hostile two-state theory” now seems to be going beyond mere diplomatic rhetoric. Moon Chung-in, a prominent former...
Reunification has disappeared, leaving only hostility
When I lived in North Korea, our rivals in the South were depicted as “the same people, a counterpart we must one day reunite with.” ...
Ordinary North Koreans express optimism over Lee’s inauguration in the South
Following a straight news report by the Korean Central News Agency on the inauguration of President Lee Jae-Myung, informing the populace about the change at...
The anti-Americanism and pro-North Korea tendencies of South Korea’s Candlelight Action protest movement
After President Yoon Seok-yeol took office in May 2022, there was immediately a rebirth of the so-called candlelight protests which had targeted and led to...
Was there almost a second Korean War in 1980?
South Korea this week marks the 44th anniversary of protests in Gwangju, where over 200 civilians were killed by martial law forces suppressing what was...
Why are North Korean defectors conservative?
Nine out of ten North Korean defectors in South Korea support conservative parties. In National Assembly elections in 2012, for example, the turnout among defectors...
South Korea through the eyes of North Koreans
If you were to ask North Koreans how they view South Korea, their response might vary according to their job, the part of the country...
South Korea is making it more difficult for defectors to send money to their families
“I once cried and swore all night, praying the broker who stole my money would die. I lost all I had. After that, I borrowed...
When the enemy of my enemy becomes my friend: the South Koreans who scratch Kim Jong-un’s back
In a peculiar dynamic, North Korean media has been reporting on the activities of certain leftist lawmakers and activists in South Korea in a way...
North Korean defectors propose democracy activist Kim Seong-min for the National Assembly
North Korean defector organizations have issued an appeal to political parties preparing for next month’s National Assembly elections to include defectors in their line up...
Pro-North activist group in South Korea dissolves itself
A prominent civic group in South Korea dedicated to reunification and with counterparts in North Korea and overseas, announced its dissolution after a general meeting...
North Korea restructures government departments following policy shift toward South Korea
Agencies in North Korea responsible for inter-Korean affairs are being reorganized and, in some cases, closed down, following Kim Jong-un’s strategic decision in December to...
The Birth of Korea Documentary Leaves No Room to Deny Achievements of Syngman Rhee
“If it weren’t for President Syngman Rhee, South Korea today would hardly differ from North Korea,” said Jo Dong Jin, a 45-year-old North Korean defector. Jo made the comment on February 23 after watching The Birth of Korea, a documentary on South Korea’s first president which has been creating something of a sensation since its release in mid-January.