A letter from Simon Park in Korea
March 2012 - North Korea Report #5
Life in a five-star prison, Pyongyang University of Science and Technology (PUST)
Time to return to the life of and life at PUST, since an important reason for these letters is to introduce PUST and solicit support for it. Allow me to veer off for a moment and share my reasons for supporting PUST even in the face of strong objections of some friends for anything that would aid North Korea. I firmly believe that we never win by running our opponents, even enemies, into the ground. I have been in hopeless situations but resisted humiliating submissions at any cost. I believe running the North Korean society into the ground hoping for an implosion would not work and also is not a proper Christian approach. Instead, I pray for them to see the possibility of a better world and help them gain confidence that they will survive the change and thrive. This is also the motivation and goal of my small effort—not that I expect my efforts would make any tangible difference, but there are more capable and dedicated people working toward the same goal.
Simon's visa.
We received a visa as a faculty member and accompanying spouse at PUST. Since North Korea and the United States do not have diplomatic relations, the visa was not attached to the passport but a very official-looking piece of paper is issued and the entry and exit are stamped on the paper. Of course we paid hefty visa fees and the authorities (what a disappointment!) kept the paper when we left. We also had to surrender the passport to the External Relations Department at PUST, not only for control but also for obtaining permits and confirmations from other government offices. Our identity during our stay in North Korea thus depended upon the presence and words of the guides.
Our movement while on campus was not hindered or controlled in any fashion, though I am certain was monitored discretely. Within the wire-fenced 230 acres, we were free citizens and our lives were not much different from what they would be in South Korea or in the U.S. However, we refrained from religious activities in the presence of North Koreans and did not talk aloud when the subject was North Korea or life in North Korea. Religion was off topic because the NK authorities do not allow any thought system that would challenge or compete with their own ideology. Life in NK was off limits because they did not want any discussion of failures or shortfalls in their society, I believe. Some of the limits were self-imposed, for fear of running afoul of them, not imposed on us by the NK authorities. Perhaps this self-imposition of limits explains our frame of mind while in NK very well.
Physically 65 women soldiers guard the premises. They live on campus, eat meals at the cafeteria, have two days a week allocated for them at the communal bath; in a word, they are fully part of the PUST family. But they do not socialize with any other group. Simon tried very hard to take a photo with them without success. They were polite and smiled back when greeted, but would not agree to take a picture with Simon or have their pictures taken during "duty hours." We could not find them when they were not on duty.
Simon and Haejung shared experiences most of the time, as is common in the mission field, but also had some unique experiences. Simon's with the students in the classrooms, and Haejung's with the staff and students in the store are unique experiences for us. Students are carefully selected by the NK government, and we suspect that they were chosen for their academic performance, competency in English, and their loyalty to the party. Rumor had it that even their heights were considered to show the very best of North Korea. The students were very motivated, extremely capable, and overly polite. Simon could not walk the hallway carrying teaching equipment without students offering to help; most of them did not know him. They never pass us without greeting us, in English. All this made us to wonder whether they are behaving according to a script that came from above. That is always a possibility, but we think it is more of a result from years of living under strict behavioral norm rather than a conscious act for being at PUST and in the presence of foreign people.
Haejung shares her experience with the students in the shop: PUST has a shop for daily necessities and snacks on campus and the students are given approximately $10 in credit each month. They are to manage their funds and purchase what they need. I was hoping that this would turn into a lesson for budgeting and for making personal choices rather than the system making all the decisions for its people. We also learned another lesson. I observed three different behaviors. One group spent all their funds as soon as the credits were given, often sharing with their friends. Another group was very cautious and saved their funds for future needs, some wanting to buy gifts for their siblings when they go home after the semester is over. Yet another group would use up their allowance and badger their friends for the rest of the month with varying success. See, no system can change the basic human nature.
Then there are NK staff working in various roles, from administration or cooking to cleaning. They are employees of the NK government, as all North Koreans are, and PUST is not directly responsible for their work. Those who are commuting by bus, furnished by PUST, punch in at a machine with a camera, not sure of face recognition capability, when they come in. I am told that the work they perform officially may be less important than the responsibility given by the internal security apparatus. They are to report on the activities of others that they can observe. For example, a cleaner in an office may report on the section chief. There may be another reporting on the same subject, thus the cleaner may not choose to ignore a questionable behavior. No doubt there would be someone reporting on the cleaner herself, perhaps more than one. The system is most effective when people do not know who is watching them. We had to assume that the same system applies to the PUST faculty. Now you get the picture of a mental prison?
One sad consequence of this system is the impossibility of opening one's heart to anyone, especially on the topics of faith, economic and political systems. I had to be very careful not to compare market economy to the socialistic system of NK. They were keenly interested in learning about the market system, banking and financial markets, but I was not able to learn more about the systems in NK. It would have been more interesting for all of us, and to you, had we been able to "compare and contrast."(1-see below) I am hopeful that a day when we could freely argue for competing social, economic and political systems would come to the Koreas.1 How else will they ever try different systems or even know that the current system is the one they want? Mental prisons of their own making! It seems we are in a pit that we cannot dig out of, but faith means believing in things that we cannot figure out and continue to put energy into the things hoped for.
As I write these intimate letters I fear I might inadvertently place someone in harm's way. It is a delicate dance to share and reveal as much as possible while keeping the discussions general enough to avoid misunderstanding and finger pointing. Even among the foreign faculty we all have different views of the world and Christianity. A collateral consequence of the environment is that open and honest discussions and debates among the people who serve at PUST do not exist, for fear of hurting individuals and the institution. It may be that active discussions take place, but just that I was not a part of them. Still, it was possible for me to share with the people we came into close contact with on issues devoid of politics, religion and socioeconomic systems. We talked about our common economy, culture, and the joy and travails of raising children. I believe these interactions still lowered barriers between us and built up a small measure of trust. I do not know whether I will be going back, but we exchanged plans and hopes for the “next time.”
Summing it all up, the real prison-like effect is in the inability to pursue one’s passion without worrying that our actions, speeches and thoughts might violate some unspecified rules. It is a serious problem in any setting, but becomes lethal when in pursuit of academic creativity and socioeconomic development. But one must always have hope and I find it in the experiment NK is carrying out at PUST. Allowing Internet access to graduate students and real-time access to Internet during classes, and allowing foreign journalists to come. I pray that it is just the beginning and that the experiments will expand to other venues and additional topics. I keep hoping, based on the belief that the truth will free us all! The course of the long march PUST is on perhaps is the only “Get out of jail” card for the North Koreans and for those of us hoping and working for a different tomorrow.
Simon & Haejung
1On January 3, 2012, the South Korean government announced that an arrest warrant was issued for a Korean citizen for making an unauthorized trip to Pyongyang to pay condolences to North Korea. The ideophobia (fear of different ideas?) is alive and well in South Korea as well.The 2012 Presbyterian Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 196
Blog
Write to Simon Park
Write to Haejung Park
Give to Simon and Haejung Park's sending and support
