Is there a language barrier between North and South Korea?
North Korean defectors who risk their lives escaping to the South face a language barrier in their new home because of the way vocabulary has evolved either side of the border. North Korea’s closed society means its language has changed little since the post-WW2 division of the peninsula.
Can a North Korean understand a South Korean?
North Korean and South Korean are the same language simply known as Korean. A South and North Korean will generally have no problem understanding each other, but there may be some noticeable differences in the language or style of language used. …
Is North Korean a language?
KoreanNorth Korea / Official languageKorean is an East Asian language spoken by about 80 million people, mainly Korean, as of 2020. It is the official and national language of both North Korea and South Korea, with different standardized official forms used in each country. Wikipedia
How did the North Korean guard escape North Korea?
Only a handful of the 31,000 North Koreans who have defected to the South did so via the heavily guarded DMZ. The vast majority escape via North Korea’s long border with China and arrive in the South via a third country, often Thailand.
What happens to defectors from North Korea?
Initially, defectors go through a period of investigation and a debrief with the intelligence service. “Then there’s three months at an institution called Hanawon, a resettlement education facility run by the South Korean government,” says Sokeel Park, South Korea country director of Liberty in North Korea.
How has the North Korean language changed over time?
North Korea’s closed society means its language has changed little since the post-WW2 division of the peninsula. Meanwhile, the southern version has developed rapidly due to exposure to outside culture and technology. Facing discrimination and difficulties due to the language barrier, defectors are turning to new options.
Why are North Korean soldiers running across the DMZ?
Six North Korean soldiers in the past three years have run for a new life to South Korea by crossing the demilitarized zone, aka DMZ. Kim is one of those courageous young men in their 20s who crawled, bolted, hid his way across the 2.5-mile-wide DMZ, the most heavily armed border in the world, filled with mines from the Korean War era.
Why did he run away from the North Korean guard?
He knew by instinct that if he acted awkwardly, the soldiers guarding the North-South Korea border might notice that he was there not to carry out his assigned mission. He was there to escape. He tried to act as cool as possible, and when the guard finally turned away, he started running, frantically, until he was lost from sight in the valley.