Introduction
In particular, if the 'new generation' that forms the ruling base of the North Korean system under Kim Jong-un is qualitatively different from previous generations, it will have major implications for changes in North Korean society, such as and in the stability of the regime. Members of a generation are 'similarly situated', first of all, insofar as they are all exposed to the same stage of the collective process. First, the socio-demographic nature of the environment from the birth of this generation until today is analyzed.
In Chapter 5, the generational experiences and characteristics of North Korean adolescents identified through this research are presented along with the implications that such characteristics offer in light of future social changes that will occur in North Korea. Among the group, the interview subjects were mostly those in their late teens and early twenties. Due to the regional characteristics of North Korean refugees, 60% of the interviewees were from Hamgyeongbuk-do.
The Environment of the New Generation
In general, it can be said that the socio-demographic changes after the economic crisis have increased the instability in the young people's family environment. At present, it is estimated that the age group in this study, young people between their mid-teens and late twenties, make up 1/4 of the total North Korean population. Ten years later in 2023, this age group will be in their mid-twenties to late thirties, and the age group of those under 40, including this age group, will make up over half of the total population.
This is partly due to their young age at the time of the economic crisis or economic reform of the early 2000s. This change in public education has reduced the educational influence of the state on some teenagers. Meanwhile, in the 2000s, due to the rapid growth of markets, foreign films and information from the outside world were introduced and distributed nationwide.
The Experiences of the New Generation
Bodily and Linguistic Experience
Thus, instead of coding this generation as the 'generation of suffering', it is important to identify the characteristics of this generation based on their world of experience. According to the results of the study, it is possible to identify the following characteristics of bodily experience. The new generation has experienced the divide between rich and poor in their everyday life at school and among their peers.
Using such physical activities, the new generation re-appropriates this public rite of passage into an informal rite of passage to recognize and define their peer relationships and identity. The third is the identification of the body of the new generation as a space for trend and countercultural resistance. The new generation has a great interest in improving their appearance, such as eye and nose plastic surgery, tattoos and orthodontic treatment.
Moreover, due to the ongoing economic recession, women's appearance has become a kind of survival tool. North Korea's new generation shows a strong interest in imitating and representing diverse body images and actions. Moreover, they accept the entire South Korean lifestyle that is presented as a single sensation in the space of the drama.
The gap between the language used in everyday life, the document language used to document inner thoughts and the official language of the state is wide, and moreover, the generation is also adept at using this duplicity. The gap between the official state language and everyday language is particularly evident in the language of the generation after the Troubled March. First, the Regular Assessment Meetings more honestly show both the language life of the younger generation and a cross-section of their language performance.
The new generation shares their language world through conversations about dramas, things, songs and the outside world instead of worries about the system or the future.
Experience of Things and Place
Fourth, generational clique culture is distinctive in that it involves an identification and hierarchy of individuals depending on their economic capabilities. The workings of the hierarchy and the relationship culture of students are more focused on economic skills than ever before. Through CDs of dramas or foreign films, adolescents experience the lifestyle of the outside world, talk about it, admire it and imitate the lifestyle and language they see.
Third, there is the affirmation of the hierarchical and class identity and constitution of the self through the possession and consumption of things. It is possible to identify several characteristics of the new generation from the perspective of their experiences related to place. Experiencing a place means imprinting in their bodies the order/boundaries imposed by the rules of the place.
First, there is the place-making identity of the new generation that appropriates an anonymous non-place and resistance environment. Outside the formal boundaries of schools, they create and experience everyday non-places. Instead of playing in public schoolyards or parks, they gather in remote parts of the market, on station squares, on vacant lots, under bridges, in the mountains or along the river, and those who live near the border, cross the border for a few days out of curiosity. to see the outside world.
Secondly, the new generation is characterized by their mobility and the creation of different social networks. Thirdly, that they use the opposite and subvert the regulations and requirements imposed by society or the state through the environment is another characteristic of the new generation. They move through different areas of the city and also move from city to city and discover the 'differences' between such areas and cities.
Finally, the new generation perceives regional disparities between cities while admiring and dreaming of escaping to the outside world.
Experience of Relationship and Intimacy
Biographical Experiences and Characteristics of the
Through the analysis of biographical cases and reflection on the experiences presented in the previous chapter, the paper identifies common experiences that unite teenagers as a generation.
Case Studies
However, since his father was arrested as a political offender, he was always under surveillance, making it difficult for him to get close to his friends or neighbors. When his father was present, he "couldn't even breathe properly" .. for fear of his father. He did not experience serious hardships even during the arduous march, as additional benefits were provided at his father's workplace.
Through education about "man of steel who destroyed two imperial powers in one generation", he felt Kim Il Sung's greatness and had a sense of reverence. In the process of entering the university and during his university life, he realized various limits that he was unaware of during his junior high school years. Under such circumstances, where he could not get or do what he wanted, and where he was forced to do what he did not want, Yoon began to think of alternative options for the "determined course".
His life in North Korea is clearly divided in terms of time before and after his father's arrest. Before grade 1 of middle school, when his father was arrested, he "ate better and lived better" than others. After the arrest, his uncle raised Cho, but he could not fill his father's empty space.
After his father was arrested, he was deported from his home and forced to live in his grandmother's house with his uncle's four relatives. His father's absence was painful, but because his mother and uncle were merchants, he had no financial problems. He even attended the boring and pointless compulsory work programs because it was fun when he was with his friends.
His friend was caught after Cho lent him a USB with a South Korean movie on it, and Cho was punished and "almost beaten to death." He ran away because he didn't want to receive a warning and stand on a critical stage where he would be publicly shamed.
The Characteristics of Generational Experience and the Division
Conclusion
It also comes from an awareness of the power of wealth that they commonly encounter in school, peer groups, and society. The voids of the disintegrated regulations of state and family are filled with the culture and order of their peers and the power of wealth. The younger generation is one that has enjoyed such a cultural change, and although limited, has developed an awareness of the outside world through cultural mediums such as South Korean and foreign visual media.
Despite regional differences, in the case of the border area, it is common for family members or close relatives to come and go to China for commercial business and in the process convey news of the outside world. The materialistic abundance of the outside world is sometimes a powerful catalyst for putting into action thoughts of living in a new world. Such characteristics of the new generation do not bring immediate and visible changes in North Korean society, but will act as a social pressure in determining the direction of political decisions of the Kim Jong-un regime and will become a source power to urge. medium and long-term changes in North Korean society.
The characteristic of the new generation which is pragmatic, non-political and open will inevitably act as a prominent force for reform and opening in the long run. In the medium and long term, partial reform and opening are inevitable to garner support from the younger generation in a situation where the credibility of state discourse is declining and information is overflowing about the outside world. Partial reform and opening based on the support of the new generation can act as a general stabilizing force for the system.
On the other hand, reforms and opening up and the resulting expansion of market relations and the increase in the inflow of foreign culture can increase the instability of the system. This study is a kind of 'ecological' account of North Korean adolescents who were born during the economic crisis and spent their childhood in the process of marketing. In this research, we analyzed the generational experiences and characteristics of the new generation compared to previous generations.
Through follow-up research, it is thus necessary to identify the relationship with other generations and define the characteristics of the new generation with a focus on their differences and continuities.
