Kaeseong’s N.K. workers have warmed up to S.K. bosses

Posted on : 2007-04-06 14:49 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST
At first reclusive, North’s workers are smiling, eating together with Southern counterparts

GAESEONG - Two years after the Gaeseong (Kaesong) Industrial Complex began operations, the attitude of North Korean workers toward their South Korean employers has significantly changed for the better, according to heads of South Korean plants located in the joint Korean industrial park.

Ra Sang-jin, 66, the plant chief of Daehwa Fuel Pump, which started operations at Gaeseong in June 2005, said North Korean workers’ attitude toward their South Korean employers has changed. When Ra came to Gaeseong, North Koreans disliked South Korean employees coming to restaurants for the Northern workers, for at Gaeseong, the restaurants are divided along the lines of ’North’ and ’South,’ as the North Korean workers were at first reluctant to dine with Southerners. Currently, however, Ra frequently visits North Korean restaurants and is asked by North Korean workers to join in a a meal.

"It seemed to take seven to eight months to remove the wall," Ra said. North Korean workers are also adapting to the lifestyle at Gaeseong at a faster pace than before. "Recently, some North Korean workers are smiling after only three or four months," Ra said.

North Korean workers’ reclusive habits - having not met any South Koreans before - have changed, as well. Hwang U-seung, 46, the plant chief of Shinwon, said, "When I meet a North Korean worker on the street and ask which company she is working for, she answers me. That was impossible in the early days [of the Gaeseong complex]," Hwang said. Baek Yeong-ho, 59, the plant chief of Pyeonghwa Shoes, "In early days, the North Korean workers didn’t go to the bathroom alone," like some sort of old-fashioned social habit. "But they do now. They also don’t step aside when South Koreans are passing."

Some Korean cowerkers are picking and choosing from the language of the other country, as the language in the North and South has been rendered different after more than 50 years of separation. For example, some South Korean workers call a toilet ‘wisaengsil,’ the North Korean term, and Some North Korean workers call the toilet ‘hwajangsil,’ the South Korean term.

Meanwhile, at first only North Koreans used their common phrase, "Ileopseupnida," which to them means "no problem" but has a slightly rude meaning in South Korea, akin to "I don’t care." Now, Northerners and Southerners alike use the phrase. A South Korean who has been working alongside North Koreans at Gaeseong said that "my family in South Korea sometimes tells me my accent has become a little strange."

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