[feature] N.K. defector dreams of leading a unified Korea

Posted on : 2007-02-26 14:25 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST
After a 4-year journey to the South, high schooler at top of his class

Twenty-one-year-old Yang Hyeok will begin his senior year of high school next month.

Nearly nine out of ten North Korean defectors such as Yang are older than their South Korean classmates due to the wide differences in school courses between the two Koreas, as well as the time it takes defectors to reach South Korea, which can sometimes encompass years.

Yang, who defected from North Korea in 1999, spent four years in China trying to reach the South. When he enrolled as a second-grader at Jeomchon Middle School in South Korea’s southern city of Mungyeong in June 2003, he had no concept of Korea’s ancient history or geophysics as taught in South Korean schools.

Given this difficulty of adjusting to a new curriculum, barely three out of five North Korean defectors between the ages of 7 and 24 were attending school as of July last year, according to the Ministry of Unification.

Yang is one of the success stories, currently ranked in the top five students at his school. To focus on study, when he entered high school, he shaved his head - a symbol of determination - and vowed to sleep only two hours each day.

Unlike other South Korean friends, Yang does not receive expensive private tutoring. While English is one of the hardest subjects for North Korean defectors in South Korea, Yang said classes he took in the subject while in China proved helpful.

Yang chose to apply to live in the school’s dormitory, which houses 150 students. Many students try to get a spot in such dormatories in order to focus more thoroughly on their studies. Yang was accepted, and used the opportunity to study even harder. By last year, Yang had become one of the top five in his class. The dormitory’s housemaster described the determined Yang as "a man who would survive in Siberia."

When he first arrived in South Korea, Yang only wanted to try to keep up with his South Korean classmates. However, Yang has changed his goal: he now wants to be the first president of a unified Korea.

"History shows us that the Korean peninsula has never been a powerhouse, and has always been a victim. We are not a stupid and barbarous people...I think there has been no great leader so far."

Yang recalled a dialogue between himself and a teacher. When Yang was speaking, he used the expression, "our country," to which the teacher questioned, "Which country is ‘our country?’ " Yang replied, "My country is the Korean peninsula."

Yang’s interim plan before seeking the presidency is to become a public prosecutor after majoring in legal studies at a top university in Seoul, as he thinks a career as prosecutor may help him realize his dream.

But Yang’s life is not all study. He reads a wide range of books and enjoys conversing with people.

Yang worries about the fact that young North Korean defectors often lag behind in their grades and studies, and about South Korea’s societal perceptions, which gauge a student only by his or her grades. "I think a student should not be measured by his grades alone. I want to focus on humanity, which is more important than study."

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]

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