[Interview] London’s Koreatown offers glimpse of a reunified Korea

Posted on : 2018-08-26 11:21 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST
North Korean defectors and South Korean expats live side-by-side in New Malden
Seong Cho-rong
Seong Cho-rong

“There are currently about 700 North Korean defectors in England, about 500 of whom live in New Malden, London’s Koreatown. Given that North and South Koreans live there together, whenever there’s a Korean event, there are three songs that are always played: ‘Hometown Spring,’ ‘Our Wish’ and ‘Arirang’.”

On Aug. 21-23, The ICTM MEA Symposium of the Study Group on Music of East Asia was held at the National Gugak Center, in Seocho, Seoul. One of the participants was Seong Cho-rong, 32, a researcher from the ethnomusicology doctoral program at The University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies.

In Seong’s view, New Malden, which is called home by about 20,000 Koreans in total, is like a city from a future where South and North Korea are already reunified. That’s because the North and South Koreans who live there form close relationships as they live side by side and sing “Arirang” together, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Seong is in her third year of a research project called “The Music and Cultural Lives of Koreans in England” and gave a presentation at the symposium titled “Healing and Rebuilding through Music: London’s North Korean Refugees.” The study points to the role that music plays when it comes to how North Korean defectors living in London adapt to Korean culture.

“My major is ethnomusicology, which is the study of culture through music,” Seong told the Hankyoreh when we met her at the National Gugak Center on Aug. 21. “There is a lot of research about Korean culture in the US, Japan and China, but it’s rare in Europe. I was interested in how North and South Koreans were living side by side as one community, so I started my research project,” she added.

A community of co-dependence

North Korean defectors who choose to go to Europe tend to gather in New Malden because it’s known as a place where it is relatively easy to register for refugee status. The UK government has been acknowledging North Korean defectors as refugees since 2004. It’s also the only major Koreatown in Europe, so it is easy for North Koreans to get a job without having to deal with the language barrier.

Most defectors work in Korean-run restaurants or supermarkets doing simple, low-paying work like serving or cleaning. The role they play is so important that overseas Korean life in England couldn’t function without them, so North and South Koreans there depend on each other.

“According to the results of in-depth interviews with North Korean refugees, there are three main reasons why they have settled in England: the welfare system, the education system for children and the fact that they are thought of as Koreans rather than North Korean defectors. They can study English, and they can raise their children without discrimination, so they come here rather than going to South Korea,” Seong said.

Bonds formed quickly through shared language

Having lived in London for four years while observing the situation, she says that she sees no real division between North and South Koreans there. Ninety-nine percent of North Koreans attend Korean churches and adapt quickly. Middle-aged North and South Koreans attend various kinds of gatherings and get on well with each other, singing hymns, folk songs and trot songs. She says they also get to know each other’s culture through YouTube.

“They speak the same language, so they become close quickly, and they form a bond while eating together. What’s known in the South as ‘The Boating Song’ is called ‘The Sea Song’ in North Korea. I thought they must be different songs, but when I realized it was the same song that we all knew, I felt the reality of the fact that we are one people.”

North Korean refugee children also wish to be known as Korean, as they adjust to English life. They only left North Korea because of the North Korean regime, so they still have the desire to return to their hometowns someday.

“The cultural education they receive as children is helpful when it comes to establishing their identity. But there are no music classes at the schools for North Korean refugee children. The Korean schools in London only teach classes on samulnori. I’m a certified music teacher, so I can say for certain that the children who are taught Korean children’s songs during a fixed time at the schools for refugee children show a greater attachment to Korea than the ones who aren’t,” Seong said.

In the course of conducting her research, Seong felt her interest in North Korea growing, while she also realized that our society is still not fully prepared for the age of reunification. Interest in and support for North Korean refugees as members of the community in London’s Koreatown is insufficient, and cultural education for North and South Korean children to develop a joint identity from an early age is lacking. “While I can see a future where reunification is achieved, we need to take more of an interest in the Korean and North Korean refugee communities overseas,” she said.

By Kim Mi-young, staff reporter

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

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