I am Eunhee Park, and I'm from Kangwon Province.
Whenever I meet foreign people
They ask me what I miss most about North Korea.
So in this video, I'll be talking about what I miss most about North Korea
I think I've been asked this question from every foreigner I've met.
South Koreans don't really ask you that question, right?
Yeah
Why do you think they don't?
Maybe they're not that curious...
The first thing I always say is
I miss my grandmother's food the most.
Even if I eat something really expensive
It's not as good as my mother's food
So I miss that the most
My grandmother came from the countryside.
I came from Kangwon Province but my grandmother came from Tongchon County.
So my grandmother really enjoys rural food.
There's a rice cake called 'ggojangdduk'
It's made of corn powder
and you're supposed to mold it into a certain figure
and then you're supposed to steam it
put some saccarin in
then it becomes really sweet.
When I was young I didn't realize it was that delicious
Is it kind of like naan?
naan is very big
but this is smaller and has the size of a Korean 'songpyun'.
There's nothing inside it.
You just make that songpyun-like figure with the powder.
and then you press it with your fingers.
and then steam it
or make it so it has a circular figure
and just press it with your finger
You can't buy it in the South.
that made the food made
by corn flour...corn powder
it's by my grandmother it was
very special food i think you cannot buy anywhere
so I miss it a lot
Secondly, I miss my friends.
You have friends that you were close with since you were a child.
We called that 'jjagaebaji' friend
Since we're not potty trained when young
There are pants with holes in the middle for babies
We call those pants 'jjagaebaji'
And so 'jjagaebaji' friend means a friend from your childhood.
I do have defector friends as well but since I don't have friends from my childhood
I want to meet those friends
and tell them about the freedom in the South
I want to know if she's married
or if she has kids.
But I can't do that, and that's really disappointing.
I miss my friends a lot
Next, I really miss nature.
Because I was born in Kangwon Province,
I lived near the beach.
So I always went to the beach every summer
We can't wear bikinis but we can wear swimming suits.
Our stomache isn't exposed but still lol
Wearing a swimming suit, we went to the beach and plunged into the cold water
and spent the summer like that
The beach was literally ten minutes from my home
Is there a cultural difference between those enjoying the South Korean and North Korean beach?
In the South, people don't really dance to music in the beach.
They just listen to their earphones
But in the North, people do play songs on speakers and start to dance
Then everyone comes together to join
I think I miss that a lot
In the South, you need to go to a club to dance
In Kangwon Province, if you just go out to the beach,
everyone just enjoys the music regardless of the time or place
During Holidays,
If someone says that they're going to dance to music at, say, 10 PM,
even if there is no Internet,
people just hear the news and come to join
Young people in their twenties come outside and hang out.
They hang out until even 1AM.
1 AM??????
Yeah since it is the Holidays
They really relish the wild.
I miss that a lot as well.
What kind of songs do people listen to?
There were songs like the Chinese song, 'Maimati'
It goes like this
That was trending then
Also...
Disco songs were really popular
There are also really fast tempo North Korean songs
Like Kim Jong-un songs
and so I have memories having fun dancing to these songs
I really miss my friends and nature
In North Korea, people are really close to their neighbors
if we cook food,
the first thing we do is give it to our neighbors.
My grandmother always said "give this to this person"
And then I would give the food to my neighbor saying my grandmother made it
In Korea, people don't know their neighbors at all
When riding an elevator people don't even say hi
They just endlessly stare at their phones
I think it's that warmth felt between individuals that is insufficient in the South
In the North, since we don't have high tech,
people communicate with each other directly and are more intimate
You've lived abroad before
Is there anything you missed about the South when you were abroad?
I really missed tteokboki (spicy Korean rice cake)
I didn't really miss the people lol (savage)
I was able to live more proactively and freely abroad
Strangers randomly asked me 'hey, how are you?'
When I was walking in the streets,
or 'hi, it's a beautiful day'
In the beginning, I wasn't used to it
so I thought everyone was a little..crazy
But when I got used to that culture, I really got to love it
Even if I don't communicate through my phone,
I felt like it had a more humane atmosphere
Everyone probably agrees but
South Korea's transportation systems and safety measures are insane
There were so many high people in Melbourne when I came home late in the night.
So it was really frightening
But in the South, you don't have to worry about any of those things
I missed that about the South
Today I talked about what I missed most about North Korea
I'll go and continue eating now yay
bye bye see you next time hey if you
have any questions about north korea
please comment below
see you next time bye
