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Meeting North Koreans in the Netherlands

In January 2009, the artist comes across a North Korean defector in the Netherlands. The artist visits the defector’s house in Amersfoort, a house of refugees, to listen to his defection story in great detail. In these days, there are many North Koreans escaping from their country. The lack of freedom and them not being treated as ordinary human beings, make them run away to another country. There are at least 300.000 North Korean refugees in China. However, it does not mean that living in China is a paradise. The Chinese government in defiance of international laws is persecuting North Koreans and the fatal truth is that each month, hundreds of North Korean refugees are sent back to their country. These people are sent to the most horrifying prisons in North Korea. Knowing this fact, some North Koreans are trying to get in South Korea. Refugees are hoping that the Chinese government will acknowledge their circumstances and let them go to South Korea. For obvious reasons, this is a very urgent case for the refugees. In January 2009, I met some North Korean refugees in the Netherlands. There were so many things I could not know of, I had no idea of the circumstances of those refugees, no knowledge of the jaw dropping attitude of the Chinese Government, the life in China and so on. Now, being in the Netherlands, I had a chance to meet some of them.

 

January 2009 I casually met a North Korean man in the Netherlands. From then on I have been interested in the North Korean problems which are deeply rooted and heavily discussed political and social issues in the world. I have to think about the problems deeply because that is related directly to me as a South Korean and indirectly due to the North’s vague political agenda and its position in world society. I have met people related to North Korea and its problems and formed a network to discuss the issues at hand since a year. Through these encounters, I questioned myself and I discovered new situations through research. I have produced my new works with doubtful information and stories of first hand encounters. I have attempted to represent this topic artistically on various levels. In the meantime, I have made drawings, maps, diagrams, videos and films on the topic. 

2009년 1월, 나는 우연히 네덜란드에서 북한사람을 만났다. 그 후 나는 북한의 문제에 대해 관심을 갖고 연구하게 됐다. 그 문제는 현재 세계 안에 정치적 사회적 이슈로 심각하게 토론 된다. 나는 그 문제들에 대해 생각해야만 했다. 직접적으로는 한국인으로써 그러나 그보다 간접적으로 세계 안에서 북한의 분명치 않은 정치적 협의사항들에 대해 그리고 그것의 위치에 대해 생각해 봐야 했다. 나는 북한과 관련되는 사람들과 만나면서 그들과 네트워크를 형성하고 커뮤니케이션 하며 이 이슈들에 대하여 함께 토론 해왔다. 이 만남들을 통해 나는 스스로에게 질문하고 발견한다. 만남들, 의심스러운 정보들과 함께 나는 새로운 시도를 해오며 다양한 레벨에서 이 토픽을 표현해내기 위해 리서치 과정 중 드로잉, 맵, 다이어그램, 비디오, 영화를 제작했다.

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