NORTH FAR FROM SOUTH NORTH FAR FROM SOUTH SOYOUN KIM Before reading, This thesis consists of five chapters and a conclusion. Chapter One and Two describe why the relationship between two Korea couldn’t attract people’s sincere attention. Chapter Three develops a strategic analysis of Korea for the design process, and Chapter Four and Five explain the design methodology of this project. The official names of the two Koreas are the ‘Republic of Korea (ROK)’ and the ‘Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK)’. For convenience, in this thesis they will be named “South Korea” and “North Korea” respectively. Since this thesis is written from the perspective of a South Korean, I will refer to the South first when I have to refer to both Koreas. 1 1 Juche, usually translated as North Korea has its own ideology, “Ju-Che ”, originally viewed as a variant of “self-reliance”, is the official Marxism-Leninism. In this thesis, I arbitrarily included the Ju-Che ideology state ideology of North Korea, in Communism to present a better understanding thereof. This is not meant described by the government as CHAPTER 1 Kim Il-sung’s “original, brilliant as a denial of North Korean ideology; my decision that these two ideologies and revolutionary contribution have many things in common, especially in terms of the visual appearance to national and international 5 they reflect, inspired this approach. thought”. Introduction 5 Though there are different viewpoints about good design, Introduction the concepts of “Zeitgeist and a designer’s identity” are 8 my personal standards of evaluation. Therefore, I start- Chapter 1 ed with this question: The country of the spectacle “What Zeitgeist and identity should I represent through 12 my work?” Chapter 2 Family but Enemy / Enemy but Family I was born and grew up in South Korea, and I’m now in the Netherlands studying a master’s degree. When I meet 16 people, I habitually introduce myself by saying: “I’m Chapter 3 from Korea”. Then, they automatically ask me: “North The Overview effect or South?” I didn’t think much about this question at the 3.1 Moody South, Docile North beginning, but with hindsight I started to feel that it could 3.2 Plausible future predictions imply me and my generation’s Zeitgeist and identity. In 3.3 Plausible future preparations this sense, ‘South’ Korea only has meaning in relation to 3.3.1 Great but incomplete preparations ‘North’ Korea and vice versa. Thus, both Koreans define, fig. 1 3.3.2 Companion in daily life and are highly influential countries for, each other . 28 In this context, South Koreans, including myself, are un- Chapter 4 consciously deluding themselves that they comprehend Ideology can’t explain everything North Korea well. It’s like saying: “I am my best doctor 4.1 General idea of both Koreas because I’m the only one who completely understands 4.2 Inversed stereotypes my body.” However, this is unnecessary arrogance that sometimes causes critical errors. In fact, both countries 34 have been separated for over 70 years; South Koreans Chapter 5 can’t even visit North Korea, and they only have distorted The propaganda house : Co-rea pavilion or limited information about it. So, how can we say that 5.1 Thinking outside the Blue box we know about them? In addition, most of our genera- 5.2 The strategy of the pavilion tion’s parents are the ‘after-war’ generation, so we don’t 5.3 Designing the space really have any experience or symptoms of separation. 5.3.1 The view from outside : the outgoing character of ideology 5.3.2 The view from inside : introverted character beneath ideology 5.3.3 The amplifying roof 44 Conclusion 46 Appendix 50 Bibliography fig. 1 6 7 Without each other, identity of North or South is meaningless Even if we are living in a ‘Peeping society’ through the mass media, we shouldn’t miss the fact that ‘voyeurism’ is always accompanied by distortion through particular mediums. For example, natives of the jungle would mock me if I said that I knew the jungle through the South Korean TV show “Survival in Jungle”. The situation between the two Koreas is more complicated than this. “What if South and North Korea disappeared as a result ‘The unknowable place that is only few kilometers away’; of nuclear weapons and they somehow started again in ‘the unclear existence as myth or virtual reality’; and ‘the the middle of the Netherlands; Might the relationship be existence that we think we know’. These ironic statements the same as it is currently? Or could we be good friend?” are the definition of the Zeitgeist of the Korean Peninsula. I’m aware that many Korean and foreigner artists and de- signers have already worked on this relationship. Never- This silly science-fiction question was my first starting theless, not many studies have developed a discourse on point. However, some serious questions followed: “Why this controversial issue. The reason is their monologue should the future of Korea be imagined as a fiction?”; way of communication and too serious methodology. “are these imaginary questions only possible as hypoth- eses?” and “how would it be if it actually happened in Also, living in the Netherlands fig. ,2 which is a large part of the real world?” my identity at the moment, will help me to translate this complex topic into my design language. In fact, there The reason that imagining the future of Korea ends up are some important reasons why this situation strongly as an extravagant dream, even for a man on the inside drives me to proceed with this project. First, if I wanted like me, is from an absence of awareness regarding to do this project in South Korea, I would be limited by the reality. I found this a problematic issue that my prejudice and political corruption. Second, it is easier to generation and future generations might have, and with fig. 3 meet North Korean defectors outside of Korea. Even if this I mind I set out to develop this project. Hendrick Hamel (1630 – 1692) was the first Westerner to there are over 30,000 North Korean defectors in South provide a first hand account of Just as a young Dutch man called Hendrick Hamel fig.3 first Joseon Korea. After spending Korea, they are not willing to divulge their thoughts. thirteen years there, he wrote Third, I can be more objective without any geopolitical introduced Korea to Europe in the 17th century through “Hamel’s Journal and a Descrip- tion of the Kingdom of Korea, limitations. his journal, I hope to reintroduce Korea once again to the 1653-1666,” which was subse- Netherlands in the 21st century through design. quently published in 1668. INTRODUCTION fig. 2 8 9 Illustration of “Living in Netherland” Dictatorship, a hereditary succession of three genera- tions, nuclear weapons, warmongering, censorship, a closed-door policy, famine, barbarism, the president’s ridiculous hairstyle, etc. These images of North Korea are stronger than ever. If Kim Jong-un saw his silly pho- tographs on Google or Facebook, he would be angry, or maybe he would enjoy pushing the ‘like’ button. People started to accept these images as real through the mass media even though they might not be authen- ticated. Of course, North Korea’s closed-door policy is a major contributory factor to this result. Regardless, they have become that ‘barbaric country’ described as an enemy of the public or a pitiful people waiting for the Messiah. On the other hand, the reputation of South Korea is respectable. Based on successful big companies like Samsung and Hyundai, we even proudly display our high OECD economic indicators every year. Chapter 1 This dramatic contrast between the two Koreas can easily be found on Google Images: just search for the The country of the spectacle dazzling night scenes of Seoul’s tourist areas fig. 4 and the ridiculous appearance of Kim Jong-un fig. 5. The fact that photos of Donald Trump pop up with those of Kim Jong-un is hilarious. fig. 4 fig. 5 11 10 Dazzling night scene of Seoul city Ridiculous appearance of the supreme leader of North Korea Kim Jong-un fig. 6 A parody illustration of <The As a kind of the retina for the modern man, Google illus- We just want to enjoy and consume such images, but Society of the Spectacle, Guy Debord> as North Korean ver. trates that the images of the North Korea we think we 2 we don’t want to discuss or participate in them. Further- The Society of the Spectacle is know are seen not only by South Koreans but also by a 1967 work of philosophy and more, if someone wants to bring such issues up, they people all around the world. As Guy Debord indicated Marxist critical theory by Guy tend to be regarded as old-fashioned or overtly serious. 2 Debord, in which he develops and presents the concept of the 12 in ‘The Society of the Spectacle’ , these images hide 13 Spectacle the truth of our lives and make us spectators. PeacefulKill that reunifibrutal - Chapter 2 Family but Enemy / Enemy but Family bastardscation fig. 7 <Peaceful reunification, Kill that brutal bastards> Incompatible perspectives on North Korea in South Korea like the complementary color relationship The intricate relationship between North and South Korea is often described as a problem on the international scale, with terms such as ‘ideological conflict’, ‘the battle of the superpowers’ or a ‘historical, geopolitical issue’. However, the definition of this relationship as I experienced it in South Korea was very clear: ‘object for 14 peaceful unification’ or ‘opponent for a fight”, in other 15 words, ‘family’ or ‘enemy’.