Analyzing North Koreans’ Flight to Freedom on the ‘Underground Railroad’

Objectives: 

Students will be able to...

• Evaluate reporting that recounts the journey of North Korean refugees seeking asylum in South Korea 
• Cite textual evidence to support understanding of the human rights situation in North Korea and of the 'push and pull' factors affecting North Koreans' decision to flee
• Analyze the role photography plays in developing the reporting's claims
• Evaluate the extent to which credibility is a core tenet of ethical journalism 

Warm-up: 

1. Listen to the national anthem of North Korea, and then discuss the following:
   • How does the language of the North Korean national anthem compare with the American anthem?
2. Raise your hand if you can sing the entire American national anthem by heart.
   • If this question had been asked in North Korea, what percent of the class do you think would raise their hand? Why?
3. What have you heard about North Korea in the news?
   • What do you think it's like to live there?
   • Where do you get this information?
   • Do you think that North Koreans would agree with that characterization?

Introducing the Lesson:

North Korea has been led by totalitarian dictators for seven decades. The current leader is Kim Jong-Un, the grandson of the Communist country's founder, Kim Il-Sung.  For two decades, the Underground Railroad has helped thousands of North Koreans flee. This lesson explores the people, places, and things that have allowed this network to thrive, as well as the current threats to this important humanitarian tool that operates illegally in many countries in Asia.

The Pulitzer Center-supported project, The North Korean Underground Railroad, takes readers along the long and dangerous route from North Korea to China to Vietnam to Cambodia, and finally to Seoul, South Korea. Use the following prompts to guide discussion and activity after reading "The Underground Railroad of North Korea" by Doug Bock Clark. 

Some useful vocabulary for this lesson:

• Dictatorship
• Human trafficking
• Refugee
• Defector
• Gulag

Introducing the Resource:

Individually, or in pairs, read  "The Underground Railroad of North Korea" by Doug Bock Clark. Respond to the following questions as you read, and then share your answers with the rest of your class. 

1. According to the article, why are North Korean people taught that their lives are envied by the rest of the world?  How does this compare with their realities?
2. Identify the primary causes (push factors) that led "Faith" to flee.  Which causes do you think are most significant? Why?
3. Why does Clark write, "Although North and South Korea are divided only by the impenetrably fortified 2.5-mile-wide demilitarized zone, the journey between the nations had become one of about 6,000 miles."? 
4. How did you feel when you read that Faith viewed herself as "lucky" because her husband didn't beat her? Explain. 
5. How do you think Faith felt when she learned that she had been selected to be helped by the North Korean Underground Railroad?
6. What role does Stephen Kim play in Faith's life and in the Underground Railroad system?  After reading the article, to what extent do you agree with his nickname, "the Oskar Schindler of North Korea"? 
7. Why is Kang "happy to be caught by the police"?
8. Why are North Koreans given stylish clothes while journeying through China on the Underground Railroad?
9. According to Stephen Kim, Kang Won-cheol played a pivotal role in his life.   Why do you think this is?
10. Analyze the causes of China's crackdown on North Koreans traveling the Underground Railroad through China.
11. Why does Clark question the accuracy of some of Stephen Kim's stories?

Discussion:

As a class, discuss the following questions: 

1. Readers' eyes are always drawn to the photo that accompanies a news article.  Why do you think editors chose this specific photo for this piece of journalism? 
   • If you were the editor, what other types of images would you consider?  Why?  
   • As a primarily text-based piece of journalism, how important do you think it is to include photography or images, more broadly? 
2. What images were conjured when you read about North Korea's infamous gulags? 
3. All North Korean families are expected to have a portrait of the leader displayed in their home and regularly polish the portrait as well.  How would you feel if you were expected to do this for your country's political leader?  
4. South Korean soap operas are smuggled into North Korea. Why is their content so shocking to people in North Korea?  
   • Can you think of a time in your life when you experienced a paradigm shift like Faith did when she first watched a South Korean soap opera?
5. Faith is a survivor of human trafficking.  She was sold for $800 to a Chinese farmer and forced to become his wife.  
   • Use the UN's Global Report on Trafficking in Persons as a resource to examine this topic globally.  Discuss: How does Faith's story compare to the stories of survivors of human trafficking who are from other countries? 
6. To what extent did religion influence Stephen Kim's work?
7. What are the differences between the roles played by NGOs and brokers in the Underground Railroad? What are the similarities? 
8. According to Melanie Kirkpatrick, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, what are the most powerful tools threatening the North Korean government? 
9. Use Google Maps to vicariously travel in the steps of Faith.  Discuss with a partner the observations you make as you make this electronic journey.  
   • To what extent do geopolitics affect defectors' journeys?
10. Faith faces multiple challenges in adjusting to life in South Korea.  
    • Which obstacle do you think was most challenging?  Why?  
    • What is a connection that you can make with your life?
11. What is your perspective on the accuracy of Stephen Kim's stories? How accurate do you think his stories are? Why?
12. If you were the editor, how would you have handled these misgivings? 
13. As a journalist, to what extent does Clark have an ethical obligation to share his doubts of Stephen Kim with his readers?  To what extent is credibility a core tenet of journalism?

Extension Activities: 

Option 1: Connections to other refugees' present-day routes

This lesson has explored the routes that refugees took to find new homes in South Korea. Make connections to other stories of forced migration by researching what routes migrants have taken in fleeing from Central America to the United States. 

Consider the escape route map in the reporting, and use markers, paint, and/or colored pencils to create your own map of the journey that many Central Americans are taking to the U.S. 

Option 2: Connections to history 

The term 'Underground Railroad' used in the reporting comes from a similar network that spanned the American South and was operated to help enslaved Americans escape to freedom in the North. Conduct a research project to discover the similarities between the original Underground Railroad and the one which brought Faith to safety and freedom. 

Option 3: Create a graphic novel

Create a graphic novel depicting Faith's experience on the Underground Railroad. Here is a resource to introduce graphic novels as an artistic medium and get you started.