My SO is Korean and we get this all the time. I don’t even think it’s always a joke, some people just honestly don’t understand how restrictive N. Korea is…
There are around 100,000 north koreans working abroad. It’s not so unreasonable of a question as you’d think
Looks like it’s mostly Russia and China, with unconfirmed estimates for other countries. This is in violation of UN sanctions, so it’s highly unlikely that you’d meet a N. Korean in countries that respect UN sanctions.
South Korea, on the other hand, numbers in the millions. So if you live outside of Russia and China, there are millions of S. Koreans vs probably a few thousand N. Koreans. It’s not even close.
And if you do meet a North Korean couple in small-town America, they probably won’t mention it (Un’s Uncle and Aunt fled there from Switzerland)
It doesn’t have to be close. It’s still a possibility however small the numbers, so still not a stupid question unless the number was zero.
Idk, if you meet someone from Pennsylvania, do you ask if the person personally knows the family of the Trump assassin? If you meet someone from the UK, do you ask if they’re royalty? That’s the kind of odds I’m talking about, the chance is so remote that the question isn’t worth the breath to ask. It’s not like asking if someone identifies as LGBT (that’s like 7-8%), it’s like asking if anyone in their family was struck by lightning.
The main exception here is if you live in China (~3% chance of a Korean being from N. Korea) or Russia (more like 30% chance of being N. Korean). Pretty much everywhere else, it’s going to be a fraction of a percent.
Plus about 50,000 have managed to defect over the past 30 years.
150k is about 0.000183% of the world population
Ok, that’s more than twice the population of Wyoming’s capital. If I don’t ignore that Wyomingites exists then there’s no reason to ignore that North Koreans exist outside of North Korea
World politics isn’t really well understood by most people, me included. Outside of who the US is bombing lots of people genuinely don’t know what’s going on with the world. We know NK is bad and restrictive but it’s hard to comprehend as it’s not something we’ve experienced
That’s fair, but surely people understand that N. Korea is perhaps the most sanctioned country in the world. As in, N. Korea and pretty much every other country in the world agree on perhaps only one thing, that N. Koreans should stay in N. Korea.
N. Korea and pretty much every other country in the world agree on perhaps only one thing, that N. Koreans should stay in N. Korea.
Most North Koreans are exploited and abused, and if they manage to get out on their own (since other countries dont care enough about human rights to try and actively help them to get out), they should be absolutely accepted and helped as much as possible to integrate into another country.
I absolutely agree. I’m just saying that both N. Korea and other countries prefer them to stay in N. Korea. And there are good reasons for that:
- N. Korea gets some of its funding from workers sending money back to the mother country
- N. Korea tries to infiltrate tech companies to cause problems from within
- N. Korean citizens aren’t prepared for the workforce in other countries, which can be a significant burden
But I absolutely believe countries should make an effort to take them in, I’m just saying that’s not the current political climate.
this person thinks “North” is a swear word
? I live in “North” America, and I have no problem with that…
I’m not saying North Korean people are bad, I’m saying there’s a lot of sanctions that prevent North Koreans from being accepted in most of the world. This results in a large share of the North Koreans outside of North Korea being government plants, like this story about a North Korean getting hired by a security company. Legal emigration just isn’t a thing from North Korea, and hasn’t been for decades, except for a small handful of countries (Russia, China, and a few others).
I feel really bad for the average North Korean citizen, but that doesn’t change the statistics. If you meet someone who is Korean pretty much anywhere outside of China or Russia, there’s almost zero chance they’re from North Korea. That’s the statistics, and it’s due to a mix of N. Korean policy, international resolutions, and policies of various countries.
It was a joke. You used the abbreviation “N.” every time.
Ah, got it. I’m just kinda lazy sometimes. :)
Sorry for the confusion. Not a very good joke I guess 😅
I still dont really get the issue. Yes its much less likely that any korean would be from the north, but there absolutely are defectors from the north that live in the west. This is just like people calling themselves “american”… Like bro just properly state the name of your home country, then people wont have to ask you.
Nobody will be confused if you tell them you’re American
They might not be confused, but if you’re not from the US, they’ll be wrong (spoiler: America is a continent, usually broken down into North, Central, and South America (and Latin America, for hispanic countries and Brazil. Other subcategorisations of “America” the continent might exist))
The only purpose of central America is to pretend that Mexico isn’t in northern America.
I’m Canadian. We know America is the entire continent. We still don’t want to be called Americans. The US can keep that.
I’m American and also know the continents are called that and also don’t always want to be called American. But that’s the standard and what everyone uses to refer to us, until I meet some pedant who thinks they’re clever and trying to prove some kind of point as if I didn’t know or as if I chose that word myself.
i remember when i was 8 one of my friends told me he was american and i asked whether he was from north or south and i was so proud bc i knew there were two of them and he looked at me like i was a fucking moron
Yes, defectors exist, but they’re so vanishingly few that it makes no sense to ask. Average defectors are something like 1-2k/year, and by comparison, about 16-17k S. Koreans immigrate to the US every year. So the chance that the person you’re talking to is from N. Korea is incredibly small, not only do very few people actually escape N. Korea, they likely largely stay in S. Korea, where they speak the language.
“Korea” is the proper name for both countries, the “North” and “South” descriptor comes from other countries to disambiguate them. The official name for S. Korea is “Republic of Korea,” and the official name for N. Korea is “Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.” So if you’re wanting people to fully state the country they’re from, you’d probably be more confused because both countries’ official names include “Republic of Korea.” But you’ll likely never talk to someone from N. Korea, so the whole question is moot. If they say they’re from “Korea,” 99.9% of the time they’ll be from South Korea, and if you live outside of S. Korea, it’s probably like 99.999%.
A certain demographic being rare/small does not strip them of their right to existence in peoples minds, i get where you are coming from, but there is also zero hurt being done by asking this. There might not be super much of a point in asking, but looking at someone like they are a moron for asking it, is completely unjustified.
It’s not just that they’re rare, but that it’s literally illegal due to UN sanctions for N. Koreans to emigrate (resolution 2397 in 2017), not to mention severe restrictions by the N. Korean regime itself. Just asking if someone is from N. Korea in any country that follows UN resolutions could get that person deported if someone overhears.
As long as you qualify for refugee status this does not apply. I dont know what is required to qualify for that, but i assume its not impossible, considering the kind of place north korea is.
I think “being from North Korea” qualifies immediately for refugee status.
Certainly. But that just means it’s that much less likely that you’ll actually meet someone who qualifies (they’ll have to flee N. Korea first, the official channels won’t work).
I’m guessing people from South Korea get a little mad being asked this all the time.
TIL “increadibly small” is greater than 1/20…
? The 1-2k figure is total people defecting from N. Korea every year. This isn’t immigration, it’s people running away from N. Korea. The 16-17k figure is just S. Koreans going to the US (doesn’t include other countries).
The actual numbers of people in a given country have a much bigger gap. For S. Korea, it’s like 2.5M in the US alone (about 7-8M worldwide), whereas for N. Korea, it’s like 100-150k worldwide (mostly in China and Russia). If we take that on face value, it’s like 70x more S. Koreans vs N. Koreans worldwide outside their native countries, and if you exclude Russia and China, it’s probably well over 1000x.
Ive known a dozen koreans (if you include briefly meeting family then more) and one was indeed born in the north.
Were they super old? As in, they were born there before the war?
Because actually meeting someone from N. Korea is incredibly rare, unless you’re in China or something (S. Koreans pretty much never immigrate there).
nope. PhD student. I did not sit down and ask the story but it was known because it was such a thing. Don’t know if he was a baby on a raft or had a harrowing escape story or what.
Interesting. That’s a pretty rare opportunity, assuming you’re not in Russia or China (and even then, it’s still fairly uncommon).
You know im sorta wishing now I would have tried to get the story. I mean we had like half a dozen other koreans and no one seemed to treat him differently but he was not especially outgoing and that is even for a korean student who were not the most outgoing to begin with and lets face it. PhD students are not necessarily the most outgoing of the popluation at large. At the time it was just woa, but you know otherwise he seemed no different than any others. He did smoke which I did not think about it at the time as many PhD students smoked but it was not prevelent in the korean students. At least the ones I knew which is a not a super large set.
I believe I asked a co-worker once, at around 30 years old. I realized right away, but like this 8 year old, I was just proud I knew when I asked.
North Korean refugees do exist and even if its more likely to meet a South Korean, wouldn’t it be discrimatory and erasing to just assume all Koreans you meet are from the south?
Especially since South Koreans normally don’t make the distinction of north and south but talk about one Korea. In my expierience, foreign born Korean don’t do this, but Korean born Koreans do.
I know y’all are trying to be open minded, so first off, you’re doing great! That said, you’re doing so well it’s kind of at risk of being opened so wide your brain might fall out
Seriously though, I would absolutely think someone was… being silly (to put it nicely) if they asked which Korea an American was from (this for sure wouldn’t apply to an 8 year old tho)
And you are from either of these Koreas?
I personally would not ask an American which Korea he is from (“which Korea an American was from”) but I had extensive conversations about the separation of the countries with actual Koreans. I commented about my personal expierience.
Edit to add: I rather have my brain fall out from open-mindedness than one that shrivels up like a raisin from ignorance.
Are those the only options? lol.
I just looked it up, and I’m honestly struggling to find a good source (Google really sucks nowadays), but it seems like there are very few North Koreans coming to/living in the US, like way less than even I would’ve thought
I stand by it being silly. If somebody doesn’t know about the history/politics of the US and NK than sure it’d totally be fair to ask where a Korean is from since pretty much everyone should at least know there’s two. lol. But, if you know the history and the current political situation, it’s pretty silly - unless you’re like at a war memorial or something.
It’d be like asking a brown latino in SoCal if they’re from Guatemala. Like, sure, they could be, but 99 times out of 10 they’ll be Mexican, based on so much available context.
One last thing. I hope you don’t think what I’m saying is akin to prejudice or something. If it is let me know and I’ll address that specifically. Definitely not saying to judge people before you’ve met them
Not to mention the third Korea, which sounds so Chic (⁀ᗢ⁀)
As a Korean (South) that is a US citizen, I get this…all the time.
So…you’re not alone?
… Northern US or Southern?
Left Coast!
For an eight year old that doesn’t seem that unreasonable. Now as an adult…
Adults show know people only flock to best Korea.
