by Sungju Lee
yu-ryeong [yoo-RYUNG] – ghosts or evil spirits
Places and proper names
Baekdu-sahn [baek-du-SAHN] – Mountain where Kim Jong-il was alleged to have been born. There is a lake on the top, which is thought to have been created by a meteor. According to folklore, the mountain is a sign that the Korean people have been touched by heaven.
Kang Ban-sok [kang bahn-SOK] – Kim Il-sung’s mother
Cheongjin [chung-JIN] – provincial capital of North Hamgyeong, with four markets: Pohwang, Sunam, Ranam, Songpyeong
Chilseong [chil-SUNG] – Name of a deity. There are different versions of the origins of Chilseong, depending on where in Asia someone lives. Sungju’s father told him that Chilseong was a heavenly figure who descended to earth and, when she and her daughters died, returned to heaven and became the Big Dipper.
Daedong-gang [deh-dong-GANG] – river that runs through Pyongyang
“Dondolari” [don-dol-LA-ri] –Korean folk song
Duman-gang [doo-mahn-gang] – river that divides China and North Korea
Eodaejin [uh-dae-JIN] – port city
Heungbu wa Nolbu [hung-BU WAH nol-BU] – Characters in a Korean folk story about two brothers. Heungbu was poor. He chased away a snake that had injured a swallow and helped the swallow heal. In exchange, the swallow gave Heungbu a gourd, the seeds of which granted him great wealth. The other brother, Nolbu, was rich. He became jealous of Heungbu, so he injured a swallow and then helped it heal, hoping to gain the same richness. Instead, the seeds of his gourd brought him nothing but pain and misery.
Joseon [jo-SUHN] – North Korea
Joseon Inmingun [jo-SUHN in-min-GOON] – Korean army; also the name of a newspaper of the Korean Army
Mangyeongdae [mahn-gyung-dae] – village where Kim Il-sung was born
Mangyeongdae Yuheejang [mahn-gyung-dae you-hee-JAHNG] – famous North Korean amusement park
Rodong Sinmun [ro-dong shin-MOON] – newspaper of the Central Committee of the Worker’s Party of Korea
“Shagwa-poongnyon” [sha-gwa poong-NYUN] – Korean song
Sup’ung Dam [su-poong dam] – dam on the Yalu river, built by the Japanese starting in 1937
Sungju Lee holds a bachelor of arts degree in political science and journalism from Sogang University in Seoul, South Korea. He received his master’s degree in international relations at the University of Warwick, England. Lee has spoken about his experiences at the Center for Strategic and International Studies at Stanford University and at the English, Canadian, and South Korean parliaments. He has won many awards for his activism and has appeared on numerous television and radio programs and in print media articles around the world. He participates in rescuing North Korean refugees suffering in China with Citizens’ Alliance for North Korean Human Rights (NKHR), based in South Korea.
Follow Sungju Lee at: @unitedcorea21
Susan McClelland’s book Bite of the Mango, written with Mariatu Kamara, was a worldwide sensation, published in more than thirty countries. Stars Between the Sun and Moon: One Woman’s Life in North Korea and Escape to Freedom, written with Lucia Jang, was called “an emotional and engrossing work” in a starred review by Library Journal. McClelland is an award-winning journalist and the recipient of the 2005 and 2008 Amnesty International Media Award.
Follow Susan McClellend at: www.smcclelland.com
