The Social-Economic Factors Of North Korea's Youth

Standing in guard near the snowy border between the Noth and South Korea, a young man stands alert. The year is 1990, a time when South Korea was starting to heal from the years of military dictatorships. The man has to patrol around the ironically dangerous Korean Demilitarized Zone, a mix of beautiful mountain wildlife and dangerous mines, for his family, friends, and countrymen. A couple of days ago, the small Korean penninsula was hit with big news; Germany was close to reunifying again, after years of separation during the Cold War. The young man, still idealistic and young, wonders whether the two Koreas will ever be unified like Germany while staring out at the pitch black propaganda village of Kijongdong. It has been twenty-six years …show more content…
Problems like minimum wage, teenage suicide, and bullying have boiled over after long social suppresion of such topics.With the social-economical factors already playing an influence on South Korean minds, North Korea seems to be more like an annoyance than a family member. Adding to social-economical factors, the acts of aggression from North Korea’s Kim Jong-un makes many in the South to feel fear and frustration. Young men, including me, will have to spend two years of our youth in the military because of North Korea’s nuclear and military threats. All lin all, to young people like me, North Korea is a pest that provides nothing but strife and conflict. Reunification looks too far away in the horizon to see, and the Korean Demilitarized Zone looks to stand for a very long time. Although the Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as a reality of the cultural and economical split between the two Koreas, the area also serves as a newfound place to find connection between North and South. Due to the heavy amount of military arms in the area, civilians are unable to enter the Korean Demilitarized Zone. While many areas have been