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submitted 2 years ago by The_Picard_Maneuver@lemmy.world to c/whitepeopletwitter@sh.itjust.works

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[-] norimee@lemmy.world 129 points 2 years ago

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.

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[-] sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 71 points 2 years ago

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...

[-] sharkfucker420@lemmy.ml 69 points 2 years ago

There are around 100,000 north koreans working abroad. It's not so unreasonable of a question as you'd think

[-] sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 52 points 2 years ago

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.

[-] perviouslyiner@lemmy.world 15 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

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)

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[-] ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.de 10 points 2 years ago

Plus about 50,000 have managed to defect over the past 30 years.

[-] BackOnMyBS@lemmy.autism.place 1 points 2 years ago

150k is about 0.000183% of the world population

[-] sparkle@lemm.ee 8 points 2 years ago

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

[-] BackOnMyBS@lemmy.autism.place 1 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

I never assume that someone is from Wyoming's capital either.

[-] unexposedhazard@discuss.tchncs.de 19 points 2 years ago

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.

[-] sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 8 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

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%.

[+] HubertManne@moist.catsweat.com 10 points 2 years ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

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[-] sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 years ago

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).

[+] HubertManne@moist.catsweat.com 7 points 2 years ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

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[-] sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 3 points 2 years ago

Interesting. That's a pretty rare opportunity, assuming you're not in Russia or China (and even then, it's still fairly uncommon).

[+] HubertManne@moist.catsweat.com 2 points 2 years ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

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[-] sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 years ago

Eh, Koreans have a pretty high rate of smoking (this site claims >40% of adult men), so you're probably just getting sampling bias if most you know don't smoke. My SO's friends are all anti-smoking for religious reasons, but when we visited Korea, a lot of people smoked. A lot of people in Asia smoke, it's nuts.

But yeah, Koreans tend to stick with other Koreans. My in-laws are quite racist against non-Koreans (I get a pass), and while the younger generations are better about it, they still tend to stick with other Koreans. I had a lot of international friends growing up (Vietnamese, Japanese, Taiwanese, etc), but none of them were Korean, despite having a pretty big Korean population where I grew up. I had a good working relationship with one in college when I was dating my SO (he was super good at StarCraft, that's not just a meme), and I helped him edit his essays.

[-] unexposedhazard@discuss.tchncs.de 8 points 2 years ago

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.

[-] pathief@lemmy.world 3 points 2 years ago

I'm guessing people from South Korea get a little mad being asked this all the time.

[-] pelespirit@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 years ago

Nah, he was around eight too. Both were in their own bubble of 8 year oldness.

[-] sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 0 points 2 years ago

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.

[-] unexposedhazard@discuss.tchncs.de 5 points 2 years ago

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.

[-] sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 years ago

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).

[-] Tja@programming.dev 2 points 2 years ago

I think "being from North Korea" qualifies immediately for refugee status.

[-] makyo@lemmy.world 7 points 2 years ago

Nobody will be confused if you tell them you’re American

[-] DarkDarkHouse@lemmy.sdf.org 4 points 2 years ago

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

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[-] AlecSadler@sh.itjust.works 37 points 2 years ago

As a Korean (South) that is a US citizen, I get this...all the time.

So...you're not alone?

[-] Buddahriffic@lemmy.world 11 points 2 years ago

... Northern US or Southern?

[-] AlecSadler@sh.itjust.works 5 points 2 years ago

Left Coast!

[-] Lexam@lemmy.ca 19 points 2 years ago

For an eight year old that doesn't seem that unreasonable. Now as an adult...

[-] Zipitydew@sh.itjust.works 15 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

Adults should know people only flock to best Korea.

[-] RampantParanoia2365@lemmy.world 5 points 2 years ago

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.

[-] anzo@programming.dev 2 points 2 years ago

Not to mention the third Korea, which sounds so Chic (⁀ᗢ⁀)

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this post was submitted on 15 Aug 2024

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