Assignment #2 - American Perceptions of North Korea

I will preface this post by revealing my pre-interview thoughts. I expected that most people I interviewed would have at least some knowledge of North Korean geography, politics and history because the country has a past that involves the United States. To some extent this proved to be the case, but I was surprised that hardly anyone knew of a recent event involving North Korea (since it has been in the news recently). This led me to infer that perhaps the majority of the Americans I spoke with had obtained their knowledge of the nation from their studies of U.S. and World history, rather than their consumption of news.

Although I only spoke with six individuals, I made an effort to hear from a diverse group of people, mainly in terms of education level and age. I interviewed a high-school sophomore, two adults in their mid-50s (one of whom had gone through Graduate school), a UCSC Junior with a History and Politics double major, a Cal Poly Graphic Communications Sophomore and a Pre-Law student currently living in Argentina (who spent middle school and most of high school living in California).

I asked each of these people the following six questions:

1.      What continent is North Korea located on?

2.      What is the capital of North Korea?

3.      What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think about North Korea?

4.      Can you name a significant historical event that took place in or involved North Korea in the last century?

5.      What about in the last five years?

6.      In the last year?

The interviews got off to a great start with 100% of those interviewed correctly stating that North Korea is located on the continent of Asia. However, things quickly deteriorated. Only one of the six interviewees, albeit the History and Politics double major, knew that the capital of North Korea is Pyongyang. The others seemed puzzled when I revealed the answer to them, as if they had never heard of it before.

Political cartoons such as the one pictured above, illustrate the opinion that many Americans have about North Korean politics, both in terms of internal leadership and foreign policy.

Things got interesting when I asked the third question. Responses ranged from the obvious “not South Korea,” to the ambiguous “bombings,” and more accurate mentions of “communism,” “dictatorship” and “nuclear weapons.” One interviewee not so eloquently described the leadership in North Korea, referring to “that crazy mother-f@#*er Kim Jung-Il.”

In terms of North Korea’s history, it was apparent that my sample of the American population was hardly familiar with any major events that occurred after the Korean War. In fact, all six of those interviewed immediately cited the Korean War as a significant historical event involving North Korea in the last century. Questions 5 and 6 proved to be much more challenging. Only one participant was able to answer the questions with anything other than an apologetic “I’m not sure.” That interviewee, not coincidentally the History and Politics double major, mentioned the testing of nuclear weapons and the North Korean threat to use force if U.S.-imposed sanctions are not removed.

The Korean War is the most memorable historical event that involved North Korea in the past century. Every participant mentioned it in response to Question #4.

I was somewhat taken aback by the lack of answers to the final questions. I was expecting people to be more familiar with the current events involving North Korea, since they oftentimes involve the United States and are mentioned in the national news media. Granted, had I not spent the past few weeks researching any and all things North Korea, I may not have been able to answer these questions myself.

My fellow classmates’ accounts of their experiences with this assignment, coupled with my own findings, confirmed what I feared would be the outcome of this exercise. Regrettably, it seems as though Americans have a very limited knowledge of what goes on in other parts of the world. I am by no means implying that all Americans are ignorant of foreign affairs, but my small sample hardly proved otherwise. Whether this is the result of diminished foreign coverage or simply a lack of interest I cannot say for certain.  Today’s society encourages us to “think globally,” but can we truly do so without basic knowledge of the countries that make up our world?

(Not in word count)

Interviewees 

1.     Kathleen Kase, 50, San Diego, Paralegal

2.     Matt Hollenbeck, 15, LCCHS, Encinitas

3.     Steve Hollenbeck, 53, Encinitas, VP of Marketing

4.     Michael Christy, 19, UCSC Junior, History/Politics double Major

5.     Sofia Lana, 20, Pre-law in Argentina (lived in the U.S. for 5 years)

6.     Lena Haidar, 19, Cal poly Sophomore, Graphic Communications Major