The Jung-gu Municipal Chapter (head: Oh Byeong-han) of Ulsan held the “Women’s Unification Talk Session” event at the Jung-gu Convention Center in the afternoon of July 14. The event was prepared with the aim of deepening understanding of North Korea and enhancing awareness of unification by listening to the stories and perspectives of North Korean defectors and female council members.

The “Unification Talk Session” featured a panel including Lee Soon-shil, Gwon Seol-gyeong, and Han Song-i – North Korean defectors and featured guests who introduce news on North Korea on the comprehensive programming channel shows “Now On My Way to Meet You” and “Good Life” – and Wang Moo-yeon, Oh Jeong-sook, and Seok Joo-eun, council members of the NUAC Jung-gu Municipal Chapter of Seoul. The panel shared and listened to stories of escaping North Korea and starting a new life in the South and shared thoughts on the differences between the South and North Koreas as seen from the perspective of women, including dating and marriage.

At the event, one North Korean defector noted that TV shows and music from the South were what motivated her to leave the North for a new life in the South; another said that she still frequently talks to her family back in the North by phone. She added that TV shows and songs that are popular in South Korea are also widely viewed and talked about in the North, pointing out that “basically, the two Koreas have already been unified in this respect.”