[Global NK Interview] Professor Lee Gwan-gyu (Department of Korean Language Education, Korea University)

YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfpUHnzOTMM

[Editor's Note]

Global NK [Interview] directly meets with various researchers in South Korea who study North Korea to understand the current state of North Korean studies through their voices. In this issue, we met with Professor Lee Gwan-gyu of Korea University, who recently published "Changes and Tasks in Korean Language Norms of South and North Korea" and "Grammar Theory in North Korean Schools," to hear about the divergence in language and grammar between South and North Korea and cooperation measures to overcome it and restore homogeneity.

Video Transcript

When I was in graduate school, in the late 1980s, if we looked at North Korean materials, they were confiscated. We had to get permission to use them, and it was written like this. Even then, and even now, the North Korean Special Materials Center under the Ministry of Unification has the largest collection of North Korean materials. Textbooks are also there. Yes, it's difficult for anyone to view them, but you can see them after going through several stages. That was one thing. Another thing is that with the Kim Jong-un regime in 2012, North Korea's educational curriculum was officially announced in 2013.

The educational curriculum is the same as South Korea's curriculum, and it is a document that outlines all of North Korea's educational policies. Based on that, textbooks are also completely reorganized. As you know, in North Korea, elementary school is 4 years, junior middle school is 3 years, and senior middle school is 3 years. Plus, the final year of kindergarten is 1 year, making it 12 years of compulsory education. In 2013, the comprehensive 12-year compulsory education system was launched, which is a system that North Korea highly emphasizes.

As a result, textbooks and other materials are changed. It seems that the South has obtained all of them. I don't know how they obtained them, but they are all in our Ministry of Unification Center. Not only that, but at the national level, they began to systematically collect information. For example, the Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation began to systematically research North Korea's educational curriculum and textbooks. They even considered how to create a unified textbook for subjects like Korean language, social studies, and history.

I was involved in that activity at the time, and I was asked to provide consultation. I visited about 100 times and was able to view North Korean materials. More specifically, about three years ago, a major publishing company in Seoul requested my assistance. They wanted to create a unified Korean language textbook for South and North Korea and thought a dictionary would be helpful. They asked me to create a dictionary for elementary school students. So, I worked on it with my colleagues and students for about two years.

The dictionary was completed and is now in the process of being published as a "Unified Korean Language Dictionary for Elementary School Students." During that time, I also got to see North Korean elementary school textbooks. The National Library of Korea also has many materials related to North Korea, including recent ones. What I am talking about now are official textbooks. But there is something more important: after establishing diplomatic relations with China, many South Koreans began academic activities at Yanbian University. Even national institutions collaborate with Yanbian University. So, naturally, they came into contact with North Korean materials.

In some cases, they even met North Korean scholars. At academic conferences, I met elderly scholars in their 70s and 80s, whose names I had only heard of before. It was a deeply moving experience. Through them, I was able to see North Korean materials. One more thing I want to mention is that there were individuals who traveled between South and North Korea. This was during a period when the country was opening up and exchanges were occurring. The president of a publishing company in Seoul visited Pyongyang. He received a proposal there.

In 2005, a monumental series called "The Complete Works of Choson Literature" was published in 46 volumes. Due to economic difficulties in North Korea, about 10 volumes were not published. So, South Korean capital was invested to publish them. A contract was signed, money was paid, and they were brought over. That publishing company published about 10 volumes. However, the publication was halted midway by an institution, indicating that it was not fully open. In this way, many private collections and books were brought in for research.

When the "Unified Orthography of Korean" was published in 1933, the language movement, the "Our Language, Our Script" movement, aimed to standardize it. This was a common goal for all Koreans at the time. Most of the people active in the Joseon Language Society then were followers of Ju Si-gyeong from the Enlightenment period. Ju Si-gyeong is considered a pivotal figure in the Korean language movement and research. If King Sejong created Hangeul, Ju Si-gyeong is credited with perfecting it. His ideology continues to be reflected to this day, which is why homogeneity can be restored.

To elaborate further, Ju Si-gyeong's disciple was Kim Du-bong. From 1907, for three years, Kim Du-bong and a few others worked with their teacher, Ju Si-gyeong, on collecting words. The problem was that Ju Si-gyeong passed away at the age of 37. There are various theories as to why, but after his teacher's death, Kim Du-bong felt compelled to continue his work. Later, in 1939, the "Chosun Language Dictionary" was published, and while it has its own significance, many people left the movement at that time. They left the Korean peninsula and went to China, where they engaged in armed struggle and other activities, eventually embracing communist ideology. After liberation, Kim Du-bong came to North Korea and became a leader there.

However, soon after, Kim Il-sung arrived with the Soviet army. Consequently, Kim Du-bong was pushed aside due to political circumstances. After liberation, Kim Du-bong, who held considerable influence, became the first dean of Kim Il-sung University. During that time, the "Choson Orthography Law" was published, and the current orthography standards were established. In 1948, when Kim Gu led the South-North Korean Joint Conference and went to Pyongyang, Kim Du-bong, as the representative of the Joseon Language Society, played a significant role. Ultimately, the early language policies of North Korea were led by Kim Du-bong, Ju Si-gyeong's disciple, and Ri Gu-ro, the representative of the Joseon Language Society. This is how we came to have the unified orthography, which is the content of the current orthography.

South and North Korea are currently collaborating on a unified dictionary. This collaboration builds upon the legacy of Kim Du-bong and Ri Gu-ro in North Korea, as well as the unified Korean orthography and the comprehensive dictionary compiled in South Korea. After working together in the past, they separated and worked independently, but now they are achieving results with the unified dictionary. I believe there is a difference between changes in language and changes in norms.

As you know, language changes are not something that happens every decade; there are significant time gaps. And, of course, language changes over hundreds or thousands of years. However, orthography, for instance, does not change easily. What I mean is, if something is written as "the flower bloomed," it must be written that way consistently for people to understand it and for it to serve as a means of communication. Therefore, it does not change. Furthermore, Hangeul, the Korean alphabet, is the same, but it is difficult to have differences in how it is written.

One of Ju Si-gyeong's ideas was to spell out Korean words phonetically. Instead of writing "Korean language" and "Hangeul," he proposed writing them as "G-I-E-O-K, I-E-U-N, R-I-E-U-L." The late Professor Choi Hyun-bae in South Korea also attempted to implement this. In North Korea, Kim Du-bong also tried to follow the intentions of his teacher, Ju Si-gyeong. Ultimately, when it comes to language norms, changes are difficult if they are to be used accurately, appropriately, and efficiently by the public. Romanization is another example.

Regarding Romanization, there have been many changes in South Korea over decades. However, when comparing South and North Korea, there are differences. In South Korea, the Romanization system was changed in 2000. At that time, the use of apostrophes and hyphens was abolished. This is because when Romanizing, strange symbols make it difficult to type, and in the era of computerization, it was changed for convenience. It was changed to be more user-friendly.

However, in North Korea, they still use apostrophes and hyphens. If it were unified, it would be one system. Think about issuing passports. Therefore, the idea of unifying language norms implies the premise of unification between South and North Korea. In my opinion, the difference in language norms, where South Korea does one thing and North Korea does another, is based on the premise of recognizing two separate countries rather than one. If these differences remain as they are, it will be difficult for people of the same nation, using the same language in a unified country, to accept them. If it is one country, there should be one language norm for that language. For example, let's consider the Jeju dialect as a separate language.

If we acknowledge the Jeju dialect and the Hamgyong dialect as separate languages, then each would have its own language norms. However, the premise is that South and North Korea are one language. If unification occurs, this becomes even more crucial. Therefore, if South and North Korea aim for unification, unifying non-political aspects like orthography and other language norms first might lead to the convergence of systems. Of course, for young people, unification might involve overcoming various political, social, cultural, and ideological differences. However, when exporting and importing goods between countries, or when the president delivers a speech as a representative of one nation, wouldn't a unified sound and text be necessary? From this perspective, since South and North Korea use the same language, shouldn't they have a unified language norm? What is the most effective way to achieve this for a unified nation?

There are many institutions in our country that can oversee the Korean language. I would like to propose more practical and implementable measures and actively participate in them to create opportunities to approach North Korea. Personally, I hope to spend my sabbatical year not at a university in the United States, but at Kim Il-sung University in North Korea. They have a social science department there.

There are many scholars there who research the Korean language and other subjects. I want to meet them in person, discuss with them, and share their concerns. I also personally wish to contribute even a small part to the eventual unification of South and North Korea.