Ex-aid official sees changing mindsets among young North Koreans, but no dissent
In short
Kathi Zellweger (캐시 젤위거), a Swiss-born aid worker who headed the Hong Kong-based aid group Caritas and often visited North Korea, said on October 8 at a Stimson Center event that North Korea is changing in six 'M's: money, markets, mobiles, motor cars, the middle class and young people's mindsets. She said she never sensed open hostility toward the government or any dissident activity, and that loyalty instilled from early childhood plus Leninist political control make challenging the regime almost impossible.
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Kathi Zellweger (캐시 젤위거), a Swiss-born aid worker who served as head of the Hong Kong-based aid group Caritas, among other roles, and often visited North Korea, summarised changes in the country as '6M' at a Stimson Center event on October 8 (local time) introducing her book 'Miss Kathi' (미스 캐시). Maeil Business described the Stimson Center as a US think tank. The six Ms, she said, are money, markets, mobile phones, motor cars, the middle class and the mindsets of the younger generation. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
She said she never felt open hostility toward the government among North Koreans, and sensed even less any dissident activity even slightly similar to what existed in China, the former Soviet Union or Vietnam. North Koreans are instilled with loyalty to the regime and the leader from a very young age, 'like the 16th-century Joseon kingdom,' with a modern Leninist organisational system and political control layered on top, which makes challenging the regime almost impossible, she said. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
According to Yonhap, she said the young people are those born during or after the 1995 famine, a generation that never experienced a system in which the government handed out everything; Maeil Business said they were born around the mid-1990s famine. She called 1995 an unbelievably large disaster for a country already short of food, fuel and electricity. The economy later recovered, but she said there is a clear gap between Pyongyang, home to a relatively wealthy elite, and most rural areas, where residents still suffer deprivation and poor infrastructure. [ 1 , 3 ]
In rural areas cut off from the outside world, people think only about survival, she said, while in Pyongyang women's heels have become higher and parasols against ultraviolet rays have appeared. A colleague who recently went to North Korea was asked by a North Korean to bring Lululemon yoga wear, and pets can be seen on Pyongyang's streets, she said. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
Zellweger, who ran the Pyongyang Business School, said young people in the city had a strong desire to learn, and that hotel staff could be seen in front of televisions learning Chinese and English. The school also taught capitalist economics; she recalled that early on the concept of 'profit' was missing. Instructors could cite Chinese, Japanese or multinational companies but not South Korean ones, she said. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
She did aid work between North Korea and Hong Kong until the end of 2019, before North Korea closed its borders due to the Covid pandemic. She said raising funds for North Korea in Europe has become almost impossible because North Koreans are fighting on Russia's side in the Ukraine war. On US and South Korean humanitarian aid efforts, she advised that pushing too hard does not get results and that sometimes it is much better to step back and wait. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
Why it matters
The account comes from an aid worker who travelled between North Korea and Hong Kong until late 2019, before the country closed its borders during the pandemic. She also said North Koreans fighting on Russia's side in the Ukraine war has made raising aid money for North Korea in Europe almost impossible, and advised the US and South Korea not to push too hard on humanitarian aid.
Key facts
- Zellweger summarised changes in North Korea as '6M' at a Stimson Center event on October 8 (local time) introducing her book 'Miss Kathi' (미스 캐시). [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- The six Ms are money, markets, mobile phones, motor cars, the middle class and the mindsets of the younger generation. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- She said she never felt open hostility toward the government among North Koreans, nor any dissident activity similar to that in China, the former Soviet Union or Vietnam. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- She compared the loyalty instilled in North Koreans from childhood to the 16th-century Joseon kingdom, overlaid with Leninist organisation and political control. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- A colleague who recently visited North Korea was asked by a North Korean to bring Lululemon yoga wear; pets can be seen on Pyongyang streets, she said. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- At the Pyongyang Business School she ran, instructors could cite Chinese, Japanese or multinational companies but not South Korean ones. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- She did aid work travelling between North Korea and Hong Kong until the end of 2019, before North Korea closed its borders due to the Covid pandemic. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
Confirmed by several sources
- Zellweger described changes in North Korea as '6M' at a Stimson Center event on October 8 presenting her book. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- She said she never sensed open hostility toward the government or dissident activity in North Korea. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- A colleague was recently asked by a North Korean to bring Lululemon yoga wear. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- Instructors at the Pyongyang Business School were not to mention South Korean companies. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- She said raising aid funds for North Korea in Europe has become very hard because of North Korea's role on Russia's side in the Ukraine war. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
Still unclear
- When the young generation she described was born. Yonhap says during or after the 1995 famine; Maeil Business says around the mid-1990s famine.
- Whether Zellweger still heads Caritas. Yonhap and Maeil Business describe the role in the past tense; Asia Economy calls her the head of Caritas.
- The observations about life in Pyongyang and rural areas. They are Zellweger's personal accounts, partly second-hand from a colleague, and not independently verified in the reports.