The Freedom School

Abstract

“I am the future of the nation!” This is the motto of the Freedom School (FS), which sounds decisive, heroic, and definitely nationalistic. The school’s name suggests that “freedom” is what the refugees didn’t have in North Korea. The dean of the school, Mr Song, a 46-year-old gentle Christian and former college instructor of North Korean politics, stresses with great conviction that the motto is given by God to empower these “brethren” to be born-again national leaders. The motto is a sacred message hung on the wall, interestingly printed in a “cute” font on a square cloth on which there is also a map of the Korean peninsula. The motto is attached to a pink heart with wings, and smaller pink hearts are embroidered here and there (see Figure 5.1). It was made several years earlier, to represent that the future of a unified Korea must be carried out not by masculine warriors of God, but by love, big and small. On the wall on the other side, “Love and bless you!” (sarang-hago ch’ukbok-hapnida) is written in various colors on another cloth, and is attached to the wall right above a bulletin board panel. The appearance of the wall and ceiling decorations make the FS look like a Sunday school classroom for children. In a sense, it is. “What we are doing for them is simple. That is, just like fixing a necktie if it is not put on in the right way, we assist them to make up for some minor shortcomings,” stated a deacon of the FS advisory board.