What does food tell us about North Korea? | Fork the System
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 พ.ย. 2019
- Korea is a divided nation, and Koreans, a divided people.
Can food be the common root that unites North and South Korea?
Three North Korean defectors share their favorite meals from across the border.
Join HyoJin Park and Joi Lee in this episode of Fork the System, a three part series that digs into big questions through the language of food.
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This breaks my heart. I hope she finds her daughter.
Sɑrɑ Fɑıəllɑ Kim jong un ate her
Beyond sadness, hope this madness ends soon.
@Agent Orange
🇹🇼 Hi
Agent Orange what bbc? Link me please.
Weeb ygg someone did...
I loved her comment "Reunification won't be handed to us. We have to work for it." What a strong woman!
Absolutely! I was really inspired when I met Yeon-yong.
I've never watched something about NK and not been impressed by one of the woman.
Not sure why Korea was divided in the first place. Annexing half a country is war crime.
It's in their interests to keep the North & South apart. The disparity in national resources, global dumping grounds, and untapped market is there. If they reunited, the West lose a lot. 😏 What "work for it"? Wake up la Pyongyang.
No one in North Korea but the elites eat anything close to that. Most everyone is lucky to get a single meal a day and it’s never that elaborate.
Unification is a pipe dream, it’s never going to happen.
I like how the young defector said at 15:29 that relationships are trickier in the modern South. She misses the honesty and simplicity of people in her North Korean village even if life was physically tough. Cities are indeed concrete jungles!
When you are told what to do life can be easier - some prisoners in the West even find that so. I am not sure honesty of others is the issue though as people cannot freely say what they feel and mean and people report each other all the time so I doubt honesty is a particular featuer, never mind that North Korea engages in all kinds of appalling deceptive practices from fake imports, slave labour and the like.
Jane Smith actually western cultures are more individualistic, as someone who came from a democratic third world country, I can definitely say it's easier to make friends with your neighbors. We also share food with neighbors like what she said.
@@halleluia2025 Isn't that also the difference between rural and life in the big city?
It really depends on where you live. There are many neighborhoods you can share food with in South Korea. Also, most of South Koreans clearly know that there are famine in North Korea like other countries know. We are actually surprised by how wealthy Pyongyang people are because we’ve been thinking all the North Koreans are poor. The old lady said quite opposite. It was weird to hear that.
Let's say, media spoiled us. The more we know, the more we want something.
I'm Chinese Australian. Never been a big fan of cooking, but I love mum's food more than I can put into words. Even Chinese restaurants don't make the same kind of Southern-Hubei fusion cuisine that she makes. It's reflective of where she's lived and her personal experiences. I'm going to start putting more effort into learning her recipes while I still can.
Food is such a great way to connect with your culture because the act of eating is so personal. There are specific dishes that I taste and it'll take me straight back to a time in my life. What is Southern-Hubei cuisine like? I'd love to try it.
@@hyojinpark I don't really know how to describe it, just that sometimes I'll ask about a dish and mum will say "oh they make that in Hubei" or "This is how they make it in Guandong". I think rather than a actual cuisine, it's literally the jumble of different recipes that she's soaked up from all the places she's lived in. One day she'll make stir fried edamame beans with Chinese olive vegetable paste (橄欖菜), and the next she'll make "hot-dry noodles" 热干面
There's so much pain in the eyes of the mother who lost her daughter..i hope one day they'll reunite
Having lived in South Korea for almost 8 years I am so happy to see this. Im so glad to see North Koreans tell their own stories and show their love for food. And yes, the last girl is totally right South Korean must change their perceptions first in order to achieve unification perhaps eat more 냉면 wow 잘봤습니다, 정말 수고많으셨습니다 💪💪
I remember being in NE China in 1996 and meeting ethnic North Koreans (chosunjokk) I had Naeng Myun that they made which was perhaps the best Naeng Myun I have ever had. But what was more impacting to me was the stories they told. I met people who recently fled the North and were trying to get to an embassy in Beijing where they could defect. I heard stories which make me cry to this day. Starvation, entire families committing suicide, some rumors of cannibalism, and while those might not be hard to believe (I had a hard time believing some of the reports I had heard) the experiences that the people I've met chose to share with me have stayed with me to this day. My dad and his family fled Pyongyang during the Korean war, nothing he had ever told me compared to the suffering that some of the people I've met have gone through.
Thanks for the story, I cried listening to that mother's story and I could taste the food I had as well, I pray for an end to this unnecessary suffering and that people will continue to not just be moved, but moved to action.
Hey Jae, thanks so much for sharing. It's definitely not easy to hear these stories, and to imagine what different lives they have lived. It's crazy to believe how just six-seven decades can change the circumstances of life so drastically. And to also think of what long lasting effects there will be. I agree - action will be key to meaningful change. Thanks again for commenting and watching!
@soba tempra true, my comment was a description and yes there is no official "Northeast China", but that doesn't make my statement untrue, my description of the area is accurate in that I was in an area in the Northeast of mainland China close to the border of N. Korea. To be specific I was in a region east of Jilin in a semi-autonomous prefecture called Yanbian. Not sure why this would invite this response from you, I don't believe that my comment wasn't particularly inflamatory, it was personal and reflected my feelings.
@soba tempra Yeah try telling that to all the CHINESE people who've been living there for centuries. Good luck finding a person who speaks a Tungusic language in NE China.
a difficult topic, interesting approach with good result
Thanks so much - it's definitely not an easy topic and we worked really hard to get this story right. Thanks for watching!
@@joilee7538 I'm living as an European in Vietnam, which was also split in a North and South part, they were reunited and that process was almost worse than the wars before..constantly blaming and not understanding each other till in 86 they decided to stop talking bout that past and talk only about the future.
It was also hard but it did work now Vietnam is one country and one of the most friendly and safe counties in the world. Not perfect, not a paradise but I'm 70 and I know how it was when I was young and compared with that time...what the Vietnamese have done is kind of miracle. Rabin & Arafat wanted to do the same, it was going well till Rabin was murdered.
Young Vietnamese do not know much about the war and the past, they are so busy with studying, taking care for their family, voluntary work, trying to learn other languages.....and watching Korean tv...
Your video is also actual in Vietnam ..the Vietnamese who live in Vietnam and the Vietkieu, (the Vietnamese who left Vietnam), They also love the same food....and music.
ybor20 very difficult ! Worse is they eat dogs 🤢🤮
@@therevenant320 for a vegetarian it doesn't matter what animals are eaten and for me the most important is what life did they had before we eat them. In Asia they eat a lot of animals including dogs, in Western countries they bread dags until they become very ugly and sic animals. Almost all so called "purebred" dogs have a lot of diseases and not a happy life...
ybor20 you can’t eat dogs omfg they’re like man’s best friend.
Poor lady...I hope she finds her daughter someday, or at least peace for her heart :(
Also, Yeon-Yeong is really on another level, hope all of her dreams come true and sure all her hard work is going to pay off.
most excellent documentary, the last defector interviewed is a brilliant young woman
Thanks for watching! For sure, Yeon-Yeong was a force to behold. She’s truly something else.
Thank you for your wonderful video! This made me think....and cry...and pray for the lady who is looking for her daughter.
Thanks so much for watching. Even as someone with a Korean background, I learned so much in the process of doing this story, so I'm really glad to hear that.
We will have bonus content that didn't quite make it into this episode including more interviews with each of our characters. Stay tuned!
@@joilee7538, how old was the daughter that went missing?
I love this segment a lot! Born to a N Korean family and raised in S Korea, I used to take the topics of the N-S and reunification a little heavy and grim. I like how the story unfolds here---people from different backgrounds share meal, connect with one another, and learn how different yet similar they are. Eating together has been essential for Koreans to build relationship and bond. I hope we, S Koreans, will have more chance to meet N Koreans over a meal table.
I have been cooking for the last 7 years of my life, 2 of those years were professional cooking. My identity is that I have no identity and any identity. Food is how I communicate with people, it’s how I connect and bridge the gap between what is understandable and what is delicious. English may be the most prevalent language in the world, but food is the only language that is universal
Kim Yeon-yong has the right spirit and attitude. Just keep on going like that :-)
Food is the most tangible, visible connection I have with my root culture(s). A funny thing happened when I met my girlfriends parents. I grew up in the Philippines but have originally Chinese roots. When I had dinner with my girlfriend friends parents (who are Chinese) they were really surprised that I knew all the Chinese dishes we were eating, and that I knew how to use chopsticks!
I was a little shocked, but also found it so interesting what their perceptions of Chinese diaspora was.
I heard that point and thought that cannot of course apply to me - always from UK but then I realised I was sitting here eating potatoes and some of my ancestors came in about 1850 from Ireland to UK and what did they eat but potatoes so perhaps it applies even to me.
I want the Koreas to be reunited so I can visit where my dad's mom's family came from, which is in Kaesong. Nearly 5,000 years of one history shouldn't be wasted or for naught; 6-7 decades of division is a time blip in comparison.
I am a 2nd generation Palestinian refugee in Lebanon. It is really what I have from my original country, Palestine, is just food, like Msakhan and Knafi, clothes, like the Koufiyya (classical Palestinian scarf) and dancing like the Palestinian Dabki
You mean ethnic Jordanian refugee in Lebanon. No such thing as Palestine. Only Judea and Samaria.
... What is the point? Create a toxic debate on a positive comment?
@@Renaissanceman86
Yeah, let's just said they are not such a thing such as Palestinian. But, they do exist what ever they called and they have been there since middle Ages.
@@Renaissanceman86 Palestine exists.
@@Islandicus Is that a bomb recipe?
i'm 2nd generation vietnamese canadian so food is definitely the gateway to connect w vietnam for me. especially since my family and i have never visited since we escaped as refugees from the communist regime. love this series, can't wait for more!!!
Thanks so much for watching. Stay tuned, we have an episode coming from Vietnam!
My paternal grandparents are from North Korea. Hearing their stories are so heart breaking. War is horrible.
I so hope her daughter made it to china and wasn't trafficked from there D:
And please don't give up on Korean reunification, the German wall was finally brought down after the 1940's the Korean war was in the 1950's there is always hope!
This was the only thing I've ever seen on north Korea that showed all sides from different koreans.
Hi Marie, I’m glad you felt that. That was really important to us to make sure we were listening to, and thus sharing, different perspectives and voices on this piece.
Omg I hope that lady finds her daughter! Also, the girl at the end seemed like a really cool person and her english was GREAT and she shouldn't feel embarrased!
this is so good! love that song when the animation comes in where can i download this? incredible story about the mom too. i was tearing up. aseomse job to al jazeera. first food show that feels intelligent in a long time.
Hi James! Thanks so much - we were always aiming for a food show that feeds not only the stomach but also the mind :) So I'm glad you felt that way. As for our theme song. Isn't it great?! I'm just really proud of our composer - he is really such a talented musician. Anyway - his name is Surya Giri and you can check out his work online.
This is a great series so far and food does play a huge part in my cultural identity as well.
this series is wonderful. i'm so excited to watch more, and it's helping to fill the anthony bourdain-shaped hole in my heart
Wow that is the best compliment we could've received.
Loved what you did, thank you. Heart warming and so true. 💖😎
I loved, Loved, LOVED this segment. I want to see more of these two. And I want to say more but can't get my thoughts together. I'll be back.
My heart is breaking for that ajumma. I hope she eventually finds the closure she needs.
Thanks for sharing ! No matter where I am my favorite food is what I ate as I grew up by the ocean.
This was lovely. I was pleased it could be made clear life in the North Korean capital is not typical of how the population lives. That is not always made clear and it is not different merely in the way the rich parts of New York and London differ from other poorer parts of the US or UK. It is much worse in respect to food and freedoms anyway.
The South probably cannot easily afford to assimilate the North evne if the North wanted that. It would apparently cost at least seven times the cost that brining East Germany into the West cost and that itself was a massive burden.
Love this new show, keep em coming
Very informative and fun video! The music flows really smoothly with the video! Music actually ties in well with the food
Love what you are doing, keep up the great work!
Thank you so much. Stick around for our next episodes over the next few weeks :)
11:40 my heart breaks for this poor woman
Yay, go Joi!! Awesome work. It was so surreal seeing the thumbnail for this video pop up in my recommendations 🤯🤩
Hi Ben!! Haha that is absolutely surreal.. Thanks so much for watching.
I feel for North Korea, I've been watching them for years giving them hope. I watch all the happy stories about the one's who got away, makes me happy
An ad in an article bought me here. That powerful this documentary was! A very interesting one, loved how food and the facts of the nations are connected. Gave a lot of insight of North Korea. 👍
"what is north korean food?" i bet the north koreans are asking the same thing
First video I can actually understand b/c the audio wasn't off like it is in the studio.
Great topic.
Thanks
Food shares a bond and a history. I was born in Vietnam, came to America when I was 8. When I go to a Vietnamese restaurant, the smells and tastes takes me back to a time journey as if I was in Vietnam still.
I loved this!
As someone very fascinated with North Korea, it was very overwhelming when I ate Naengmyeon at the famous food alley in Namdaemun Market. I’d want to believe it’s how the Pyeongyang Naengmyeon tasted like. I’m not sure if it was. But regardless, I felt a step closer to North Korea. I still wish though I’d get to taste the one in the other side of South.
You should check out the naengmyeon place that we featured! Her version of naengmyeon was definitely very different from the other PY naengmyeons I'd tried before.
HyoJin Park Hi HyoJin. Can you tell the name of the restaurant? I love naengmyeon and want to try the Pyeongyang version. Thanks. Love the video by the way!
HyoJin Park I’d really do that when I get back to Korea! Very insightful presentation of food and culture of two Koreas 👍🏻
This was a fantastic video! Well Done!
Thank you Al Jazeera for showing this.
Very heartwarming
Hey Al Jazeera English ~~ Digging the tunes being cited in the credits but please cite them in the description as well so we can more easily expand our musical palate.
All the music is listed at the end in the credits!
This was so interesting.. I am very into Korean history and I wanna know alot about both sides. However, it is very difficult to find history about North Korea that is not from the war era or edited to look more positive... So it is very helpfull to hear from North Koreans themselfs tell about their day to day lifes. I feel for the people who lost their loved ones, both during the war and after. I hope they can come to an agreement and put an end to the war.
Keep up the great videos :) Cant wait for the rest of this series!
Thank you for your kind words! I think it's important to hear from the people themselves.
An amazing piece. Thank you for using food to bridge the cultural gap to tell these sometimes difficult stories.
The last girl is amazing
AMAZING DOCUMENTARY!!!!
Great video.
Excellent video presentation. I was so amazed at the strength and determination of all of the Koreans who defected from the North. My first girlfriend was adopted from an orphanage from South Korea, but apparently, she was born in North Korea. She was one of the lucky ones to get out at the time that she did. But after seeing this video, it made me start thinking about not just North Korea differently, but it really makes me think differently of the people from North Korea.
People around the world really are all the same. We all want the same things. Unfortunately, there is the capitalistic greed of the Military-Industrial Complex whose interests lie only in the production of MONEY pouring into their deep pockets. The United States has stakes in keeping the two Korea's separate as does China. Financial, political, social, religious, and industrial tribalism is what keeps the human race from evolving even faster than it could, should, and would if only the petty, small-minded, short-sighted, arrogant, and ignorant Young Souls of this planet would grow the @#$% up.
lowerastral Thank you for your thoughtful response. Our ultimate goal in this story was to try to reframe everyone’s perspective to include ordinary North Koreans when discussing this topic. It feels like they’re so often excluded from our thinking of North Korea.
@@hyojinpark I think you're right. I also think that this is part of the common misconception of all peoples from countries that are misrepresented in the Western mainstream media. Independent platforms such as TH-cam, Vimeo, and private individual's who own their own video channels and websites are a blessing because then We the People don't have to rely on the narrative being controlled by Big Corporate/Political/Government Brother. Keep making more videos! You ladies did a great job!
Beef noodle soup is the most famous dish that represents Taiwan, and it all started with mainland veterans retreated with KMT to Taiwan during civil war trying to make a living and start a new life here. Immensely sad for them but I love the noodle soup and the things they protected, had a great worry free childhood thanks to them.
This is so personal for me...my Grandfather was from North Korea.
Good episode!
What a wonderful segment. Interviews with north korean refugees to me are as valuable as gold
Fantastic and the first really balanced documentary i've seen on anything Nth Korean especially for a westerner who was fortunate to visit DPRK 10 years ago on a tour with a Swiss passport and group. I am an Australian of European parents who was brought up trying to see life from a different perspective to what the media relentlessly pushes. Despite its difficulties and just terrible conditions I have always admired and loved the beauty and simplicity and heart warming Nth Koreans and what i witnessed though I know we saw a priveleged version of it. I love this documentary and cried. When we open our eyes and ears not just our taste buds we can learn so much from each other. I hope that the simplicity and beauty of Nth Korean culture is not swallowed up by commercialism when unification will and must occur. Thank you again and I long again for a visit to DPRK soon.
Thank you for your thoughtful response. I hope I'll be able to visit North Korea one day as well.
LOVE IT
Food can teach history and bring people together. Bonds are formed while sharing a meal. I pray that Korea will reunite one day soon.
korea can never unite without a binding and productive six party talk.
Would it be possible to name the Pyongyang Naengmyeon restaurant?
It's called Sulnoon. It is located in Seocho.
@@hyojinpark Thank you very much, will try to visit next time in Seoul.
I've been playing sims for way too long and was about to speed up the video when Kim Jung un was walking
*OMG you read comment, Al Jazeera.*
Having a conversation with our viewers is one of our goals for this show!
This is brilliant. Well done ladies!
Thank you!
Great video! Thank you 😊 from Canada 🇨🇦 I think maybe there are things to learn from Taiwan and China and Vietnam. Peaceful working together is beneficial for everyone
I'm sure they were cutting onions behind the scenes, because I am balling. Just like cold noodle soup, you've managed to fit so much in an unassuming video. I respect the young womans hustle, I wish to see The mother back with her daughter, and I would love to see a peaceful unification of Korea in my life time. Would love to see a peaceful unification of my homeland, Ireland, but I've got a feeling that may never happen.
2:04 Kim Jung Un got left hangin' lol
Great video! Definitely hungry 😋 now!!
Go out there and eat some Korean food!
HyoJin Park I used to go to a Korean restaurant often when I was in the DMV!! Loved the food!! Going to get some for dinner tonight!!
if anyone involved in this sees this, i just wanted to say thank you to everyone who made this and was a part of filming.
Thank you so much for your support! It was an incredibly rewarding experience for everyone involved.
Nice Documentary
Yup, that taste of "home" really sticks, like the taste of tempe that brings me back to my Javanese roots. Food divides us by culture but unites us through the need for sustenance. Love this documentary style, keep it up.
Food intersects with my Brazilian identity in that the food that I miss the most is made from ingredients I have a really hard time finding where I live now, Australia. Such as many cassava derivates, as well as pig ears and ox tongue, parts of our national dish feijoada. Each reflects our indigenous and African heritage respectively.
Also if a love of Korean food is an indication of your Korean identity can I consider myself a little bit Korean, even though I have no Asian heritage and was born at the other side of the world? 😂
Those dumplings at the end look soooooooo delicious!!
enjoyed it. you 2 girls are good combo
excellent
I really really hope there will be peace and reunification. Or at least freedom to travel back and forth
Both Koreas should be friends in peace!
That chef 5:20 remind me of Janet from The Good Place. LOL!
Omg yes. Lol
Because Joi and I are working in a very international newsroom, and our audiences are spread across the globe, we are working to provide subtitles in multiple languages. For now, this episode will be available in English, Korean and Turkish. Let us know if you can do a translation in your language for us!
Beautiful.
Thanks for putting this together. All the Koreans I know here in the US are really awesome. I'd love to visit Korea someday and take in its history, culture & food.
The girl from North Korea who talks about relationship differences is dead on. I feel like everyone in the 'modern' world feels like they have to go through things alone. My mom used to tell me stories about how people in her neighborhood used to get together on weekends for cookouts and they were family. Now I barely make eye contact with my neighbor. We've become so much more isolated.
it is good to remember that we must be the change we want to see in the world. bake some cookies, bring them round to your neighbour! itll brighten their day and make you feel good about yourself too, and the change wont happen unless someone changes - it might as well be you.
It's hard to believe that a rogue state like N. Korea still exists. People starving. Such misery!...and South Korean people worry about what new cellphone to buy. As a German-American with East German roots I felt the same way until reunification and still do even now to this day.
I am Chicana. Native American and Spanish. They call us Mexican American but what is Mexican? Means Mixed race. What do I eat to decolonize my existence? Corn, squash, peanuts ....tear drop.
Vida Cupcake I am also Native American and Mexican. Our food is every we grow in North America. It’s all out land in our bones and blood.
How did you not have a guide? You were very lucky
Food brings people together. 😄
Time and again one can see that sitting around a table enjoying food shows that we recognise each other as human and - at least potentially - can get along. Put politics into the mix and the troubles arise.
Sometimes food can form a bridge between differing cultures. When I met a latina, as a wasp, we had some "difficulties" understanding each other's cuisines. But we soon discovered that cooperatively we could make even better food thank we had experienced.
8:47 "Sometimes its hard to tell"
That train is definitely North. It seems like an artificially colourised from black and white
ดูหวย
ดูไๅ_หวย
ฟดสะ
Those trains were sponsored by East Germany. Those are still around in Berlin today.
I lived in Berlin as a child and was always scared at how violently those Train doors shut.
Gorgeous. Thanks all, especially the North Koreans, who are extremely brave to share their stories with us. 고마워!
Whether SK and NK would get united in nation or not, just hope majority of ordinary NKoreans would be able to eat happily and full every day like SKoreans.
14:28 darn near perfect pronunciation, girl!!
I love korea.... both koreas
North Korea now reminds me of the BBC interview dad
I once tried Korean food. The best meal of my life.
Korea get your act together. You will be a world power.
As far as I know Japan used to have occupied Korea during WWII. Sovjet and U.S. where the liberators of Korea. Ended up same as with Germany and the Wall really. So its not that Korea has been used as a battleground after WWII, they just drove out Japan.
A cozy feeling
🍁🍂🌾
It’s a little secret
it’s your little joy
it’s thrilling
So exciting
so peaceful
it feels free
intoxicating, steamy, obsessive
desire unbound
Vivid…hot…unforgettable
very sweet and understanding
What makes it real…?
Some things you can’t share
some things are confined in you
to stay forever
some things get washed away
What is left…?
Serenity…
that gives roots…wings
Exploring
Giving a bridge to who you are
It’s o.k.
to be alone…
" Food is Memories "
🙇🏼♂️🌹🌷🌹🙇🏼♂️
“ It Delicious…”
🌈🌺💖
Aronne…🙏💞🙏
very good and interesting! Where is the restaurant with woman from Pyongyang?
It's called Sulnoon! In Seoul
@@joilee7538 Thank you!
The name sounds like my cat every midnight