Unexpected Results of a Political Pilgrimage: Yim Su-gyong’s 1989 Trip to North Korea and Changes in North Koreans’ Worldview

Abstract

This article deals with the impact on the North Korean domestic situation produced by the 1989 visit to Pyongyang by Yim Su-gyong, a young student activist from South Korea. Going there in defiance of South Korea's official policy, she was enthusiastically welcomed by the North Korean authorities, who strove to present her as an embodiment of the alleged revolutionary spirit of South Korean youngsters. However, in the long run Yim's trip produced totally different results. The North Korean audience, fascinated with Yim Su-gyong and quite attentive to her behavior, was able to read hints that indicated the official picture of South Korean life as presented by the North Korean media was wrong. Contrary to the authorities' initial expectations, the trip made North Koreans more skeptical of the officially approved worldview.