North Korean War Orphans in Transnational Educational Exchange
More than 100,000 children from both North and South Korea were orphaned during the Korean War. In 1953, the North Korean government dispatched 1,200 orphans to the People’s Republic of Poland to be educated at a boarding school transformed into an orphanage. The orphans were repatriated after six years, at the insistence of the North Korean government, as tensions between Pyongyang and its communist allies began to emerge. NKIDP Intern Intaek Hong examines the complicated process of how the orphans defined their identity based on their experience of interacting with their Polish teachers—who became like foster parents—and deploying their subjectivity in the process.
Overview
Photo courtesy of Edward Jędral
Contested Institution, Państwowy Ośrodek Wychowawczy* no. 2 (POW no.2):
The Identity Formation of North Korean War Orphans in Transnational Educational Exchange
More than 100,000 children from both North and South Korea were orphaned during the Korean War. In 1953, the North Korean government dispatched 1,200 orphans to the People’s Republic of Poland to be educated at Państwowy Ośrodek Wychowawczy* no. 2 (POW no.2), a boarding school transformed into an orphanage. Under the supervision of North Korean authorities and the Polish government, POW no. 2 provided a bi-lingual (Polish and Korean) and bi-cultural elementary education. The orphans were repatriated after six years, at the insistence of the North Korean government, as tensions between Pyongyang and its communist allies began to emerge. As letters written back to Poland following their repatriation reveal, the uprooting of these children from their school and adopted community was a traumatizing experience. In the context of transnational identity formation, the North Korean orphans provide a unique case study in exploring the historiography of transnational communist history among different communist countries during the Cold War. This study examines the complicated process of how the orphans defined their identity based on their experience of interacting with their Polish teachers—who became like foster parents—and deploying their subjectivity in the process.
Intaek Hong, North Korea International Documentation Project (NKIDP) Intern, will present his research. The presentation will be moderated by James F. Person.
Hosted By
North Korea International Documentation Project
The North Korea International Documentation Project serves as an informational clearinghouse on North Korea for the scholarly and policymaking communities, disseminating documents on the DPRK from its former communist allies that provide valuable insight into the actions and nature of the North Korean state. It is part of the Wilson Center's History and Public Policy Program. Read more
Cold War International History Project
The Cold War International History Project supports the full and prompt release of historical materials by governments on all sides of the Cold War. Through an award winning Digital Archive, the Project allows scholars, journalists, students, and the interested public to reassess the Cold War and its many contemporary legacies. It is part of the Wilson Center's History and Public Policy Program. Read more
History and Public Policy Program
The History and Public Policy Program makes public the primary source record of 20th and 21st century international history from repositories around the world, facilitates scholarship based on those records, and uses these materials to provide context for classroom, public, and policy debates on global affairs. Read more
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