[KS] (for Eckart Dege) - Koreanstudies Digest, Vol 99, Issue 7

Frank Hoffmann hoffmann at koreaweb.ws
Sat Sep 10 17:33:59 EDT 2011


Prof. Dr. Eckart Dege is currently not subscribed 
to the list and asked me to post the following 
reply for him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


For a long time I also wondered how Chusok is observed in North Korea.
Last time I visited North Korea during Chusok. Knowing that our
interpreter was the eldest son, I asked him who would do the ancester
rites on this day. He answered that his younger brother had to do them
since he was on duty translating for us. Then I asked how the rites are
performed in Pyongyang (where you don't find any graves). He explained
that all people are cremated and the urns are stored in special buildings
(one in each city precinct). On Chusok people go there, show a special
identity card and get the urn(s) of their ancestor(s). These they take to
a park, where they perform the ancestor rites and have a picnic. After the
rites they return the urn. We observed many such family groups on
Moran-bong.

Now to the churches: there are four in Pyongyang, the Changchung Cathedral
(Roman Catholic), the Pongsu Church (Protestant), the Chilgol Church
(Protestant) and a new Russian Orthodox church at Tongil Street. I took
part in Sunday services in two of these churches and did not have the
impression that these services were a theatrical production for foreign
tourists (in both cases I was the only foreigner). What struck me was the
fact that during the service they took off their Kim Il-sung badges. When
they went out after the service they put them back on.

Happy Chusok,
Eckart Dege




-- 
Prof. Dr. Eckart Dege
Geographisches Institut
Universität Kiel
D-24098 Kiel / Germany
Phone (home): +49 4342 889695
Phone (mobile): +49 1717110654






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