'Your Republic is Calling You'

I just finished reading the North Korean spy novel "Your Republic is Calling You" by Young-ha Kim. I really enjoyed it and thought it nicely delved into some of the key identity issues the Korean Peninsula faces.

The story follows a North Korean spy in Seoul who, after living 21 years undercover, must choose between his homeland and the South. One of the ideas that struck me in the book was that of there being three Koreas -- North Korea, the South Korea of the 70s and 80s, and then the South Korea of today. The author argues that the South Korea of 30 years ago is closer to North Korea than today's South Korea. I think that's an interesting way of seeing the peninsula and why the Koreas are so vastly different today.

The BBC "toured" North Korea this summer and had some interesting -- if not, very BBC -- reports on it. After reading Your Republic, I've been thinking about the last video in their series, which you can watch here. (For those of you who have been to Korea, be sure to check out the "cake shop" scenes in Seoul. Priceless parachute reporting!)