Hyeonseo Lee

Her safekeeping of the cards ensured the family’s high songbun. Those who destroyed their cards as the Americans approached were later to fall under suspicion. Some were purged violently and sent to the gulag.

They reported to the provincial bureau of the Ministry of State Security, the Bowibu.This was the secret police. The translation doesn’t convey the power the word Bowibuhas to send a chill through a North Korean. Its very mention, as the poet Jang Jin-sung put it, was enough to silence a crying child

We ate out quite often at restaurants that served naengmyeon, for which Hamhung is famous. These are noodles served in an ice-cold beef broth with a tangy sauce, although there are many variations. My mother would eat naengmyeon with her eyes closed in pure pleasure. She loved it to the point of addiction