November 11th is known as “Pepero Day,” an
observance in South Korea based on a Lotte Confectionary-manufactured cookie
stick dipped in chocolate, four of which resemble the date 11.11. The commercial holiday has undergone its fair share of criticism, but people inevitably appear in droves to buy and exchange the sweets with their significant others and friends.
North Korea recently becoming steeped in Hallyu [Korean Wave], many here in the South have asked me if an equivalent day existed
there. It doesn’t. There are individual bakeries that can make cakes that are
as good as imports, thanks to the growing market, so why wouldn’t they
produce Pepero? It’s not that they won’t; they simply can’t. Apart from state
holidays there is absolutely no allowance for others.
If I think back 30 years, I remember a
particularly fitting incident from my primary school composition class. “As a
reward for her perfect report card, the mother gave her daughter candy as a
gift,” I wrote as part of an assignment, which received harsh backlash from my
teacher.
“That kind of respect is reserved for Suryeong
Kim Il Sung. Referring to what your mother gave you as a present is
unacceptable: presents are only that which we receive from the Suryeong,” she
pointed out in front of all the students. I was barely 10 years old but I’ll
never forget it.
Giving a present as the sole right of the Suryeong is a quintessentially North Korean concept. Even today, the “political
gifts” bestowed by the regime are to be understood as love, rather than the
sentiments of love and bonding we feel with family and friends. Children in the North are
reciting, “Our father is Marshal Kim, our home is the work of the Party,” even
as I write this.
Still, the influx of smuggled South Korean
media has helped Hallyu take strong hold in North Korea, replete with palpable changes among the growing population of young people eager to
follow its influences. Young lovers even exchange flowers on birthdays or
anniversaries, something that never happened prior to this influence.
An
inside source informed me that the price varies depending on the type of
flower, but on average one bouquet goes for 80,000-100,000 KPW [9.64-12 USD]currently. Hand mirrors with photos of popular South
Korean actors stuck on the backs go for twice the price of a regular one, but these prices do little to deter the
young generation from doing whatever they can to buy them and participate in this gift-giving culture.
There are so many other commercial holidays
for couples to exchange presents in South Korea : Valentine’s Day, White Day,
etc. This culture will only continue to permeate North Korea’s borders and chip
away at the “political gifts” foundation; and the authorities, knowing this
full well, will continue implementing measures to block any capitalist
holiday, “Pepero Day” or otherwise, to try to keep in intact.
Young residents in North Korea all know
that the foreign clothes their parents buy them at the markets are far better
than any present they’ll ever receive from the Party. Young lovers are
experiencing a culture far “sweeter” than constantly praising the Marshal.
As I see it, young North Koreans utilizing this South Korean influence to express their love in new ways have already begun to create
their own holidays without even realizing it.
