Telling North Korean resettlers’ stories with fashion – NKNews Podcast Ep. 195

North Korea News Podcast

Some 33,000 North Korean defectors have entered South Korea since 1998, but many report that they encounter discrimination in the South due to their backgrounds, as well as challenges stemming from culture and language differences between the two Koreas. On this week’s podcast, Jihyun Kang and Marie Boes, founders of the fashion brand ISTORY, discuss the origin of their idea to use clothes and graphic design to improve the lives of North Korean resettlers and how they have sought to create a platform for defectors to counter stereotypes by sharing their experiences with a wider audience. Jihyun Kang is a fashion designer from Chongjin in northeast North Korea who resettled in South Korea in 2012. Marie Boes, originally from Belgium, moved to South Korea from the United Kingdom in 2017 and currently runs a search engine optimization marketing agency as well the South Korean travel blog Be Marie Korea. About the podcast: The North Korea News Podcast is a weekly podcast hosted by Jacco Zwetsloot exclusively for NK News, covering all things DPRK — from news to extended interviews with leading experts and analysts in the field, along with insight from our very own journalists.