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1-Page Summary of A River In Darkness

Overview

North Korea is in the news a lot these days, as it rattles its nuclear saber at other countries and puts on a show of military force. Outsiders rarely get to see what life is really like inside this reclusive nation. Visitors are closely monitored and only shown what the government wants them to see. And guides make sure that embarrassing pictures don’t leave North Korea.

That leaves the courageous North Koreans who’ve managed to escape the clutches of the totalitarian state. Masaji Ishikawa is one of those few people, and he recounts his journey in A River in Darkness: growing up during a time when North Korea was still under Japanese rule, witnessing firsthand how communism slowly took over his country, surviving starvation and imprisonment by escaping into China, and eventually settling down in Japan.

In this passage, you’ll learn about what it’s like to live in North Korea. You’ll also find out how thousands of Koreans left Japan and moved to North Korea. Finally, you’ll read about the author’s own story of escaping from North Korea.

Big Idea #1: Ishikawa’s family were promised a better life in North Korea, but they were cruelly persecuted.

There was a time when over 100,000 Japanese and Koreans left Japan for North Korea. It’s an interesting story of how people moved from one country to another. This is the only time in history that so many people have done this.

But the emigrants soon discovered that this so-called “paradise on earth” wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.

When the ship docked, Ishikawa’s family and others were shocked at how poorly dressed the North Koreans helping unload the ship were. Although they had been poorer in Japan, their clothes suggested that they were even worse off now.

The family’s first meal in North Korea was another red flag. The food they were given smelled terrible and hardly anyone could eat it. They stayed in a small, cold room for a week before being assigned to their future home in the village of Dong Chong-ri. It wasn’t close to Pyongyang, but they didn’t know any important people so there weren’t many opportunities where they lived.

Things didn’t improve when the family moved to North Korea. They still had trouble fitting in, and even their own children discriminated against them. For example, Ishikawa’s classmates would call him a “Japanese bastard” as soon as he walked into class. He also had to cover his fancy watch and bag because most people carried their belongings in cloth sacks back then. However, this wasn’t the only problem for his mother; she couldn’t get a job until she learned Korean well enough to impress the village party officials who refused her employment at first.

Not having much to do, she wandered the mountains looking for things she could pick and cook later. That helped supplement her family’s meager diet on her father’s small salary as a farmer.

Big Idea #2: Ishikawa’s school years were defined by strict obedience, endless propaganda and rigidly enforced social distinctions.

Ishikawa was determined to help his family. He would study hard and become a doctor so they could escape their lower caste life. But he soon learned that wouldn’t be possible, as he ranked low in the caste system and would never attend university.

North Korea has three paths for people to follow. If you come from a good family and are smart, you go to university. If you’re strong, you join the military. Otherwise, your only option is to work as labourers in factories or farms.

Although Ishikawa worked hard in school, his teacher labeled him as “hostile.” This was the lowest social rank and he would never be able to pursue his dreams. When asked what profession he wanted to pursue, Ishikawa simply wrote factory work because it was better than being a farmer. However, even this position was denied him; he had to become a farmer like his father. He first had to finish school, which was an unrelentingly harsh place with endless propaganda designed to brainwash students. Alongside math and science, children also had to study the revolutionary changes initiated by the “Great Leader” Kim Il-sung