Kotjebi

Kotjebi, kotchebi, or ggotjebi[1] (Korean: 꽃제비; RR: kkotjebi; MR: kkotchebi; lit. flowering swallows) is a Korean term for North Korean homeless people, given because of the kotjebi's constant search for food and shelter.[2] The term was originally used in reference to homeless children.[3] The kotjebi are not officially recognized in North Korea, with any mention of the term being prohibited in state publications and documents.[4]

Origins and status

The orphaned kotjebi first appeared en masse in the mid-1990s in the wake of the North Korean famine, when the food production and distribution system collapsed.[4] In an effort to "stabilize the livelihood of vagrants throughout the country", the North Korean government established special "Children's Detention Camps" in 1995, which were effectively rundown apartments. Because of poor conditions in the detention camps, children died of malnutrition.[5] Elderly people are known as noin kotjebi.

Livelihood

The kotjebi are constantly forced to seek food and thus gather in groups to beg and pickpocket.[4] Most of the kotjebi eat only once a day. The diet of the kotjebi, along with the food they obtain from begging, consists mainly of grass soup, wild vegetable porridge, and grass roots.[6]

See also

References
  1. Kim, Hyung-Jin (5 Jun 2013). "Activist: Smiling NKorean defectors told of misery". Yahoo!. Associated Press. Archived from the original on 2013-06-05. Retrieved 2013-06-05.
  2. Behnke, Alison (September 2007). Kim Jong Il's North Korea. ISBN 9780822572824. Retrieved 2008-08-12.
  3. "Every major N. Korean provincial city sees a rise in homeless". Dailynk.com. 15 December 2022. Retrieved 2022-12-15.
  4. "The Old Generation Calls North Korea "the Great Poverty Country"". Dailynk.com. 27 May 2008. Retrieved 2008-08-11.
  5. "Intervention Agenda Item 13: Rights of Children". Awomansvoice.org. Archived from the original on 2012-03-06. Retrieved 2008-08-12.
  6. "DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF KOREA" (PDF). Niew.gov.my. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-02-13. Retrieved 2008-08-12.


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