Korea has been divided into north and south for 70 years. Both North and South have suffered from war, as well as internal conflicts. Nonetheless, hope for reunification on both sides has never diminished.

The reality of unification may be quite different from what you imagine in your mind and from what you see in reality. In the late 1990s, North Korea experienced a severe famine. During the so-called "Arduous March" period, the number of defectors increased by a large margin. Some 30,000 North Korean defectors are now settled in the South. Separated for over 70 years, they show some personality differences in almost everything they do, from their dialect, to their life style and through to their eating habits. It is now an urgent issue to create harmony with the defectors.



Theoretically, the ultimate goal of national unification is to create a world where both North and South Koreans can live in harmony. There is nobody who disagrees that unification will require patience and a considerate attitude from everyone involved. In reality, however, conflict often comes before harmony. This TV show gives TV personalities the chance to live together and to experience their differences firsthand.



Channel A's "Let's Live Well!" is a recent, unexpected smash hit. First aired in March, the show is on air at 11 p.m. every Thursday. It stars four female North Korean defectors, three male South Korean celebrities and one non-Korean celebrity in the South, all living together under one roof.

Among the female actresses include Lee Sun-sil, in her 40s and from Pyongyang, Kim A-ra, in her 20s and from Hoeryong in Hamgyeongbuk-do, Shin Eun-ha, in her 20s from Musan in Hamgyeongbuk-do, and finally Han Song-yi, 21, who has lived in the South for less than one year.

Their Southern co-performers are actor Choi Soo-jong, known for his roles as kings and admirals, actor Han Jeong-su, known for his white collar office roles, and Korean-American singer Benji. Finally, Australian Sam Hammington is added to the cast to bring some fun to the program. He makes it hilarious as, even though he's Caucasian, he speaks Korean fluently, sometimes even better than native speakers.





The show is filmed in the remote countryside of Hongcheon-gun County in Gangwon-do (Gangwon Province), a somewhat similar environment to some parts of North Korea. Surrounded by mountains, it is very cold. The celebrities warm up their rooms with firewood that they gather from the mountainside, a rare scene in Korean cities these days. They cook rice in an old-style kitchen where they need to bend over and stoke the fire themselves. They till the soil and manage a garden in the nearby field. Having grown up in very different environments, they sometimes find it not particularly easy to live together under the camera's lens.

For the Southern men, accustomed to an urban life, the physical labor is a big challenge. During the winter, the water pipes always freeze until they burst. The actors have to make a fire using firewood. It's also difficult for them to bathe with icy water. The environment is challenging for the Northerners, too, who had to live on plants and tree bark during the years of famine and poverty. Seeing the misunderstandings that occur due to such cultural gaps is also part of the show's attraction.

The producers claim that the show's main purpose is to help us be aware of the differences we will encounter when South and North become one. The program tries to illustrate how it's best to live and to spend time together and to accept the differences that exist and to understand one another.

The core message of the program is that Southern men and Northern women can only be well-off when they accept their destiny and learn to help each other.

By Wi Tack-hwan, Lee Seung-ah
Photos: Channel A
Korea.net Staff Writers
whan23@korea.kr

More information about this TV show can be found at its official website.
http://tv.ichannela.com/enter/goodlife