The “Ignorant” Other: Popular Stereotypes of North Koreans in South Korea and East Germans in Unified Germany

Abstract

Horton compares the ways in which North Korean refugees in South Korea and East Germans after reunification have been regarded as ignorant, inferior people by their capitalist “cousins.” In two of the more prosperous nations in the world, North Korean refugees and East Germans have struggled to find employment and opportunity, a challenge exacerbated by negative stereotypes. North Korean refugees and East Germans have both been subjected to popular images depicting them as simple “rubes,” peoples incapable of adjusting to the hustle and bustle of modern society. Horton demonstrates that, despite significant differences, the experiences of North Korean refugees in South Korea and East Germans in unified Germany share numerous similarities.