Pyongyang

The Washington Post is running an article entitled, "Leaders of Two Koreas Meet in Pyongyang." The article states, "The atmospherics of this summit, only the second such meeting in the more than half a century since the North and South fought an all-out war, seemed rather cooler than in the first summit in 2000." It concludes by reporting that Lee Doo Won, a professor of economics at Yonsei University, "said that in the past five years the ability of the communist state's centralized economy to deliver food and other essentials has all but collapsed. This has weakened its stranglehold on the lives of North Korean...as chronic hunger and gross inequality in living standards have increased."

Read the Article!!

Discussion-Starters for Younger Children

• Do students think it's easier to get into a fight with somebody or makeup with somebody? Why do they think this way?
• Consider developing a class T-Chart. On one side of the T-Chart list things that typically cause fights. On the other side, list things somebody typically has to do to make up with somebody else.
  
• Ask students to consider where the milk came from that they might have drunk for breakfast.
  
• Students might develop a series of pictures to explain the route that the milk took to get to their kitchen table.
  
• Do your students think that it is their parents' responsibility to help them get enough food so that they are not hungry? Why/why not? Do students think that all people have enough food to eat? Encourage them to explain their thoughts carefully.
  
• Consider collecting cans of food as a class.
  
• Ask students to describe the purpose of a bridge. Have your students ever seen a neat bridge? If so, where? Have they ever built a bridge outside or with toys?
  
• Consider asking students to draw pictures of bridges.

Discussion Starters for Older Students

• Vocabulary terms to discuss: Convivial; Atmospherics; Bouffant; and, Contingent.
  
• According to the article, the South Korean President indicated that he would not offer North Korea economic aid until he received firm guarantees of economic reform inside that country. What do your students think firm guarantees of economic reform would look like? What does this term mean?
  
• Consider asking students to pretend that they are advisers to the South Korean President. These advisers should prepare a checklist of what the President should look for to ensure economic reform.
  
• Ask students to imagine the conversation that might have taken place between the presidents of North and South Korean. What kinds of information would students like in order to develop a better understanding of these conversations?
  
• Consider asking students to develop an imagined conversation. They might first investigate the relationship between North and South Korea.
  
• Ask students what the word "bridge" means. In what ways can the word "bridge" be used metaphorically? Can students think of any words that might serve as a metaphor for the bridge that separates North and South Korea?
  
• These questions might prompt an interesting class discussion.