The Campaign

For most Koreans, homogeneity has always been important. They tend to be especially exclusive against those that are unfamiliar. North Korean defectors are thus often exposed to discrimination due to their different accent or vocabulary. The same goes for young N. Korean defectors who face difficulties adjusting in South Korean schools and society. We believed that in order to help these young North Korean defectors that are to play a key role in the reunification of the Korea's, efforts to directly help them should simultaneously come with efforts to improve South Koreans’ perception towards them. By creating the translator app, we aimed to provide substantial help in their studies, while also drawing people’s attention to the seriousness of linguistic difficulties they face here. News media followed suit and started to feature the linguistic differences between the two Koreas and the difficulties North Korean defectors face.

The Brief

To help young North Korean defectors get proper education and to let South Koreans understand and become a little more tolerant to the linguistic differences. We hoped to create social atmosphere that encourages young North Koreans. Ultimately, we hoped this app. would contribute to preparing for the reunification of Korea. We had young North Korean defectors to check all the unfamiliar vocabularies in the textbooks and listed those. The app. system was tested three times before the actual launch. Submitting words that are not included in the app. was possible so that young North Koreans could continue to participate in updating the contents.

Results

There are about 2,183 young North Korean defectors living in South Korea. During the first 3 weeks of launching, the app. was downloaded about 2,000 times. Even more meaningful was how many S. Koreans downloaded it too. Although the number of the actual app. users was not significant, the very existence of the translator translating Korean into Korean drew people’s attention. The app. was featured in the media 47 times. One of S. Korea’s most popular news anchor introduced this app. during the headline news as “a translator that translates not only words but also minds”. With cooperation from Korea Hana Foundation (affiliated with the Ministry of Unification) DreamTouchForAll is planning to hold an essay contest for North Korean students. It has effectively kick-started active discussion on the language gap between the two Koreas and the issue of young North Koreans.

Execution

In order for young North Koreans to settle well in the South Korean society, we believed that directly helping them should come simultaneously with improving people’s perception towards them. By creating the translator app., which offers a service that is available nowhere else, not even on Google Translate, we aimed to provide substantial help in their studies, while also drawing people’s attention to the seriousness of linguistic difficulties they face here. We launched the app. at the Android market on March 18 and at Apple Store on April 21.

The Situation

The South Korean-North Korean translator app. was created to help young North Korean defectors who find it difficult to understand South Korean textbooks due to the linguistic differences. Being neglected by the educational system, they are also often doomed to be neglected from job opportunities with descent income. (The unemployment rate of North Korean defectors in their 20’s is 3.5 times higher than the South Korean natives.) We wanted to help young defectors adapt well and bring out their potentials. We also aimed to make South Koreans aware by showing the linguistic barrier between two Koreas.

The Strategy

The main target audience for this app are the young North Korean defectors. But in the long run, we also aim to reach all South Koreans that tend to have prejudice against North Korean defectors. DreamTouchForAll annually hosts a summer camp for young North Koreans and South Koreans. Despite their differences, they end up relating to each other and become friends. That’s when we realized the power of communication. The very existence of this app. proved the differences between the two Korea's, and thus motivated South Korean people to work on narrowing the gap.