Though their countries are technically at war, Koreans from the north and the south cross paths at Beijing airport every day. Frequent traveller Andray Abrahamian can’t help wondering what they’re thinking
If you’ve been to famous tourist spots around the world then you’ve seen theajummas – packs of middle-aged South Korean women, most of them wearingoversized visors and bright hiking gear and perhaps, inexplicably, with purple hair. Most mornings, a group of ajummas will touch down in Beijing on flights from Seoul and Busan around 10am, about the same time that the Air Koryo flight from the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, lands.
One morning some of them came up to the Air Koryo baggage claim carousel where I was waiting to collect my luggage with other passengers arriving fromNorth Korea . I joked, “Oh, are you from Pyongyang?” They blinked for a second and then laughed as they realised their mistake. They went off to find their bags, apparently not interested in the other waiting passengers.
Beijing Capital airport is a study in North and South Koreans not noticing or pretending not to notice each other. Sometimes, as with those women, that disinterest seems genuine. Often, though, while in the queue at immigration or that last desperate Starbucks in Terminal 2, I’ve noticed younger South Korean travellers realise they are in line with a group of their northern kin. They’ll usually do a minor double take, steal a glance at the Kim badges worn as a sign of loyalty by North Koreans, then return to their phones.
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