Barbara Demick

A South Korean teenager, 18-year-old male, is about five inches taller than his North Korean counterpart. And there are many soldiers who are only about 4'6". The height requirement is supposed to be 4'9". That's the size of my 12-year-old son.

In life, there are a lot of expectations. I see why in the South, especially, there's a simple existence. People, whether they're cowboys or farmers or ranchers, you just get up, you do your job, you have a family, you come home.