Inaugural North Korean Defector’s Day

In January, President Yoon Suk Yeol called for a day devoted to North Korean defectors to promote their “inclusivity and settlement support” in South Korea. The administration officially designated July 14 as North Korean Defectors’ Day.

Seoul is currently gearing up for this inaugural celebration. "In commemoration of the first North Korean Defectors' Day, we hope that both South and North Korean citizens will appreciate the importance of freedom and human rights, and foster mutual understanding and consideration," said Lee Dong-ryul, head of the Administration Bureau of the Seoul Metropolitan Government.

Starting on Sunday, July 14, the Seoul Metropolitan Government will host events throughout the week, with a goal of combating prejudice against North Korean defectors and encouraging and fostering a sense of unity and belonging among all Seoul citizens, South and North Koreans alike. From talks given by government officials and subject matter experts throughout the week to movie screenings and cultural experiences, there is a concerted effort to raise awareness and encourage change in South Korea.

Problems North Koreans Face

A Lack of Community

A majority of North Koreans who arrive in South Korea do not have family and struggle to find a community. According to the Hana Foundation's survey of North Korean refugees in South Korea, “living away from family (family in North Korea or a third country)” is the top reason for dissatisfaction of living in South Korea (29.1 percent of respondents in 2022). In 2021, only 18.4 percent of respondents said they engaged in any type of social group activities.

Physical Health

Only a third of North Koreans living in South Korea rated their health status as “good.” Most defectors received what is called “Tier 1” Medical Benefits of the Basic Livelihood Security Program as a part of their resettlement services. From our experience in helping North Koreans through Elim House, this poor self assessment is not from a lack of access to medical benefits but a combination of a somatization of the trauma they carry with them and a desire to not draw negative attention to themselves.

Suicidal Impulses

The rate of suicidal impulses felt by North Koreans living in South Korea continue to be more than double that of their South Korean neighbors, which points to the hopelessness many feel. The top four reasons for feeling this impulse were “physical-mental illness or disorder,” “economic hardship,” and “loneliness, solitude,” and “family troubles,”  which totaled 79 percent. 

Discrimination

South Korea is a homogenous country made up of 95 percent Koreans. Many of the 4.9 percent foreign residents are ethnically Korean with citizenship in other countries, which makes South Korea even more homogenous. It is difficult to be a foreigner in such a homogenous setting. Our conversation with both refugees and those who work in the field of helping North Koreans affirm that most North Koreans in South Korea experience some form of racial discrimination.

The Ways It Can Have Impact

North Korean refugees we encounter through Elim House are often lonely, in poor health and fleeing from destructive relationships. Creating nation-wide awareness that open dialogue is a good and promising step towards helping people who continue to struggle to find their place. Korea has already established resettlement services through the Hana Foundation, its own nonprofit arm that assists North Koreans. However, help is needed beyond services, training and financial support. Most North Koreans carry with them a great deal of trauma from the oppression in North Korea, human trafficking, and the threat of repatriation in China, and the inability to be accepted in South Korea.

We believe that their ultimate sense of hope and belonging can only come from Jesus. Until they have an encounter with this living hope, a recurring reminder like North Korean Defector’s Day will cause the 51 million living in South Korea to pause and consider the people who suffer quietly in their midst.

Faith in a Fiery Furnace

My classmates and I waited in a packed auditorium at my Christian university as we were told that the original speaker wasn't able to make it and they had to find a last minute replacement. This substitute speaker was a North Korean defector named Charles and he shared his story of escaping North Korea twice and how he came to know Jesus. I was intrigued. The first time around, he escaped to China to find his father who had escaped years earlier. After some searching, he found his father. During his time in China, a pastor came to his house and handed him a Bible and prayed over the young man who had never heard of Jesus before. 

He expressed his mixed feelings as he reflected on his difficult journey to freedom. He is so grateful that he made it out while many others are still trapped.

~

This past Palm Sunday, my pastor gave a message on having faith during difficult times. As a part of his message, he showed the congregation a short clip of three different people that had endured a difficult time in their lives. The first woman on the screen had a miscarriage; second was a man who lost his granddaughter; last was a woman who had been sexually abused for years by her own father. All three were still deeply affected and in pain by these events and questioned “God? Why? Why God have you forsaken me?”

It is easier to have faith in the Lord when things are comfortable. But what happens in the face of tragedy? 

God doesn’t promise us good times, he promises us to be with us all the time, in the good and the bad. In the third chapter of Daniel, we see the story of three men of God, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego who were in a sticky situation. Rather than bowing down to a gold statue made by King Nebuchadnezzar, they chose to be faithful to God. King Nebuchadnezzar warned the three men that the consequences of not worshiping  the golden statue would result in being thrown into a fiery furnace. Their response was, “If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it.” They said that even if God didn’t deliver them from the furnace, they would still not bow. Imagine that. To be grounded in your faith in God like that to stand firm knowing that God is always with you. A furious King Nebuchadnezzar had the furnace heated up seven hotter than usual and had his soldiers throw Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in. The furnace was so hot that the flames of the fire killed the soldiers that threw these three men of God in the fire. 

The fire didn’t burn Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. Likewise, Charles, in the midst of all his pain, struggles and tribulations was able to continue and make it out alive. One of the things he said was that he knew that God was always there with him and had a purpose for his life.

This is a good reminder for me this Easter. God has a plan and that may include times of hardship. But that suffering will come to an end. His love for us, on the other hand, is everlasting and unchanging. You may pass through the fire but you will not burn. You may pass through rivers of difficulty but you will not drown. Do not fear because Jesus will be with you.

*This post was written by our social media coordinator Melissa Vasquez.

Why North Koreans don’t Escape to Russia instead of China

Background

An estimated 10,000 North Koreans live in Russia. As one of the three border countries to North Korea along with China and South Korea, Russia’s refugee policies have never been sympathetic to North Koreans. Alec Luhn of ForeignPolicy.com reported in 2017 that according to the Civic Assistance human rights group in Russia, only two North Korean applicants out of 211 were granted refugee status in Russia between 2004 and 2014, while 90 out of 170 applicants were granted temporary refugee status, which lasts for only a year. The situation for North Korean refugees became even more challenging when Russia and North Korea signed an agreement in 2014 to repatriate citizens living illegally in each other’s countries (the “2014 Deportation Agreement”). 

North Korean refugees in Russia can be divided into two groups: those who enter Russia legally as laborers and escape from their work sites located in the country’s far east, and those who illegally cross the border. The first group is perhaps the most popular form of escape. There is a history of escapes by North Korean laborers due to the extremely harsh living conditions at the North Korean-controlled logging camps. Under the circumstances, most escapees attempt to work in farms or factories owned by Russians in return for shelter or minimal wage. However, since they are often left homeless and vulnerable to exploitation and risk of deportation, escapees are likely to find themselves with no choice but to commit theft in order to survive the bitter winters. This has understandably caused antipathy among the local communities towards North Korean refugees, which in turn makes their lives more difficult as illegal aliens in society.

Why China and Not Russia?

Between North Korea’s two neighboring countries, there are five main reasons why North Koreans might choose to defect to China and not Russia.

First, as northeastern China is home to the largest population of ethnic Koreans living outside of the Korean Peninsula, North Korean refugees easily blend in and can hide among the Chinese as they journey along the underground network to freedom. As compared to hiding in Russia, the culturally diverse environment in China further allows North Korean refugees to communicate with and seek help from ethnic Koreans, often passing off as Korean-speaking Chinese without immediately raising suspicion.

Second, stemming from the reason above, China has a much more established underground network comprising experienced brokers and Christian missionary groups than Russia. Although it is never safe to remain in the bordering towns due to constant inspections undertaken by the Chinese authorities, North Korean refugees also have a chance to earn money while living in China and might find work at one of the many Korean restaurants and companies operated by ethnic Koreans or South Koreans who are sympathetic towards the refugees.

Third, North Korea shares a 839 mile (1,350 km) border with China, which increases the chances for refugees to successfully cross without detection, compared to the mere 11 mile (18 km) heavily-patrolled border with Russia. In particular, some parts of the Yalu river dividing North Korean and China’s border city, Dandong, are narrow and relatively easier to crawl over in the winter when the river freezes or to swim across in the summer.

Fourth, due to the relatively less-guarded border between China and North Korea compared to that between Russia and North Korea, it is much easier for North Korean refugees to return home with food and money, especially if their family remains in North Korea. There is a long history where North Korean refugees wandered back and forth between China and Korea since 1865 when Koreans were allowed to live and farm in Machuria during the Qing Dynasty, and it has been reported that in some circumstances, refugees who surrender themselves to Korean border guards claiming to have crossed the border to China for business purposes may simply pay a bribe and go unpunished. 

Finally, compared to China’s climate which is similar to that in North Korea, it is much more difficult for refugees who are on the run to survive the harsh weather conditions and long Siberian winters in Russia without shelter.

Friendly Ties Between North Korea and Russia

Although Russia has ratified a number of international law treaties which are favourable to the protection of refugees, the signing of the 2014 Deportation Agreement controversially undermines the same. To date, the Russian government has not yet clarified its legal and political stance.

For instance, although Russia is a signatory to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and recognises the jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights, the 2017 Choe Myong Bok case sparked much public debate and remains largely controversial to this day. Choe legally arrived in Russia in 1999 to work as part of a group of labourers in a logging camp run by North Korean authorities. He has since lived in Russia with his partner and their two young children without legal documents after escaping from the camp in 2002. Choe was arrested in 2017 and received a deportation order from the Vsevolozhsky District Court. Despite a ruling from the European Court of Human Rights ordering Russia not to deport Choe back to North Korea where he is likely to face torture or even death, his fate remains uncertain due to 2014 Deportation Agreement. It should be noted that Choe was not the first North Korean refugee who had been caught in Russia. A fellow refugee, Ryu En Nam, was forcibly repatriated back to North Korea in 2008 and tortured to death by being roped to the back of a moving train.

After almost entirely dissipating in the 90’s, Russia and North Korea’s political and economic relationships have greatly improved. In the spring of 2014 Russia made moves to strengthen its ties with North Korea, including signing an economic agreement to raise bilateral trade from $112 million to $1 billion by 2020 and investing $340 million in a joint venture to build a railway stretching between the two countries. North Korean labor is extremely cheap and it is to Russia’s benefit that North Korea’s options are limited. Russia is expected to strictly comply with the 2014 Deportation Agreement and avoid the risk of becoming a new destination for North Koreans refugees.

Learn more about which countries North Korean defectors flee to in this article.

Who is Kim Yo Jong?

Kim Jong Un is rumored to be in a coma and speculation swirls again about his younger sister, Kim Yo Jong, temporarily shifting to a ruling position for North Korea.

Kim Yo Jong is Kim Jong Il’s youngest child

Kim Jong Un is the youngest of three sons to Kim Jong Il. The eldest son, Kim Jong Nam, was assassinated in 2017 and middle son Kim Jong Chol was rejected as heir to rule North Korea, rumored to be due to his effeminate personality.

Kim Jong Un also has two sisters: older sister Kim Sul Song, born in 1974, and younger sister Kim Yo Jong, born in 1989. Kim Sul Song was thought to be Kim Jong Il’s favorite child and was the likeliest, at one point, to take control in Kim Jong Un’s absence. But Sul Song’s name has not been seen much in recent years. Yo Jong may have also found favor in her father’s eyes according to the first hand accounts of former Kim family sushi chef who goes by pen name Kenji Fujimoto. Per Fujimoto, Kim Jong Il often referred to Yo Jong as "Princess Yo Jong"

Kim Yo Jong’s rise to power

Kim Yo Jong was appointed as Vice-Director of the Propaganda and Agitation Department (PAD) in 2014 where she was responsible for crafting her brother's public image and messages. In 2017, a year before she stepped into the international spotlight, Kim Yo Jong also joined the North’s Politburo, officially called the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the WPK, as an alternate member.

Her public debut came during the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, when Kim Yo Jong served as a special envoy between the divided Koreas and met with the South Korean president, Moon Jae-in. An envoy’s role is similar to an ambassador, often tasked with resolving conflict between nations but Kim Yo Jong has been very vocal of her disdain for the South. Kim Yo Jong recently publicly threatened to destroy an inter-Korean liaison office in Kaesong, North Korea. The building was obliterated a few days later.

Kim Yo Jong (far right) at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

Kim Yo Jong today

Kim Yo Jong is 32 years old and currently serves as the First Vice Director of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK). Kim Jong Un is the Chairman of the WPK and the Central Committee is the main policymaking body of the WPK. If Kim Jong Un is indeed incapacitated, she is assumed to be the most likely temporary successor until one of Kim Jong Un’s sons are old enough to rule North Korea. Because North Korean leadership is fundamentally patriarchal, Kim Yo Jong’s rule would not be permanent.

North Korea under Kim Yo Jong

Since Kim Yo Jong’s role would not be permanent, she would most likely uphold the agenda and work of her brother, Kim Jong Un and, if her brother dies, would carry the core ideologies of the regime into the next generation until Kim Jong Un’s successor can take leadership. This is the best case scenario for North Korea. What remains unclear is a potential power struggle between Kim Jong Un’s heirs and his sister. There simply isn’t enough information to know which way this will go.

Kim Yo Jong followed her brother’s steps of foreign education and is thought to have shared an apartment with Kim Jong Un in Switzerland. There are speculations that they were very close and thus, her approach to ruling North Korea may be similar to her big brother.

It is not unlikely that Yo Jong will push beyond her brother’s dictatorial ways. Lee Seong-hyon, an analyst at the Sejong Institute, a research center in South Korea said  “As she leads the offense against South Korea like a general, it silences those old hard-liners in the Politburo who may think she cannot be the leader.” We believe she may overcompensate in the North patriarchal system by ruling with even more vitriol.

(The New York Post recently wrote something similar about a future under Kim Yo Jong here )

North Korean defectors
In a public statement issued on June 4, 2020, Kim Yo Jong portrayed North Korean defectors as, “Human scum little short of wild animals who betrayed their own homeland,” and described their campaigns against North Korea as “acts to imitate men” “bark[ing]... where they should not.” Defecting from North Korea is an act of treason and punishable by hard labor, torture and oftentimes death. Kim Yo Jong’s public statement is no surprise and should she take control of North Korea, we expect the same severity of punishment to continue for defectors who are caught and returned to the North.

North Korean defector blogging

More than a decade after defecting from what he calls the "Animal Farm" in North Korea, Gyoon Heo has settled into university life in South Korea. 

However, upon reflecting on life from the outside looking in, he found that creating a blog was a perfect outlet: 

My father was one of those ‘traitors’ who were made examples of by the WPK during Kim Jong Il’s time. He simply disappeared one day, received no trial that I know of, and was never seen again. I do not know what happened to him or where he is. I may never even find out whether he was sent to prison or executed.

Among North Koreans it is this fear — of losing one’s country to an enemy state, one’s family to a purge, and one’s own life to ever-present danger both definable and abstract — that compels them to obey the regime.

Read more from Gyoon Heo here: https://koreaexpose.com/author/gyoon-heo/ 

Defector Dances in Defiance

Some defectors in London's suburb of New Malden struggle to find a way to contact the family they left behind in North Korea.

However, the severe punishment for those caught with smuggled information or cellphones can often leave refugees to face the harrowing path of resettlement alone. 

For Hyunjoo Kim, she turns to dance. 

Twirling to a song called "By the Love of My Lord," Kim's dance of defiance, one that could have sent her to prison in North Korea, is a symbol of her newfound freedom.

Read the full story here.

Hyunjoo Kim dances at a New Malden restaurant.

The long road to South Korea

North Korean defectors rest in a hotel room in Thailand. They will be sent to Seoul, where they will become South Korean citizens. 

(Paula Bronstein / For The Washington Post)

Instead of the short one hour and 45 minute flight from a Shenyang, China to Seoul, refugees who defect from North Korea face a much more grueling and dangerous route to safety.

Via buses, long walks over mountains, boats and hiding in the dark at border checkpoints, these refugees will journey from North Korea, through China, Laos or Vietnam, and finally Thailand, where they can request asylum and be transported to South Korea.

"I kept thinking: Imagine if I made it this far and then I got caught in Laos," a young mother said.

The article follows a group of refugees who have paid smugglers to transport them through any means possible – for the hope of a new life in South Korea. Whether it’s for new economic prospects or the fear of returning as a repatriated defector, each traveler focuses on their motivations to escape as they continue along the “underground railroad.”

Read the full Chicago Tribune story here:

Seeking to be reunited with children left behind

Jeong-ah Kim's child still in China (SBS News)

For many defectors, the danger and difficulty of escaping to China poses an impossible choice: survive and leave behind loved ones, or stay with family to face hunger and brutality together.

One woman, Ms. Kim, was smuggled and married to a Chinese farmer after 10 years in the military and malnourishment.

"Conditions in North Korea were so bad I would have half a piece of bread in the morning and the other half in the evening, and one sip of water in the morning and one at night," she told SBS News. "So eventually I decided to leave."

However, she left behind her oldest child in North Korea and her second child in China after she fled again.

Today, she has created a non-profit “Tongil Moms” that has been lobbying the UN to reunify her and other mothers with their children left behind in North Korea.

Read the full story here.

Defectors in the “Land of Freedom”

PHOTO: North Korean women gather in front of billboards of Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-Il. (Facebook: Michal Huniewicz)

Now resettled in South Korea, North Korean defectors Ann and Jayden, had to adapt to a new life in the “Land of Freedom.”

The two, who have strong memories of the deadly famine in the 1990s and of being cold and hungry most nights, have since been adjusting to things like internet news, fresh air and intensive university courses.

Their global program, sponsored by the Hana Foundation and the South Korean Ministry for Unification, aims to expose resettled refugees to global communities and education so they can become leaders in international relations in the Korean community.

Anne, driven by her experiences with hunger in North Korea, is studying to work in global aid and help other children who are starving through the World Food Programme.

Read the full story here.

North Korean Defectors: Update on Bo-ah

We informed you earlier this year that a North Korean refugee, “Bo-ah,” was sent off on the Underground Railroad and was well on her way to freedom. Recently, she contacted Crossing Borders and said that she made it to South Korea. She has been through re-education training at South Korea’s school for refugees, Hanawon. Now she is living in Seoul with another North Korean defector. Bo-ah crossed several borders, traversed rivers, climbed mountains and traveled in danger to make it to South Korea. She said that she felt our prayers as she fought her way to freedom.

Bo-ah’s struggles aren’t complete, though she has made it to South Korea. South Korea is now home to more than 25,000 North Korean defectors and many find it difficult to adjust to the modern lifestyle and capitalist society.

Seoul can be overwhelming for the former people of North Korea, people from a country that lives in relative simplicity compared to their southern counterpart. Some North Koreans even share that they are startled by their appliances, which can speak to them. Others are disoriented by the lights. North Korea, with its lack of electricity, becomes pitch black at night.

Though Bo-ah tells us that she is doing fine, she has shared some significant barriers she now has in South Korea. First, because her education in North Korea was only through the third grade. Second, she still longs to reunite with her family.

Just ten years ago, when a North Korean moved to South Korea, it was like they were saying goodbye to your family forever. Today, this is not the case. Through couriers that operate in China and North Korea, defectors like Bo-ah can send messages, money and other items to their remaining relatives.

Andrei Lankov, one of the world’s most respected scholars on North Korea, wrote that 49 percent of all North Korean defectors send money back home through illegal channels. Many send money to get their families out of the country.

Though Bo-ah would like to purchase freedom for her family, she doesn’t have the means nor does she have the education to get a higher-paying job to pay for it.

Until then, she chips away at her studies hoping that one day she will be reunited with her family. Please pray for Bo-ah and the thousands of other refugees who long to see their loved-ones again. Pray for her as she goes to school and church that she would find hope in Christ, despite the sadness of missing her family.