The North Korean media has revealed a new case of defectors returning to the country. On the 24th, Chosun Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on a press conference featuring four such “re-defectors” (a couple, their daughter and a second woman). This follows the Park Jung Sook incident last June, and that of Kim Kwang Hyok, Koh Jong Nam and their child in November.
KCNA revealed, “Kim Kwang Ho, his wife and Koh Kyung Hui, who were cajoled into going to South Korea by the puppet regime, returned to our Republic and held a press conference on the 24th in the People’s Palace of Culture. More people who were lured in by the scheming of the puppet regime and taken to South Korea are coming back into our Republic’s arms, breaking away from their ties with South Korea.”
Kim Kwang Ho stated in the press conference, “I went to South Chosun with my wife in August 2009, and returned to the Republic at the end of last year.” He also introduced his daughter, who is less than a year old. Koh Kyung Hui also stated, “I was dragged to South Chosun in June 2011 and returned back to the Republic at the end of last year.”
Kim stated, “South Chosun was a really dirty world,” going on, “There was fraud, trickery and scheming all over the place; I could not live in a world like that.” He added that they decided to return back to North Korea after hearing of Park Jung Sook’s return.
Koh also said, “I could not possibly face the harsh reality of South Chosun and lived in anxiety and tears. Because I was a defector in South Chosun I could not find a job anywhere.”
He added, “The Republic forgave me and accepted me for who I am when I deserved to be severely punished,” adding, “The Chosun authorities gave me a home to live with my mother and two children. It was my son’s birthday soon after we returned and the authorities had a birthday party for him.”
Other defectors resettled in South Korea continue to assert that the North Korean National Security Agency is tricking these people into returning, with this case representing the latest example of a worrying trend, while others say that these “re-defectors” are merely North Korean agents recalled to Pyongyang.
One senior defector pointed out, “Among the defectors who returned back to North Korea are some who were temporarily sent to South Korea for espionage activities. It is hard to figure out if they are spies or not when they say that they came to South Korea because their life was difficult in the North.”
