[imText1]Since the “march of suffering” in the mid-90s when 3mn people died of starvation, North Korea entered a time of economic downfall with the complete collapse of the distribution system. As a result, trade has become the lifeline for many North Korean people.
In order to survive, each person must find their own goods to sell at Jangmadang (markets), though all economic measures are held in the hands of the nation.
At the time, our family had been banished and my father was working at Gungshim Coal Mine in Hoiryeong, North Hamkyung province. That’s why our family chose to sell coal. When my father returned from the mines with coal, I would then go to the markets to sell them.
From that time onwards, I had to travel 12 km from the mines to the markets in Hoiryeong pushing a cart loaded with 200kg of coal. If I left early in the morning, I was able to sell all the coal but returned late in the evening. Nevertheless, a cart full of coal was burdensome on such a young child such as me.
In particular, most of North Korean roads are unpaved and as a result, there were many times that I would fall over with the cart and coal toppling out. There were also many times where I slept in the mountains with a sheet of plastic for protection. I was 12 years old at the time.
For 2 years I battled with the cart loaded with 200kg of coal. No matter how hard I lived, my circumstances did not improve. There were more times that I starved than times where I ate. There were times that I didn’t eat for 3 days and this became common practice.
People who have never gone out to trade in the markets with a famished stomach cannot understand the troubles I experienced.
To boost our business, our family even borrowed money from relatives, but this attempt ended in failure. In the end, we lost all our money and were left penniless.
Whether our father felt discouraged or not, he lost all his strength and turned to alcohol. By early 1998, my mother left our family. She said she would attempt business in Chongjin, but a long time passed without her return.
One day, my misfortunate father left home without saying a word and did not return. My younger sibling and I were left without food to eat, so we began to sell items from our home. By the time we had sold all the goods in our home that were worth some value, our mother still had not returned. So my younger sibling and I decided to look for our mother.
It was impossible to look for our mother since we had no idea of her whereabouts. At first, we searched all of Chongjin city to no avail. Then after a tip-off we headed south and searched the markets there. Yet we found no trace of our mother.
The street kids at Jangmadang said, “Your mother is probably in China.” At that point, I made a decision to defect. However, I failed at escaping on two occasions and was beaten by soldiers who criticized, “You are trying to abandon our leader, are you?”
Nevertheless, during this time, I was able to confirm that my mother was living well in China and again, made the decision to defect. This time, I crossed the Tumen River and was successful. Whether the heavens helped me or not, I met a kind person who led me to find my relatives living in Yanji.
In Yanji I met yet another Korean-Chinese family who became my real benefactor. This person introduced me to China’s police officers and asked them to find my relatives. That benefactor said he would take all the responsibility and asked the authorities not to turn me into North Korea. Even though it was my relatives we were looking for, that benefactor went to great lengths for help me.
Whether or not it was because I was young, the Chinese authorities looked favorably on me. I was known as the cutie-pie amongst the police in the end I was able to meet my elder cousins.
Then, I met my mother who I had been searching for all this time. We cried for such a long time. I had survived so many trials of death to find my mother.
Even a book would not be enough for me to write in detail. I was washed away while crossing the Tumen River and survived by grabbing onto a tree branch. I nearly died while holding onto the wheels of the train in attempt to defect. I even faced death after collapsing in Jangmadang about to die of starvation.
The month after I met my mother was the most happiest moment of my life. My mother didn’t say a word and continued to cry. (continues)
