Facing life in a country completely foreign
and full of strangers, how do North Korean defectors get by in Britain?
Having visited London for the 2nd
anniversary international conference on the Commission of Inquiry’s [COI]
report on North Korea, hosted by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on North
Korea and the International Coalition to Stop Crimes against Humanity in North
Korea, this reporter, a North Korean defector herself, was able to get a firsthand account of what life is like
for them. It was evident that they were struggling with the most basic elements
such as communication, but they were also full of hope.
Most defectors in Britain live in the
south-west London suburb of New Malden, also known as the hub for other Korean
residents. The existing Korean community there is one of the largest reasons
why defectors choose to settle down in New Malden. Without speaking English
well, they find it much easier to land jobs at Korean companies in this area.
Park Ji Hyun is the North Korean Outreach
and Project Officer at the European Alliance for Human Rights in North Korea.
She told me although there are no concrete data on the employment conditions
of the defector community, it is believed that out of ten people, only two or
three have jobs. “They mostly work in the service sector at restaurants or
bakeries, but even then, they cannot communicate so their employment status is
wobbly at best,” she said.
This is why Park, who also escaped from the
North, is debating whether to run a free English academy for defectors.
“They’ve made it all the way over here from the North, so I think as long as
they’re willing to learn, they’ll no doubt be able to overcome the language
barrier,” Park said. “We’ll work to build a good system so that defectors in Britain
can more easily settle down.”
Kang Su Hui, who came to Britain from South
Korea after escaping the North said, “I was prepared to deal with the
communication problem, but it’s a lot harder than I expected, so sometimes I do
think about going back to the South.” She explained that because of her limits
in communicating, there are not many options when it comes to jobs, making it
harder to get by.
“I hope there will be more opportunities
for defectors here to overcome their struggles and settle down,” Kang said.
“I’m also determined to not lose hope about my dreams of quickly putting my
roots down here, and I’m going to try my best and not just rely on aid and
support from others.”
Another defector, who asked not to be
named, explained they had come to the UK because of the difficulties they faced
in the job market in South Korea. “The struggles back there were nothing,” the
person said they often find themselves thinking. The defector added,
regardless, they are doing the best they can to settle down and get by.
