Osaka, Japan — A second generation Korean Japanese citizen who emigrated to North Korea in 1963 as a three-year old girl and defected in 2003 has sued Chongryon (Chosen Soren in Japanese, General Association of North Korean Residents in Japan) for organizing the emigration of about ninety three thousand Korean Japanese people to North Korea from 1959 to 1984.
Ko Jung Mi, who currently resides in Japan, filed a lawsuit for 11 million yen (approximately one hundred thousand USD) against Chongryon in June. This lawsuit is the first one by a Korean Japanese person living in Japan, and only the second since 2001 when Kim Haeng Il, a second generation Korean Japanese citizen residing in South Korea, filed suit at a Tokyo court.
In an interview with the Daily NK, Ko discussed both her life in North Korea and the Homecoming Project.
– It must not have been easy to publicly sue Chongryon.
I thought about it a lot. I decided to sue because I sincerely hope no similar misery will be inflicted on the next generation of Korean Japanese. I still have my relatives and family members back in North Korea. I am worried about them, but someone must publicly come out to talk about the real nature of North Korea and the Chongryon.
I gained courage from my supporters. In Japan, there are many people helping persons like me. Human rights in North Korea are Korean Japanese people’s duty. I felt sorry whenever I saw the Japanese helping us. So I decided to do this. I thank my children for supporting me.
– In Japan, Chongryon’s influence has been decreasing continuously. But among the Korean Japanese, lots of people still support Chongryon. Wasn’t it difficult to file a lawsuit against Chongryon while living in Japan?
Even if Chongryon and its supporters criticize me, I won’t be nervous. I am ready to take mental and physical agony. Before the lawsuit, I held a press conference. And in April, I submitted documents on the discrimination and torture that I suffered in North Korea to Chongryon. But they never responded. Chongryon is still a puppet of the North Korean regime. Its emigration project was done under the auspices of the North Korean regime. I want to publicize what Chongryon did to fellow Korean Japanese through a credible institution like the courts.
Of course, there are some Korean Japanese who still support Chongryon. But these people are in the middle of change, too. They should not criticize me for suing Chongryon. Truth always prevails.
– What kind of message do you want to send through the lawsuit?
I’m not interested in winning or losing in court. Nor am I interested in compensation. I just want to reveal Korean Japanese suffering in North Korea as a result of coaxing by Chongryon. The Homecoming Project was a serious crime.
Chongryon does not acknowledge that the project was an organized abduction. After fifty years have passed, the only way to reach a conclusion about the project is via a trial. The real nature of the abductions co-conspired by North Korea and Chongryon must be disclosed.
Ninety three thousand Korean Japanese persons who moved to North Korea lost their ability to live happily because of Chongryon propaganda. I want to send a message of hope to the still suffering Korean Japanese in North Korea.
– How did you emigrate to North Korea?
In 1963, when I was three, my family took the 111th Emigration Passenger Ship to arrive in Chongjin, North Korea. Since then, my life was full of difficulty. My mother often cried and told me “You are suffering because they (Chongryon) deceived me.”
In 1962, my father died, and mom had difficulty raising three children; my older sister, a younger brother and myself. Also, at that time in Japan, discrimination against Koreans was severe. A Chongryon official, knowing the hardship of my family, approached my mother and persuaded to her to “enjoy the free medical care and free education system in North Korea.”
Chongryon’s description of North Korea was a Scandinavian-like welfare state in which everything is free, even college education. My mother believed the propaganda and decided to move to North Korea.
– So your family emigrated to North Korea as a result of Chongryon propaganda.
When my family emigrated, the Homecoming Project had been underway for three years, and no one had returned to Japan by then. So my mother could not but believe the propaganda. Only after arriving in North Korea, mom repented her decision. In North Korea, my mother often wept, saying “I am sorry for my children.” She died in North Korea unhappily. Chongryon officials approached my family with bad intentions. They exploited our difficult situation. It is unforgivable.
– How was your life in North Korea?
The life of Korean Japanese in North Korea is sheer discrimination. Wherever we are, whatever we do, we suffered discriminatory treatment. To live well, we had to put in much more effort. We were disdainfully called “jjapo, (which is a slang abbreviation for Korean residents in Japan)” Jjapos must endeavor hundreds times more than regular North Koreans do. My heart was broken because of the discrimination but I was resolute to try harder.
I went to the First Sinuiju College of Education, and worked as a physical education teacher on North Pyongan provincial athletic team. I married a doctor in 1980 and bore two children. At that time, I did not think of defection, but wanted to live well in North Korea.
– Could you explain more about the nature of discrimination you suffered I North Korea?
When I was in elementary and secondary school, my fellow students bullied me, calling me jjapo. I wore better clothes than my classmates did. Sometimes, other students tore my clothes.
I started to be skeptical toward North Korean society in secondary school. I went to an all-girls school. It was a prestigious school; students sometimes participate in state events, accompanying Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il. There were only two ‘jjapo’ students in the entire school. Discrimination was extremely severe. I endured it. I lived die-hard for 37 years in North Korea.
– Why did you finally decide to defect?
It was the late 1990s. Before then, I was unhappy with discrimination but did not think of defection. At the moment of defection, one must risk his/her life. But after I lost my job because of my status, I decide to leave North Korea. I was fired in 1996 for helping another Korean Japanese person. I asked the Party and other legal institutions for help but the decision was not overturned. So I concluded that I must defect for the sake of my children, too.
– How did you defect?
I defected twice, first in 2000 and then in 2003. In December 2000, I defected for the first time. I prepared for a year and a half to cross the Yalu River. I spent all the money I got in Shenyang to get a fake Chinese ID, but I was defrauded. Fortunately South Korean students in China helped me and I was able to call my children from North Korea to China. But the ‘Yantai incident’ (hundreds of defectors were arrested while escaping to China by boat) occurred and Chinese police mass-arrested the defectors. I surrendered myself to the Chinese police because I didn’t want to hurt those who had helped me.
I was repatriated to North Korea on January 23, 2003. I was incarcerated at Sinuiju prison. Prison guards beat me until I lost consciousness. Because of the torture, I still suffer trauma. In April 2003, I was transferred to a hospital. After my condition got better, I was released on a temporary basis. My son was repatriated in 2002 from Beijing.
After I was released, I met my son in prison. My son was so weak and gaunt. My son and I were expelled to the countryside in North Pyongyan Province. I thought I couldn’t live in North Korea any longer. My family defected again in December 2003, stayed in China for two years and came to Japan in 2005.
– How’s your life in Japan?
The living environment in Japan is different from that of South Korea, and a great deal more different from that in North Korea. At first, I was a little timid. The language barrier was more difficult to overcome. My daughter did not even know the Japanese alphabet when she started working in Japan.
But my family received help from the ‘National Association for the Rescue of Japanese Kidnapped by North Korea.’ Also, the Japanese government provided us with protection. The Association helped us to buy a house and other supplies. Also, they introduced us to a Japanese tutor, so that my family could learn Japanese three times a week.
I remind myself of that help everyday. My Japanese is much better now, and I feel relieved and happy. But every time I feel happy, I also think of North Korean people’s suffering. I hope this lawsuit can bring hope to the North Koreans.
