At the end of a winding road following a
stretch of fields covered in snow sits the Seosan Nursing Home located in South
Chungcheong Province in South Korea. This is where Yoon Hui Sun [pictured left, Image: Daily NK], who escaped
from the North, works as a care helper, becoming the hands and feet of some 70
seniors.
It has already been four years since Yoon
started working at the nursing home, and her current life is something that was
unthinkable just ten years ago.
“I used to sell rice and soy beans in a
push cart in North Korea. I would go from city to city with no days off, but
living conditions simply did not get better. On top of that, my husband was
sick and I had to save money for tuition to support my son, who was very
bright, so I had a lot of things to worry about,” she
said.
Yoon said she did not have much choice: she
heard rumors that going to China would guarantee earning big sums of money, so
she crossed over. Her plan was to save up for three to four years for her son’s tuition and seed money to start a business. However, making money
in a country where there was a language barrier and her safety was at risk
proved incredibly difficult. In the beginning, Yoon worked in the fields and it
was there she slowly adjusted to the way of life in China. Once she started
getting used to the Chinese language and was able to communicate without too
much difficulty, she was able to get a job at a restaurant.
After landing a job with much difficulty,
Yoon started working as hard as she could, thinking of those she had left
behind. The owner of the restaurant was pleased with her, but what later caused
problems was her health.
“I was carrying a lot of heavy dishes and
my back just couldn’t take it. I wasn’t able to stand up straight, so I would grab my back with one hand
and serve food with the other. When I couldn’t take it
any longer, I decided to quit my job and receive treatment,” Yoon said.
The restaurant owner, wanting Yoon to stay
on as an employee, told her to come back after she had recovered. After a month
of treatment, her condition improved, but even so, she determined her physical
state could not handle working in a restaurant again. Upon telling her employer
this, Yoon was shocked to see how drastically the owner would change. The once
friendly owner who used to treat her like a family member cut off contact with
her completely.
Crossing over to South Korea with a broken
heart
“The owner at the time held on to one month’s worth of my salary as a safety deposit. I was told I would get it
when I quit, but the moment I brought it up, the owner used my status as an
escapee from the North and threatened to call the police on me,” Yoon recalled.
Yoon was not only devastated by the loss of
her salary but the fact that someone that she trusted betrayed her. This one
experience brought great anxiety about her status in China, and as she was
thinking she could no longer stay in the country, she was able to get in touch
with her sister-in-law who had defected earlier and settled down in the South.
“My sister-in-law told me that our safety
would be guaranteed in the South, and that they provide us with housing as
well. Hearing that she was doing okay not having to worry about surviving, I
thought I should just go to the South instead of living like this in China,” Yoon said. Little by little, Yoon started getting together a group
of people to go with her on her journey to the South. With the help of a
broker, the group was able to arrive after a journey through Laos and Cambodia.
In May 2009, Yoon finished her resettlement
training at the South’s Hanawon and decided to live in
Seosan. She didn’t want to go to the bustling, crowded
capital Seoul, and one of her former roommates at Hanawon had recommended
Seosan.
As soon as she had settled down, Yoon
immediately began working. She worked at an anchovy factory for five days, a
restaurant for a month, and cleaned at a motel for a month as well. But her
health problems started flaring up again. All the strenuous work in China had
left her with frozen shoulder, and she realized work at a restaurant or
cleaning was no longer an option. As she was trying to figure out what to do,
Yoon saw one of her friends working as a care helper and decided to take on a
new challenge.
Providing big help through small actions
 Image: Daily NK |
In order to become a care helper,
candidates must receive mandatory training and pass a government test. Yoon
decided to attend a private academy that offers classes and was able to sign up
with the help of her husband that she met in the South.
Everything was new to Yoon as she prepared
for the test, but despite all the new terminologies she had to study, she was
able to pass in one go. “There was no secret to it. I
just studied hard in class and listened to the teacher and reviewed what I had
learned whenever I had time,” she said. “If there are any defectors out there studying for the care helper
test, those are the only two things you will need to remember,” she said
As soon as Yoon passed her test, she began
looking for work and discovered the Seosan Nursing Home happened to have an
opening. The nursing home initially expressed concerns, saying it was the first
time for them to hire a defector, but with her diligence, Yoon was soon able to
prove herself. Over the years working at the nursing home, she received a
commendation from the Seosan Mayor and the director of the nursing home for
taking care of the elderly at the facility– just as she would for her own
parents.
Sometimes as she spends time with people at
the nursing home, Yoon is reminded of her parents who passed away and it brings
tears to her eyes. But instead of her parents, she now takes care of the some
70 members at the nursing home with love and care. “This
nursing home and the relationship I have with the 70 people here have become my
source of joy, and it’s something I would not want to
trade no matter what,” Yoon said.
*This article was made possible by support from the Korea Hana Foundation [the North Korean Refugees Foundation].
