[imText1]In 2003, forty North Koreans attempted to defect to South Korea by boat from Yentai of China. They were repatriated to North Korea after the boat was seized. Among them was Okju and her mother and they succeeded in their reattempt of defection to China. Their request to go to South Korea is calling for much attention on defectors’ way to South Korea.
Currently, the defectors mostly receive assistance from their family members in the South to make their way into South Korea. Those who do not have families in South Korea either receive help from NGOs, hire brokers, or make their way through third countries on their own, many times by foot.
Family Reunion through Cellular Phone
Jung Ok Hee, (pseudonym, defected in 2004) who resides in Yangchun-gu, Seoul, says, “I spend many nights unable to sleep thinking about my family. If I have a chance, I want to bring them all to South Korea.”
Jung sends money every month to her family from what she receives from the government and the part time work she does. She said, “I live eagerly everyday with hope that one day I will be able to live with my family in South Korea.”
According to the survey conducted in 2003 by a Unification Researcher (researcher at the Ministry of Unification), among the 870 North Koreans who participated in the survey, 65% answered that they “will use resettlement money (provided by the government) to help the families in the North or bring them to South Korea.”
In fact, most of the defectors look for any ways possible, even through Chinese and Korean descendents on the Sino-Korean border areas to contact their families in North Korea immediately after they come out of the defector resettlement education facility, “Hanawon.”
Once they find someone who can look for ways to contact their families, they pay a certain amount of money and make a kind of contract that they will pay much more if their families make it out of North Korea into China.
The contractors use their connections to look for the requesters’ family members in North Korea and try to contact them. Usually, the contractors work with North Korean tradesmen who can freely cross the border.
Once they find the family members, they are brought out to the border area. It is to show the requesters that their family members are alive. Although they cannot meet each other face to face, family reunions take place through cellular phones.
Never say, “I am in South Korea”
While staying in South Korea, defectors keep in constant contact with their family and send as little as a couple hundred dollars to as much as a couple thousand dollars. It is through the contractors they hired. Once the money is wired to the contractors, the money is delivered to the families. Twenty to thirty percent of the original amount is usually taken away as commission.
Usually the defectors do not tell their families that they are in South Korea. When they talk with them on the phone, they say they are making a lot of money in China. This is in worry of shocking the family members and their lack of understanding for defection to the South. It is said that when told the truth, the family members sometimes become suspicious that the South Korean government is trying to take information from their phone conversations.
Kim Mi Soon also helped her mother and two younger siblings to South Korea. She said it was very difficult to convincer her mother in North Korea.
Kim said, “I talked with her on the phone for six months and convinced her to cross over to China, but she was very reluctant to cross the border. I told her it may be the last time that she will see her daughter, and made her cross the border.”
Realization of Deception Once Exposed to Chinese Development
After they cross the border, defectors stay in China for a while with the help of the contractors. This is the start of their way to South Korea. Usually, the defectors themselves visit them in China to convince them.
Once in China, it is not hard to convince them. Having been exposed to the development in China, they soon realize how they have been deceived through education all along in North Korea. Kim said that she told directly to her mother that “North Korea is the poorest country in the world.” Although her mother did not believe her for a long time, after she saw the night-lights on the streets in China, she was soon convinced. Once she told her mother that South Korea is even more developed than China, her mother agreed to come to South Korea.
Unbelievable at First but Start Out on a Long Journey in Search for Freedom
Ahn Sung Man (pseudonym, defected in 2001) who have made the four people in his family to defect to South Korea at once said, “I kept in touch with my family members in North Korea and carefully convinced them.”
“I explained that China is a place where people live well. I also explained the development South Korea achieved with details. I let them watch Korean videos and listen to tapes through the contractor.”
A Journey of Thousands of Kilometers to South Korea
Once the family members are convinced, they decide on route to South Korea and pay the contractor a cost for defection. The price ranges from as little as $2000 to as much as $10,000 per person.
Once the preparation for defection is ready, they usually go through Laos to Thailand to make their final destination in South Korea. They take the bus, taxi and train and travel a long way. This is because Laos has made a “Seizure of Criminals” agreement with North Korea.
Once arrested, you may be released by paying money. However, in unfortunate cases, you may be repatriated to North Korea. Therefore, the defectors become very careful in Laos.
The journey of China-Laos-Thailand is about 6,000km long.
Lee Min Chul, (pseudonym, defected in 2004) testified, “Although I had my hopes set high for South Korea, the thousands of kilometer-long journey of defection was difficult. However, the longing for freedom and relief of being able to live well enabled me to endure.”
The defectors who succeed the long journey of defection obtain freedom they have longed for through the UN immigration office or South Korean embassy in Thailand.
