[imText1]Washington D.C. — Among the 31 refugees who fled to the U.S. in May 2006 and March 2007, around 14 gathered in one place for the first time since their emigration at the 1st North Korea Refugees Residing in the U.S. meeting and retreat held in Washington D.C. from the 18th to the 20th and sponsored by “Durihana Missions Church USA.”
“Learning English and saving money takes up all of my time,” replied Kang Hwa Soon (born in Hamheung, entry in 2006), who is dressed as well as any South Korean and American female college student, to the question of “How is life in the U.S.?”
Ms. Kang, who said she is residing with her defected mother in a small college town in New York state, works as a waitress in a Korean restaurant making 8 dollars hourly. She has also worked in a store owned by a fellow South Korean, but moved to an American restaurant thinking she would learn English more quickly this way. Perhaps as a result, her level of conversation in English was at a surprisingly high level. She had no difficulty conversing with an American pastor.
Lee Eun Joo (female, pseudonym), who was seated adjacent to her, belongs to the “two-job holder” category. Ms. Lee, who lives in Chicago, entered the U.S. as a part of the 2nd group of defectors in 2007. She said, “Initially, I lived three months in the home of a fellow South Korean resident in the U.S., to whom I was introduced, for three months. I bought a car and rented a small room with three months’ worth of savings. I can only sleep four hours, but I do not take notice of my hardship, because I make as much as how much I put into work.”
“I thought I would starve to death…” refugees who have found new lives
“During the March of Starvation 10 years ago, I lay in my bedroom after having had nothing to eat for three days and thought, ‘So this is how people die.’ For me to be here is like a dream. I do not have anything in North Korea and China, but I have something in the U.S.,” said Choi Mee Hyang (female, pseudonym) excitedly.
She relayed her impression regarding the freedom she gets to experience in the U.S., “In China, I hid the fact that I was North Korean. Now though, I proudly say that I am a North Korean.”
However, it is not just happiness that they have had to bear in the U.S. for those that have started their second lives in the U.S.
First, defectors, like the other Korean brethren, have to overcome the obstacle of obtaining a permanent resident card. According to laws and regulations which allow persons fleeing as refugees to register for a permanent resident card within a year, the first-round of refugees who entered in 2006 already received their cards. But the 25 that came subsequently still have not received theirs.
Comparing with an illegal entrant, obtaining a permanent resident card is an easy feat, but their insecure status is a difficult stress to endure for the defectors who have undergone the grief of statelessness in China. Thus, Durihana USA, invited a Korean immigration lawyer on the 2nd day of the gathering and held a talk on immigration laws and regulations and ways to register for the card.
However, what torments these refugees the most psychologically is loneliness and yearning for their families.
“It is most difficult on birthdays. I was thankful that the family of the teacher who is supporting me (an elder of a South Korean church) held a birthday party and gave me presents, but I cried because I missed my family.”
The words of Jang Ha Na (female, pseudonym), who has settled down in Fairfax County in Virginia, trailed off as she described that tears still form in her eyes whenever she thinks about her family. A majority of those whose family members remain in North Korea showed extreme discomfort in having their pictures taken.
Kim Ok Hee (female, pseudonym), who was separated from her young son in China, relayed the full story of the separation from her son at a prayer meeting held at a South Korean church, making the atmosphere solemn. Originally from Chongjin, Ms. Kim who defected in 2006 and is living in New Jersey said, “I have heard discriminatory words while working at a restaurant operated by Americans and have cried on the way to and fro work on the subway out of despair and the loneliness.”
“The fantasy regarding defecting to the U.S. to be avoided…” Tear-jerking effort is needed for independence
Choi Hyuk (pseudonym), one of the few males among the refugees who participated in the meeting, warned, “I don’t want other defectors to hold onto a fantasy about the U.S. He said, “It is ultimately not easy living in the U.S. In particular, living as a defector is doubly difficult than the life of an average immigrant. Having a fantasy about earning more than the amount one works is something to be avoided.”
The 31 refugees who have taken root in the U.S., including the 14 who participated in the gathering, are all cases where they defected to China and ended up in the U.S. via Laos, Thailand, or another Southeast Asian country with the help of a missionary organization.
Even after the Congress passed a North Korean human rights law in 2004, the U.S. administration was resistant to actually accepting refugees. The defectors who have settled down in South Korea registered as refugees with the U.S. government, but witnessed the dramatic rejection by U.S. courts, “Those who have acquired South Korean citizenship and have not undergone political persecution are not entitled to refugee status.”
The U.S. administration which has suffered a headache from the recent mass-scale illegal entrance from Central and South America just received refugees from North Korea for the first time in 2006 and has filled a mere 31 spots.
As the chair of Durihana USA, Pastor Cho Young Jin of the Washington Korean Methodist Church who sponsored this event, described the importance of the 1st round of refugees in the following.
“These are the first North Koreans to have settled in the U.S. Subsequently, whether or not the U.S. will receive more refugees according to the North Korea Freedom Act depends on whether they lead successful and exemplary lives here.”
The goal confronting related parties of South Korean churches who usually support refugees scattered in each region is their independence. Currently, the 31 refugees in the U.S. have formed relationships with Korean churches in their regions and are receiving psychological and material help. However, they cannot always go on depending on the help of others. Especially in U.S. society which emphasizes individualism, freedom, and self-dependence, this is even more the case.
From such a perspective, the future of North Korean immigrants, the first in U.S. history, seems bright. Chun Gi Won, a representative of Durihana, who helped these refugees who were floating around Southeast Asia defect to the U.S., said, “The concern is that they will suffer from deteriorated health because they work so hard.”
Ms. Lee Eun Joo expressed her readiness, “I learned patience and a way of survival while living in a refugee prison in Thailand. If life in the U.S. is difficult, how much more so than in a prison?”
“Out of the fear of being found out, I could not even cry properly even when I was scared. At least in the U.S., there is the freedom to cry when things get difficult. From now on, I will live diligently while crying to my heart’s content whenever I want to.”
This defector woman with an especially petite frame raised her thumb to the reporter while shrugging her shoulders.
