Ten years have quickly passed since the “march of suffering” began in the 90s. Since then the number of North Korean citizens defecting to China have been continuous.
Through the voices of 4 voluntary NGO workers in China, the DailyNK was able to learn of the current issues faced by defectors living near the border regions of Shenyang, Jilian and Liaoning.
* Interviewees
– Lee Min Ki (pseudonym) : age 42, independent worker, 9 years in China
– Park Joon Young (pseudonym) : age 40, missionary, 6 years in China,
– Choi Young Shik (pseudonym) : age 38, NGO worker of a South Korean organization, 4 years in China,
– Kim Young Chul (pseudonym) : age 36, missionary, 5 years in China,
– Reporter : Kwon Jeong Hyun (DailyNK correspondent in China)
Reporter: In that case, what’s the motive for defectors to cross over to China? I’m curious to know what type of things defectors are looking for nowadays.
Lee: Until the late 90s, defectors would go to China in search for food, clothing and medicine. Then by 2004~2005, the trend changed and more people began to send money back to their families in their hometown, whether this was earned in China or South Korea.
Nowadays, there are many people who attempt escape with the mindset of entering South Korea. Lately, there aren’t many people who say, “I want to return home after I make money.” On the whole, people want to go straight to South Korea. Though each case is different, the majority of people who defect to China either have no reason to return to North Korea or their grassroots back home have completely collapsed.
I am looking for this change amidst a North Korean society where the gap between the rich and poor widens. The gap between rich and poor in the North Korea arises from the government’s inability and corruption. For example, following the 2002, July 1st economic measures, permanent markets were established throughout regions of North Korea and trade became active. A generation of independent living through trade was introduced into a generation where life was dependent on the national distribution system.
However, in North Korea, it is difficult to run a successful business with only one’s strength and money. This is because the policies of North Korean authorities fluctuate severely. The nation established a marketplace for individuals to trade and even allocated and distributed stalls to owners. Then, authorities backlash and suppress store owners by ordering “Do not trade.” They regulated business owners who travel to obtain goods to sell and say, “Do not go on personal trips.”
As incoherent as is North Korea’s policies, officials and workers violate the law and request bribes. Whether you live off trade or lease an area of land and live off the produce, bribes must be offered to officials. Of course this is only applicable to people who have such funds in the first place. Excluding the people with a clean record and have relatives that are officials or a person that maintains good relations through bribes, most of the people lose hope for reason to live.
In the 90s defectors regarded North Korean officials as “fools who starved the people to death.” Now, they are called “wolves who extort the people.” In the 90s, defectors would say, “I came to China with my eyesight blurred as I had been starving for over a week.” More recently, defectors say, “I came to China because I had nothing to eat tomorrow.”
Park: There is a growing gap in class amongst defectors. Between members of the Party and non-members, city and country dwellers, people with clean records and common laborers or general farmers, there is no longer difference among defectors.
Rather, as travelling and relocating in North Korea becomes stricter especially in the border regions, the only difference you see in defectors is a decreased number of people from the southern provinces in comparison to the northern provinces. Otherwise, defectors come from all classes and backgrounds. Though laborers and farmers do still account for a large number of defectors, there are nonetheless, defectors from elite universities in Pyongyang, sergeants from the People’s Army, university professors, skilled technicians, creative artists, employees from trading companies and members of the National Security Agency who cross over to China.
From 3~4 years ago, there has been a continuous increase in defectors denoted as “criminals” in North Korea. This percentage is not unrelated to change in North Korean society. For instance, the Kim Jong Il government no longer has any ability to take responsibility for the lives of the people though it continues to demand that the people act submissively like the days of Kim Il Sung. The nation cannot even provide the people with basic food distributions and yet it continues to control ways in which the people have independently developed to live. As a result, more and more people end up violating regulations and orders made by North Korean authorities.
There was one case where a researcher defected to China after being caught by the National Security Agency for selling home-made cold medicine and pain killers at Jangmadang (markets). The researcher was supposed to be developing new medicine for Kim Jong Il’s health. In another case, a famous female artist and singer escaped to China after being sentenced to death for singing South Korean songs. There was a sergeant who was caught for allowing defectors to cross the border after receiving money and a farmer who was sentenced for trial at a political prison camp after a cow was stolen during his time on duty.
Choi: Recently, there is another increasing trend where families are defecting as a group. In the past, the majority of people defected by themselves. There was an overwhelming large number of defectors who came to China with the plan of acquiring food or money to either send back to their families or take with them when they returned. Basically, it was the ‘representative sportsperson’ of the family whether it was father, mother, son or daughter. If the person was lucky and landed him/herself a job and lifestyle in China, then in most cases another member of the family would defect also.
However, from about 1~2 years ago, I could sense that the number of people defecting in families was rising. Actually, families who defect to China as one group are people who have reached rock bottom. Either the whole family has been banished due to one family member’s crime or they are so poor that they have lost all possible hope of remaining in North Korea. Also, there are many women who come to China as a single-parent after the death of their husbands or divorce.
Kim: Similar to what Lee Min Ki was saying earlier, many people defector with the aspiration of going to South Korea. This is because many North Korean people are enticed by South Korea over China. There are more than 10,000 defectors in South Korea now and more and more stories of successful South Korean defectors are spreading throughout North Korean people.
However, even though defectors are aware of the benefits that awaits them in South Korea, they are unsure of what they will do until entry to South Korea let alone the processes involved. This is a big problem. While there has been a dramatic decline in the number of defectors in China, the reason that there has not be a dramatic decline in the number of forced repatriations back to Norht Korea is because of the large number of people caught by Chinese authorities who hastily attempt entry to South Korea. I believe this is another area in which the South Korean government and international society must now address.
