Lee Young-joo, a defector, was forcibly repatriated twice and detained in Ministry of State Security-run holding centers in Onsong and Sinuiju before finally making her way to South Korea. Lee sat down with Daily NK on Oct. 20 to share the painful memories of her own repatriation experiences in light of recent news that a large number of defectors detained in China have been forcibly repatriated to North Korea.
One incident in particular stood out in her recollection. During Lee’s time in detention at a Ministry of State Security (MSS) holding center in Sinuiju, she remembers the prison guards being intent on finding “so much as a single bill” that inmates had kept hidden. Officers not only forced prisoners to remove their underwear, but even searched female detainees’ disposable pads. “That’s when I thought to myself,” Lee recalls, “who knew my homeland was this wretched of a place?”
From repatriation to a MSS holding center, forced labor camp, and re-education camp, Lee has experienced North Korea’s hellish detention system firsthand and got a clear look at the “naked face” of the regime. In 2018, Lee recounted the story of her two forced repatriations and three escapes in her book, “The Naked Face of North Korea that Even Kim Jong Un Needs to Know.” A documentary based on her experiences entitled “You Don’t Know” also premiered last year.
After many twists and turns, Lee escaped North Korea and arrived in South Korea in 2011. In South Korea, Lee studied social welfare and earned licenses to work as a social worker and a nurse’s aide. She now works as a nurse’s aide and continues to speak out about the realities of human rights in North Korea. When asked about her advocacy, Lee explained, “I think it’s my calling in life as a survivor to let people know about the horrifying things happening inside North Korea.”
The following is Part 2 of Daily NK’s interview with Lee. Read Part 1 here.
Daily NK (DNK): We’ve heard that repatriated defectors are sent to political prison camps if the [Ministry of State Security] finds out that they were trying to reach South Korea. You also attempted to escape to South Korea, so how did you avoid getting sent to a political prison camp?
“I am extremely grateful that when I was in Onsong, the Chinese police didn’t hand over my documents. And, again, in Sinuiju, [the MSS] was unable to confirm that I had been trying to go to South Korea, so I was able to avoid being sent to a political prison camp. Once the MSS finishes their investigation at the holding center, you’re then sent off to detention facilities under the jurisdiction of your home region. The absolutely mind-blowing thing about getting escorted back to a prison in your hometown is that the prisoner has to pay for their own bus fare or gas costs. The MSS agents go to your house in your hometown and tell your family, ‘I need to fetch your daughter from a labor camp in Sinuiju, so give me some money to cover transportation and meal costs.’ Then, once they get the money, they go and get you. Even though I don’t want to go to prison, the government has no money, so individuals end up paying for everything.”
DNK: When you were sent back to North Korea, were there any young children [in the holding centers] there with you?
“There was a child who looked to be about three years old who had been caught alongside their mom. If a child is repatriated, they are separated from their mother and either sent to live with relatives or at an orphanage. When I was imprisoned in Sinuiju, there was a woman who was in the last month of her pregnancy. One day, the guards came and took her away and gave her an injection to induce an abortion. That night, she started moaning in pain and delivered the baby right there on the cold cement floor. They put the dead baby’s body in a plastic bag and threw it away somewhere. I saw things with my own two eyes that you would think couldn’t possibly happen in real life. Those memories are so hard to even think about that they make me shake.”
DNK: The first time you were sent back to North Korea and were detained at an MSS holding center in Onsong was 17 years ago, back in 2006. Do you think that the holding facilities, sanitation, or human rights protections for detainees might have improved at all in that time?
“Looking at North Korea’s current economic and human rights situation, I don’t see anything that’s improved in the last 17 years. On the contrary, after COVID-19, people’s lives have only gotten harder and the government’s controls have gotten stricter. North Korea is not the kind of place where, if the government just had some more money, they would spend it to improve detention facilities. Defectors are seen as people who betrayed and fled their country, so they are treated worse than animals. [The guards there] see you as animals, so why should they worry about human rights? [Rather than improving,] I think it’s more likely that things are worse than they were 17 years ago.”
DNK: You came to South Korea even after being repatriated twice. That might make you a symbol of hope for those who have been forcefully repatriated and have fallen into despair.
“My heart truly aches for them. I feel their pain all the more for having experienced it myself. But, all the same, I hope they won’t give up. If they have children in China, I urge them to think of their children as a reason to keep living. If they have faith, they should use that faith to hold on and endure. Then, once they’ve made it out, I hope they’ll raise their voices to the world.”
Translated by Rose Adams. Edited by Robert Lauler.
Please direct any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.
