The news that the South Korean Ministry of Unification released 10 photos of North Korean fishermen being dragged back across the inter-Korean border in November 2019 is rapidly spreading inside North Korea, particularly in areas along the border with China.
A source in North Hamgyong Province told Daily NK on Monday that news of the repatriation has become the talk of the town in Hoeryong, Chongjin and other major cities in the province.
“Nobody cannot hide their shock that [the fishermen] were forcibly repatriated by the South Korean government,” he said.
Barred from accessing outside information, North Koreans were generally unaware of exactly what happened during the November 2019 incident. All they heard was rumors that “two people who tried to abscond to South Korea died after they were caught by a patrol boat,” the source said.
However, the source told Daily NK that with the incident becoming an issue in South Korea, word is rapidly spreading inside North Korea that the fishermen made it to South Korea, but were then forced to return to the North.
Many North Koreans are responding to the news with shock. The source said some North Koreans expressed outrage when they heard that the South Korean government had forcibly repatriated the North Korean fishermen.
According to the source, some North Koreans said that people “risk death when they leave here [North Korea] for China or South Korea,” and that forcibly repatriating people who had risked so much “was to drag them to their deaths.”
“While I could understand if they were sent back after being caught in China, it’s unimaginable that people who made it to South Korea would be sent back,” said the source. “Moreover, they say they went [South Korea] after killing 16 people, but such a thing is unheard of here.
“No matter how bad a person might be here, I’ve never heard of somebody who killed dozens of people,” he claimed, adding, “People here are kind natured, even if they have unrefined personalities and use rough language. Moreover, when [the fishermen] went to the South, they must have gone looking for hope and freedom, so how surprised they must have been when they were forcibly repatriated.”
Another Daily NK source said that North Koreans who go to South Korea “have great expectations regarding the South Korean government.”
“That people who went with such expectations were sent back again here [to North Korea] is unbelievable,” she said.
“How their world must have come crashing down when they were forced to return,” the source continued, adding, “Wouldn’t the South Korean government have been aware that they would die if they were sent back?”
She said that North Koreans endure even amid extreme hardships “because they believe a better world will come,” but that the forced repatriation “disappointed the people waiting for such a better world.”
The source added that she believes North Koreans who had been preparing to defect may now reconsider their plans based on news of the incident.
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