The Baekdu Halla Service Group, founded in 2009 by North Korean defector Kang Sun Hui, comprises largely defectors but also
other citizens from the Daejeon region, all joining together to offer food services,
cleaning, and nanny services at senior service organizations, senior care
centers, community centers, and orphanages. Baekdu Halla Service Group
started with just 10 people but quickly grew into an organization with over 300 members.
The road leading up to the organization’s founding, however, was fraught with hardship and setbacks. “Back in 1999 I
escaped North Korea and then came to South Korea finally in 2005. It was really hard to adjust at first. I got pregnant as soon as I arrived and it took a major toll on my body. My circumstances propelled me into a deep depression–I often thought about committing suicide. But then one day I remember looking at my daughter and seeing how frightened she was…and how much she was crying. In that moment I snapped out of it, thinking ‘I can’t have this
kind of attitude!’ I realized it then, you know?” she recalls.
This incident was closely followed by a visit from her neighbor, who dropped in one day to see if she was interested in doing some service work. They ended up working at an
organization for the disabled, taking those in wheelchairs for long rides and
feeding those unable to do so themselves by hand. She experienced dichotomous feelings at the time, she says–her heart full of sadness and joy in equal measure.
This experience proved cathartic, compelling Kang to create the Baekdu Halla Service Group. She carefully considered the group’s name to convey her hope that in the future love can once again echo from Mt. Baekdu to Mt. Halla.
Kang is constantly coming up with new ideas to improve the services offered through her organization, actively encouraging her staff to do the same.”One day I went to clean the house of a
woman who lived alone and my heart sank when I saw that she didn’t have a scarf
to put around her neck,” Kang says. “That’s when we started knitting scarves, and now we
pass them out every time we complete a food service.”
Channeling family love to others
 Image: Daily NK |
“I came to South Korea in 2006 by myself.
Living without any relatives at all was terribly lonely, but the Beakdu Halla
Service Group introduced me to so many wonderful people who have become like
family to me. The senior citizens we visit that live alone along with elderly
defectors have also become part of my family. My relatives are close in my
heart at all times, and I share my eternal love for them with others,”
says Baekdu Halla Service Group’s general affairs manager, Lim Ok Hwa.
Lee Yeong Sun, a director with the
organization, followed by touching on her experience with discovering the true meaning of love
and sharing. “I came to South Korea in 2011 and started participating with
Baekdu Halla Service Group last year. My parents passed away at an early age. My
heart feels the warmest when I am serving and I hold these elderly people’s
hands–they remind me of my parents. The more activities I do and people I meet
through this organization the happier my life becomes,” she says.
Kang concluded by elaborating on this notion,
pointing out that “you don’t have to have a fortune or own lots of things
to be of service. Simple acts like making food or knitting a scarf are things
that people of all walks of life can do.”
*This article was made possible by support
from the Korea Hana Foundation [the North Korean Refugees Foundation].
