“The South Korean government will never forget compatriots in North Korea who are suffering.”
“We will not return even a single North Korean compatriot who comes to South Korea, no matter what.”
These are some of the comments made by South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol during a speech marking the first North Korean Defectors’ Day at the Blue House’s Yeongbingwan Hall in downtown Seoul on July 14.
Yoon ordered the establishment of North Korean Defectors’ Day during a Cabinet meeting in January. After gathering opinions, the government set July 14 for the celebration to commemorate the day in 1997 when Seoul passed the North Korean Refugees Protection and Settlement Support Act.
Speaking at the commemoration of the first North Korean Defectors’ Day, Yoon criticized the North Korean government for erecting walls and electric fences along the border to stop defectors, calling it an “inhuman act to block the cries of people who want to live as human beings.”
He said North Korea could not stop “steps toward hope and freedom no matter how much they suppress them” and that the South Korean government would take steps to ensure that defectors’ “steps toward freedom are not in vain.”
Daily NK interviewed an ordinary worker in the border area of North Hamgyong Province and an official in Pyongyang to learn about the impact of Yoon’s speech on North Koreans. While the worker felt hope and reassurance from Yoon’s message, the official saw it as a direct threat and an anti-North Korean plot. The interviews clearly demonstrated a difference in perspective between ordinary North Korean workers and the country’s officials.
The interviews with “A,” a resident of a border area of North Hamgyong Province, and “B,” an official in Pyongyang, are below.
Daily NK: What did you think of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s address to mark North Korean Defectors’ Day?
A: I was really choked up. Isn’t what the president says like an order from the Supreme Leader? It gave me much strength. It gave me hope that I always have somewhere to go when things get tough.
B: It was an enemy strategy to weaken us internally. I don’t think it was anything other than a ploy to divide us and interfere like the outside world always does. More people will try to defect, and patrols along the border will intensify.
Daily NK: Yoon said he would not send back even a single defector who came to the South.
A: It gives me hope deeper than the ocean and higher than the heavens. I think people struggling here and considering defecting can rest easy because they can now have faith that they can live well as long as they safely arrive in South Korea. More people will try to cross the border to defect.
B: It’s a plot to encourage more defections. If rumors of what he said spread here, we’ll have no choice but to intensify controls and travel restrictions on residents of border regions.
Daily NK: Yoon said his government would build a system providing comprehensive protection and support so defectors can settle stably in South Korea. This would include improving the initial settlement support fund, providing incentives to hire North Korean defectors and tailored mentoring.
A: I don’t really know what those things are. But if he’s building a protection and support system, I’m very thankful. Some people in the border region know that even if you defect to South Korea, you still face many difficulties. Anyway, wouldn’t state assistance really help defectors living there?
B: I’ve said it repeatedly, but such statements are provocative and poisonous acts that ultimately seek to amplify factors of instability in our society.
Daily NK: Yoon also said he would make all diplomatic efforts to prevent the forced repatriations of North Korean defectors living overseas. This is a pledge to get involved in the forced repatriation issue, too.
A: People naturally view this with hope. People who illegally cross the border into China and live in the shadows without IDs would want to live like human beings, if only for a day. People who live here feel that way, too. So, don’t people who get caught trying to go to South Korea and are dragged back to the North live even more miserable lives?
B: I take a very negative view of the puppet state getting involved in anything regarding our country. I thought we must ensure people aren’t confused by properly teaching them that this violates our national sovereignty.
Daily NK: Lastly, what would you like to say to the South Korean government, which has enacted “North Korean Defectors’ Day”?
A: Thank you. I hope this celebration provides as much strength to defectors living in South Korea as it does to people living here. Even here in North Korea, many people will have hope after hearing the news.
B: The enactment of the day is clearly intended to cause divisions in our social solidarity and sow chaos. The puppet government should stop trying to seduce so many people with nonsense.
Daily NK works with a network of sources living in North Korea, China, and elsewhere. Their identities remain anonymous for security reasons.
Please send any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.
