Is escaping North Korea really worth it? | Foreign Correspondent

foreign

er this is Korea's demilitarized zone for over 70 years the DMZ has divided the nation between North and South a war in suspended animation but over the border in the

north

people have been desperate to escape for decades

foreign

ers risk their lives to escape some fleeing political persecution others in search of a better life but reality is often very different computers you have to fit into is a tribal society are always in some way Outsiders those who escape are rarely known as deserters they speak in public still fear the regime here to find the North Korean flaw has paid off inside Seoul's ATV channel a group of women nicknamed by producers as Defective Beauties is grooming their guests on the country's popular variety show called now on way to meet you that the defectors are from North Korea and the show is filmed in a setting inspired by Panmunjong, a village in the demilitarized zone for many South Koreans.

The gas deserter interrogated by the show's panelists is their only insight into the people who risk their lives seeking freedom in the foreign South Australia that the guests provide. an entertaining critique of North Korean culture and politics that often pokes fun at the regime thanks, hey, Jin Ryu is a regular, flawed guest. She began secretly watching smuggled South Korean television shows and became obsessed with the life she could have if she escaped. An agent was one. Of the tens of thousands of North Koreans sent to work abroad to raise money for the regime, working abroad gave him the opportunity to escape.

Do you ever worry about the security risks to your family, given that your parents still live there, that there might be consequences for them if you speak on the show, well, are you in contact with your family in North Korea? No, it is not possible for me because yes, my family stays in Pyongyang city, so this is not easy or possible for me, yes. It must be very hard not being able to talk, yes, for many defectors, the reality of life in South Korea is a shock, yes, and you will film until Thursday. Dr. Joanna Husseiniak has been documenting the human rights of North Koreans for more than 20 years. -The for-profit organization has increasingly focused on their plight in the south, first and foremost, they watch soap operas and see how South Koreans live their lives, what car they drive, what their apartments are like, this is your kind of person.

We know the expectations these people have that they will receive a better education here, have better jobs and live a better life. There are almost 34,000 defectors living in South Korea, most of them are women and they are viewed with suspicion in South Korea. The reality is that most South Koreans do not want to meet North Koreans or are afraid of them, even they no longer see North Korea as the same country. A meeting with a defector who has been here in Seoul since 2019 and she asked us to use. a pseudonym because she is afraid of being attacked by the North Korean regime sunju was attracted to the glamorous South Korean lifestyle she saw on television shows smuggling um foreigner foreigner they managed to cross the river safely but the journey was far from over they traveled for weeks through Southeast Asia, the most common route used by defectors is the foreign one, the South Korean life she had seen on the screen was nothing like reality, foreign, foreign, they are always somehow outsiders, South Koreans expect that, oh, you speak the Korean language, you know Korean culture.

You are South Koreans and there is little understanding for that variety, a tolerance that you may be Korean but you may have a totally different history, it's okay, you have to fit in, it's a tribal society, you have to fit in if you don't, you are an outsider and I think that many North Koreans are in some way in their country and are foreigners, the South Korean government has a program aimed at integrating deserters, they are examined upon arrival to eliminate spies before being sent for three months to a mandatory prison. -education camp aign is the director of the Hana Foundation, the government-funded organization responsible for the long-term care of deserters, oh no foreigners, they are completely isolated from society, they are bombarded with all this education on how to open your bank. count, you know how to drive a car, how to control your money, where to apply for jobs, etc., what kind of kimchi, cheese and other types of products you have.

Many of them told us that the moment they left they realized that they forgot everything they have been educated in and they don't

really

know how to manage their lives. When the deserters are released they are given a resettlement payment and a subsidized apartment. subsidies are not huge and when they end and you don't. If you have a family, you don't have a support system to fall back on, it is very difficult for them to find better jobs because the fact of being born in North Korea affects them almost for life, so I think they are pushed into poverty.

All along one criticism that has been shared with us is that the resettlement package is not sufficient to meet the needs of defectors in the long term. Do you think the program

really

offers them the ability to adapt to life here abroad through this modern world? city ​​of almost 26 million inhabitants many North Korean defectors live isolated on the margins of society you know what that's like um foreigner foreigner foreigner sounds incredibly lonely here I am ponson Antonio leads a group of volunteers who monitor the well-being of the defectors he has been with Living abroad in South Korea for three years, come on, foreigner, foreigner, he fled North Korea after being imprisoned and tortured by the army.

They had caught her trying to talk to her son, who had fled to China months before. He now lives with severe liver cirrhosis. I haven't been seeing the doctor because you can't afford to go abroad. This team are the only people who visit her during the week and the rest of the time she doesn't have the energy to go out, struggling financially, her whole world essentially, these occasional visits from the team give her food give us some company sometimes make some health checks and they just help with the housework but really that's all she has the visit lasts less than 30 minutes so they are Moving on to the next there are still many more people to check on the largest wave of escaped North Korean defectors In the 90's a devastating famine engulfed the North and is estimated to have killed Millions of thousands of people fled across the border into China I am traveling to meet one of them a few hours from Seoul her name is Sujin Jude she lives in the back room of the restaurant where she works at the height of the famine she and her family had to scavenge to survive when a smuggler offered to take a surgeon across the border and into China.

He didn't hesitate. The surgeons swam across the Truman River that divides North Korea and China, but she was not free like many of the women fleeing the regime. She was sold into a forced and then foreign marriage just a few months later. Sujin became pregnant the arrival of her daughter Chunmi changed everything and a foreigner the courage to escape her marriage thought it was safer to leave Chunmi in the care of her Chinese grandparents Sujin traveled for several months through China and Laos to South Korea two foreigners years to bring their daughter to South Korea um foreigner, do you remember coming here when you were younger?

Yeah, just remember that cream color. Jun May's reunion with her mother was short-lived. Sujin had to work long hours at the restaurant, so Chunmi was placed here. in this shelter for the children of North Korean defectors she's been living here ever since how many people live here 10 people plus ten more and where do you sleep oh I sleep Don okay can you show me? It's good, awesome. Sujin and Chunmi's separation has made their relationship difficult um foreigner foreigner her doctors said she would never walk again yes, it's okay foreigner foreigner hasn't healed all the wounds remain distant or ego tuni is trying to find her own path is enrolled in Her first year of college she has her own network of friends and she is documenting her life on YouTube.

Wow, my channel. Two classes. What do you have to try drawing class and find English classes abroad?