North Korea’s ‘Return to Paradise’ nightmare

People said that North Korea is like

paradise

on Earth and people were confident that more than 93,000 Koreans, that is, one in six Koreans, moved to North Korea even though they are originally from South Korea. South. I saw it myself for the first time. The first time there is no freedom at all, a rumor began to spread among the D community that there is a very scary prison camp and someone suddenly disappeared. Where is my brother? Oh, my mom asked but they didn't say anything. I never heard from them afterward. mind you, it's over 25 years I don't know if they're alive or not no North Korea for decades has been something of a villain on the world stage The despotic leader of North Korea a murderous oppressive regime Growing fears about growing nuclear capabilities North Korea's capabilities North Korea has abandoned freedom and prosperity and this lord peace, but for those who grew up in the small North Korean communities of Japan, the stories they heard about the secret state presented a very different picture: they show how beautiful and happy it is to live in North Korea.

In hangu Pak, she grew up in a community of zichi Koreans, a term used to describe more than 1 million ethnic Koreans who call Japan their home, like many others at the time were members of the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan or Chung a. pro-North Korean group that rents everything from banks, schools and restaurants to media companies, shipping lines and Pachinko parlors. I grew up in KOB in Japan, there is a big community of Koreans, so I went to a Korean school, from kindergarten to high school, all my sisters. and my brothers and even my parents went to a Korean school, so even though I lived in Japan, I didn't live in Japan, we thought we were not Japanese, we were taught that we are not Japanese, even though we are the third generation, they told us.

We are foreigners here so we need strong ties with somewhere where many Korean schools at that time were organized by Chongyang Pro nor the Korean organization was that strong at that time and the North Korean regime supported the Z Community faster than the . The South Korean government was a kind of fence for us that protects us in some way, so the first song I learned in Korean school in kindergarten was like the Kim praise song. There was a portrait in the classroom, so I thought, oh, it's a In a different world, it's not Japan and I learned that maybe this is a place I belong from 1959 to 1984, Chung's career promoted a public relations campaign which sought to convince Zichi Koreans to abandon their lives in Japan for North Korea, a place they called a

paradise

.

On Earth, the repatriation program was run by the Red Cross, paid for by Pyongyang, and heavily publicized by Chong. The "Return to Paradise" program convinced some 94,000 people to move to North Korea, many left Japan to pursue dreams of a better future, my uncle. He was a teenager and he had a dream in Japan he had a dream in Japan but at that time it was the 60s there was serious discrimination against Koreans in Japan my uncle was taught in school that you know there is freedom if you go to the Homeland, you can, you can make your dream come true.

He had a girlfriend when he was in high school and her girlfriend moved to North Korea first, so he decided to go to North Korea and find her because he was a teenager and my uncle left. Japan in 1967 and he didn't even find his girlfriend. He was assigned a city and there is no freedom to move in North Korea, so it is very difficult to find people in North Korea, so he never saw her again even though he moved to North Korea, she belonged to some organization, uh, which is something to do with mushrooms, but then if you pay money to the company or organization that you belong to, then you don't have to go to work every day, that's how society works. told me we get so many letters saying send, please send some money, commodities and everything, and there are so many other Z people saying, oh, they're having a hard time, you have to send money, maybe a year later, my uncle in North Korea.

He sent a letter because he couldn't write the honest feeling of him. He said, “Just send me a balloon,” which means he wants to come home. That made my mom cry and she realized "this is not the place we should go." She was in a lot of pain and really regretted letting him go. I saw my parents sending money, commodities and everything to North Korea throughout their lives because one in six Koreans sent their relatives to North Korea. He is like a hostage. We have to be loyal to the North Korean government, so we can protect them, but the school told us that you know that the Socialist Homeland will provide everything we need and those who

return

live happily ever after.

I thought it was all a lie and something is so strange why. Why don't they teach the reality Park soon was able to see the reality of North Korea first hand when I went to North Korea when I was 17 it was a school trip uh 2 weeks when I arrived at a port I could immediately find my cousins ​​uh in the port because they were wearing the clothes that we sent them it was very strange the first time in my life I saw my cousins ​​but they look a lot like me and yes, I can't, I can't forget that moment.

When I got off the ship, the ferry I was a little surprised that the promising Homeland looked so gray and I saw my uncle and I felt his you know regret and his difficulties and he missed Japan so much that he lost everything suddenly and It was just like a

nightmare

imagine how terribly his life changed. They don't have the freedom to express what they feel, so they are like when they talk in a hotel, they are like you, you can't say what you want because maybe there is a connection, so at home, on the blanket, we talked freely, but Otherwise we cannot speak freely and there is always a Watcher, the guide, who watches us in 1996.

POG

return

ed to North Korea for the second time to discover. that the conditions were even worse uh the second trip was terrible um I went with my mom and I saw my three cousins ​​and my aunt they looked very sad and almost crying my mom asked where is your dad where is my brother but they didn't say anything they all started to cry, they took their father to another place and they knew that it is a secret place and that he will not return home soon and they are very scared. I promised them that they know I will be back and don't worry. stay alive just survive uh we'll be back soon we promised then we left and that was the last time I saw them.

I never heard from them after that yes, it's been more than 25 years. I don't know if they are alive or not. Once I wanted to forget about them, I wanted to forget about their life because it is too big a burden and too complicated. I wanted to be a simple South Korean citizen and I wanted to forget my memory in North Korea, where I moved to or something. Maybe more than 20 years ago I worked on non-Korean human rights issues with so many Nos and North Korean defectors and a North Korean defector called me one day. I call him Mr.

Kim. Mr. Kim, you escaped North Korea and live in Japan. I flew to Japan to see him and he said he knew everything about my uncle. The reason my uncle was arrested was because there was a gathering of friends and my uncle received an international phone call from Japan, which is another thing. My uncle in Japan and my older uncle in Japan were drunk and told my uncle in North Korea that the people of Romania brought down the Romanian government, so don't worry, North Korea won't last that long, that's what he said in the international phone call. and everyone in that room was frozen, even listening to that kind of story is a crime in North Korea, he said and the next day the secret police arrested everyone in that room and then they investigated, tortured them and forced them to say everything they they know.

They are friends who argued among themselves in the past. You know, if they say something good, they might release you. Then one of his friends said: You know my uncle. He once said that you knew that he wanted to shoot Kim Jong when he had a machine. gun or something when he was drunk he said something terrible then my uncle's charge became more serious and my uncle was beaten to death by beating that's what Mr. Kim told me so when I was in North Korea in 1996 he wasn't there, he was I'm already dead if one member A member of the family was accused of some crime, the rest of the family will be accused, you know, everything is connected, oh, that's the North Korean system after My uncle was tortured to death, the rest of the family took my three cousins ​​away. and the aunt, uh, they were taken to a political prison camp called Yo Camp, which is number 15 K.

I heard that a North Korean defector told me that this woman now lives in Soul and her friend passed along with my cousin and my aunt in the political prisoner camp at that time. It's been more than 10 years since they were arrested and they left with only their severely malnourished bones and skin, so she told me that maybe you're dad, there's no hope for them to still be alive, so forget about them, that's what I always said. I couldn't understand why they took away the rest of the family what is their sin what is their sin what crime have they really committed I didn't really understand and but this is the reality of North Korea it's not just my family's story many know that similar stories are happening now in North Korea as well, so I wanted the world to know that you know this is happening right now and especially me, I felt betrayed by my upbringing, what was it, you know? education was all about praising North Korea, I never thought about the reality of North Korea and I think they are.

I think the way they educate students was really wrong and I think I started thinking about what am I going to do, you know, maybe I should. tell this story to people, as you know, nkr represents the victims of inferred disappearances and interviews the victims' families and presents their cases to the working groups on involuntary disappearances so that the people on the working group of the United Nations, yes, recognize that your uncle was the victim of this enforced disappearance in North Korea, uhhuh, so the confirmation that your uncle's case was conveyed to the government, the North Korean government is fine, and This is good, it is the testimony that I made good on the occasion of On the 62nd anniversary of the start of the Paradise on Earth displacement operation, we strongly urge the North Korean government to clarify the fate and whereabouts of the Korean zich, many of whom remain missing to this day.

We have already presented around 107 cases of forced disappearance committed. by the North Korean government, so this was a really very significant statement from the UN task force on the disappearance of the universe because they recognize the problem and they also officially requested the North Korean government to restore the capability. Mhm, when I left North Korea, I promised them that I will come back soon and help them and I tried, I tried so hard to go back to North Korea and do something for them, but there is nothing I can do for them, so I could not keep my words and I think that if I forget about them, their existence, their neighbor existed, the only thing I can do is not forget them.

I imagine that one day maybe one of my relatives can reach South Korea and that can be a Miracle but I still believe that you know how to learn more about North Koreans from Japan. community and a return to Paradise program watch this video below