{"id":5910,"date":"2022-08-03T12:30:45","date_gmt":"2022-08-03T03:30:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.02.asiapress.org\/rimjin-gang\/?p=5910"},"modified":"2022-08-05T17:00:29","modified_gmt":"2022-08-05T08:00:29","slug":"nk-defector-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.02.asiapress.org\/rimjin-gang\/2022\/08\/society-economy\/nk-defector-2\/","title":{"rendered":"\uff1cSpecial Feature\uff1e Escaping N.Korea\u2026History and Present State(2) Defectors have become a threat to the regime\u2026Around 200 live in Japan\u3000ISHIMARU Jiro"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A woman who fled from North Korea in hiding under the care of a Korean-Chinese man in a rural area of China. Taken in January 2001 by ISHIMARU Jiro.<\/p><\/div>\n

fa-arrow-circle-right<\/span><\/i><\/span>\uff1cSpecial Feature\uff1e Escaping North Korea\u2026History and Present State(1)<\/strong> Kim Jong Un\u2019s war of extermination leads to the end of the defector era\u3000ISHIMARU Jiro<\/a><\/p>\n

\u25c6 The brutal atmosphere pervading the China-North Korea border\u2026Border crossers are fired upon without warning<\/h2>\n

After the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, there has been an unprecedented intensification of security along the Tumen and Yalu rivers. It is reasonable to say that Kim Jong-un has implemented extreme measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 by investing massive amounts of human and financial resources into the border patrol, despite the paralysis faced by the North Korean economy and deaths by starvation among the country\u2019s vulnerable classes.<\/p>\n

Because of COVID-19, I\u2019ve been unable to go to China, but one Chinese member of the ASIAPRESS team has frequently taken photos of the China-North Korea border. The photos show that North Korea has mobilized the military into almost all areas of the border to strengthen the barbed-wire fences, and are even installing equipment that allows electricity to flow through the barriers.<\/p>\n

In August 2020, North Korean authorities declared a 1-2km buffer zone along the border and warned that anyone approaching the area without permission would be fired upon without warning. In fact, ASIAPRESS confirmed that an incident had occurred in December 2021 where three people trying to escape into China were shot at, with one person dying as a result. In short, the authorities have made it very challenging for people to even approach the rivers that serve as the border between North Korea and China.<\/p>\n

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Soldiers going past a checkpoint in a dump truck along a road near the Yalu River. All the soldiers are wearing masks. Taken in July 2021 from the Chinese side of the river by ASIAPRESS.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u25c6 Defectors are a threat to the Kim Jong-un regime<\/h2>\n

The Kim Jong-un regime has long been frustrated about continued defections by its people. Defectors expose the Kim family dynasty\u2019s lies and serve as living witnesses to the terrible living conditions and horrible human rights abuses inflicted by the regime. In 2016, the UN North Korean Human Rights Committee released a detailed report that examined the country\u2019s political prison camp network and political system, which demands absolute loyalty and subservience from its people on a daily basis. A key source of this information used in the report came from the massive amount of evidence gathered from interviews with defectors.
\nDefectors have also grown to become the center of anti-North Korean regime activities in other countries, including South Korea. While there is controversy over how these activities are conducted, some defectors send leaflets and USBs through balloons into North Korea with a view to allow people there to access outside information, while others in Europe have tried to establish a government-in-exile. In South Korea, there are two defectors in the National Assembly, Thae Yong-ho and Ji Song-ho.<\/p>\n

Most defectors have left their loved ones back in North Korea, which means they have actively tried to stay in touch with relatives to provide them with support. These efforts have created routes in which defectors could send money and information into North Korea. While it has gotten more challenging now, just around five years ago, one phone call was all that was needed to send money from Seoul or Osaka into North Korea.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s more, North Korean party and military officials are secretly watching South Korean dramas and other foreign video content. Young North Koreans use South Korean-style accents and enjoy K-Pop.<\/p>\n

In December 2020, the Kim Jong-un regime enacted the \u201cDPRK Law on rejecting reactionary ideology and culture\u201d under the strong belief that allowing South Korean culture to permeate into the country would weaken the foundations of the regime. People caught just watching South Korean dramas face five years in prison, while particularly serious infractions can spell the death penalty.
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This announcement states that \u201cAny person or animal that enters our side of the Yalu and Tumen river bank will be fired upon without warning.\u201d Taken in late August 2020 by ASIAPRESS.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u25c6 Two hundred defectors reside in Japan<\/h2>\n

There are currently around 200 defectors living in Osaka and Tokyo and its suburbs. From 1959 to 1984, around 93,000 Koreans living in Japan and their Japanese family members returned to North Korea. The defectors in Osaka and its suburbs are the children of these \u201creturnees\u201d who eventually came back to Japan.<\/p>\n

In December of last year, a North Korean woman in her early 20s entered Japan. She had run away to China from her mountain village in the northern part of North Korea before the start of the pandemic, but was then arrested by the Chinese police and spent a year in detention. After that, she was just barely granted permission to enter Japan. Based on my own research, she is the first defector to have officially entered Japan since a North Korean man in his early 20s entered the country in late 2017.
\nBoth defectors were allowed to enter Japan because they have Japanese relatives. The woman\u2019s grandmother was born in Fukui Prefecture and married a Korean living in Japan before going to North Korea in 1961. In short, the grandmother was the \u201cJapanese wife of a Korean.\u201d The woman\u2019s mother was born in North Korea in 1970.<\/p>\n

In the man\u2019s case, his mother was a Korean living in Japan who had been born in Tokyo. When she was an elementary school student in the late 1970s, the man\u2019s mother moved with her family to North Korea. The Japanese government allows the entry of people who went to North Korea during the official \u201creturning home period\u201d along with their family members, regardless of their nationality status at the time. However, Japan does not have a settlement support program like that in South Korea, and North Koreans who enter the country receive support from the Korean Residents Union in Japan (Mindan) or other privately operated organizations.<\/p>\n

The female defector settled in Osaka and is engaged in both her studies and working part-time. The male defector settled in Tokyo and, after graduating from high school, he got a job. His Japanese is almost perfect. I only hope that these two young defectors, who risked their lives to get to Japan, can lead successful lives in a society where they can decide their future for themselves.<\/p>\n

The reality, however, is that most of the 200 or so defectors in Japan hide the fact that they came from North Korea. While part of this may be because they are afraid harm might come to their loved ones in North Korea, many are concerned that if people know where they are from, they could face discrimination, disadvantages, and suspicion that they are \u201cspies.\u201d The hate speech directed toward Koreans in Japan is also a factor that encourages them to hide their identities.<\/p>\n

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A photo of Ri Chang-seong, a Korean born in Japan\u2019s Okayama Prefecture. He crossed over to North Korea in 1962, but then escaped into China after finding it impossible to live there. Taken by ISHIMARU Jiro in August 1999.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u25c6 N. Korean refugees will not come to Japan if a crisis erupts on the Korean Peninsula<\/h2>\n

However, there are politicians in Japan who claim that if there is a \u201ccrisis on the Korean Peninsula, one million North Korean refugees will swarm onto Japanese shores\u201d or that \u201carmed spies pretending to be refugees will come here.\u201d In my view, these claims are completely ridiculous. Even if North Korea was to collapse - and even if there were North Koreans who tried to cross over to Japan by boat \u2013 this number would be more in the hundreds or thousands.<\/p>\n

Most North Koreans would try to go to the much closer and safer South Korea, a country where they can understand the language. Or they would head to China, right across their country\u2019s northern border. Those who cross over to Japan through treacherous seas would be only those who truly have the desire to come to Japan; in short, they would be the relatives of former residents of Japan.<\/p>\n

While some refugees could float into Japanese waters by boat, given that most refugees would want to head to South Korea, all Japan would have to do is treat them respectfully before sending them on their way. It make sense that most refugees would want to go to South Korea given that finding safety would be their priority; that would be true even if they people with Japanese relatives. These people could then be allowed to enter Japan legally after going through the proper entry procedures at ports or in airports. There would be nothing to worry about. (End of series)<\/p>\n

ISHIMARU Jiro<\/strong>
\nDirector of ASIAPRESS\u2019s Osaka Office, Journalist<\/p>\n

Born in Osaka in 1962, Ishimaru has made three trips into North Korea and 100 trips to the China-North Korea border region since 1993. He has interviewed over 1,000 North Koreans and maintains and develops a reporting network inside the country. His works include \u201cNorth Korean Refugees,\u201d \u201cKodansha,\u201d \u201cJun Returns to North Korea,\u201d and the \u201cNHK Hi-Vision Special Feature.\u201d<\/p>\n

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