Perilous journey to South Korea for life with dignity

Young North Koreans venture to land of opportunity to fulfill higher needs

By Kang Hyun-kyung

On June 10, a 17-year-old North Korean soldier, known by the alias Song Myung-hak, decided to undertake a dangerous journey that could cost him his life if things went badly.

He abandoned his military unit in the northwestern border town of Sinuiju, swam across the Yalu River on the border toward Chinese territory and finally arrived in the northeastern Chinese city of Dandong.

Days after, he was ushered by several middlemen to an unnamed humanitarian worker and activist associated with the nonprofit group Justice for North Korea. Upon the North Korean teen's request, the activist secretly arranged Song's trip to the South via an undisclosed third country.

For decades, China has repatriated North Korean defectors back to their homeland, where they face appalling treatment for being "traitors," and has turned a deaf ear to international calls to stop the unjust practice.

The plan to send the young North Korean to the South has gone well so far. According to Justice for North Korea, Song has arrived at the unnamed Southeast Asian country last weekend and will arrive in South Korea in August, if all necessary steps are taken as scheduled.

Unlike older North Koreans who in the past crossed the border in search of food, Song defected not because of hunger.

As part of the generation born after the black market was established and spread all across the North as a way of life, his basic need for food was met.

But he had a humble wish for a career. He wanted to earn a university education that could land him a decent job, a dream he later realized would be impossible to achieve in his homeland, which is mired in corruption.

The inhumane treatment of soldiers in the military was the key reason for his decision to take the perilous journey to South Korea to live a life with dignity.

"Just like other North Korean soldiers, he was not allowed to have phone conversations with his family or have vacations during which he could visit home while fulfilling his military service, which would continue for 10 years," said Peter Chung, a pastor and the president of Justice for North Korea. "He was frustrated by such dismal reality in the military. His uncertain post-military career is another reason behind his determination to defect to the South."

Chung said he had a brief phone conversation with Song when the North Korean was under the protection of his fellow humanitarian worker in China. He declined to share further details on the defector and his helpers to ensure their safety.

"North Korea is a hopeless country for young people like Song, who has no money to bribe government officials. His family also has no ties with influential figures, who could place him in a decent job after he completes his military service," Chung said.

"North Korea has become a Republic of Bribes. Without money or a network of influential people, it's almost impossible for people there to become a communist party member, land a job or go to college."

Unlike older North Koreans, Song, who was born in 2000, had spent his young adulthood without worrying about skipping meals.

This is a stark difference between his generation and the black market generation, or those who were born in the 1980s and early 1990s, who had spent their childhood and young adulthood, respectively, during North Korea's great famine of the mid-1990s.

As they faced these tough times, during which millions were killed and government rations stopped, the older North Koreans learned a key lesson — they must find their own way to make a living without relying on the state. These North Koreans have learned to become self-reliant and earn their living through the black market.

Post-black market generation

Thus, as hunger and other basic needs were no longer an issue for many of the post-black market generation like Song, the younger North Koreans started looking beyond what to eat and thinking about higher needs, such as self-realization and living with dignity.

In addition, they were raised in North Korea's own Information Age. While North Koreans are prohibited from watching or reading materials about the outside world, they can catch up on the developments in the outside world through various illicit means and devices. They retune radios and secretly circulate DVDs, CDs and USB sticks on which films and dramas have been downloaded.

Word of mouth is another key source of information that has educated North Koreans about South Korea and the rest of the outside world, according to Park Joon-su, 23, who defected to South Korea in 2012.

"North Korean defectors in the South speak on a regular basis with their family, friends and relatives in the North over the phone after paying a lot of money to a broker," he said. "Their phone conversations come before they send money to their families in the North, to make sure their money is not intercepted by a broker. Some of the North Koreans share what they heard about South Korea, whether it is positive or negative, with the people they can trust. Hence, information about the South is passed from the North."

Park said he was able to adapt to South Korean culture early because of his relatively wealthy parents, who accumulated a considerable fortune through the black market. Back in North Korea, he already had his own personal computer when he was only 11 years old.

He said he came to think critically of what he learned in school after he watched "Iris: The Movie," a 2010 action spy thriller about the security tensions between the two Koreas.

"In the North, we're told that South Korean movies and dramas are hype and they're made for the purpose of South Korean government propaganda. And they didn't reflect real South Korean lifestyles," he said.

"South Korea used them to sow seeds of doubt among North Koreans and stir them up to take a stand against their regime. This is what I heard.

"But I was not convinced because I noticed the fancy buildings, devices and infrastructure that were shown in the film. Such a physical environment is not something that can be made up overnight for a film."

Park escaped the North while he was attending a military school in the northeastern county of Kilju because he knew he would not be allowed to choose a career outside the military once he graduated.

North Korea's new educated generation has revived a decade-old debate about the future of young people in the Hermit Kingdom — can they be an agent of change?

Kim Young-hee, senior fellow of North Korean studies at Korea Finance Corp. in Seoul, said their potential role in changing the North seems limited at the moment.

"North Koreans in Pyongyang and the border cities are more exposed to Korean dramas and information about the outside world than countryside people because the former group has easier access to such information," she said. "Young North Koreans try to follow South Korean lifestyles, such as hairstyles or food, or the way South Koreans talk. But it's premature to say whether South Korean dramas or documentaries are having a real impact on their attitudes toward the North Korean regime and are helping fan their discontent about the repressive regime."

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