Communication Problem Haunts NK Defectors

By Kim Sue-young
Staff Reporter

An increasing number of North Koreans are risking their lives fleeing to South Korea via China or Thailand to escape from hunger and oppression. Even though South and North Koreans speak the same language, communication between them is not smooth.

Upon arrival, what they face in the land of ``freedom'' is quite different from what they expect. North Korean defectors have difficulties settling down here due to a lack of stable jobs and places to live.

Ko Gyoung-bin, director-general of Hanawon, a government organ for the education of defectors, said it is necessary to change the perception those defectors have. North Korean defectors are young. Of the 14,000 North Koreans residing in the South about 80 percent of them are aged between 20 and 40. ``I think they are great assets. They will definitely be helpful to the economy,'' he said in an interview with The Korea Times.

Ko highlighted that Saeteomins ― North Korean defectors in South Korea ― are determined to settle down. ``Basically, they escaped from the Stalinist state to live well. In terms of their ability and potential, I believe they will overcome differences between the two Koreas in three to four years,'' the director-general said.

Communication Problem

``There was an A-list welder from the North. He quickly got a job because he was very skillful but he couldn't work well,'' Ko said. ``I heard that he could not understand instructions from his boss and co-workers.'' Unlike workers of the reclusive state, South Korean employees use lots of English words and terms that the practiced welder did not understand, he added. The different atmosphere in the workplace also burdens him, Ko said.

Considering problems facing saeteomins, Hanawon has prepared training programs to help them adapt to their new circumstances. ``We thought it would be good if we could help the defectors get a job with special programs but we could not implement it due to a lack of proper instructors and funds,'' Ko said. Although the Labor Ministry subsidizes the training of defectors.

Ko has introduced three types of program.

Training Programs

The first cooperates with the Unification Ministry and a vocational school in Anyang, Gyeonggi Province, to provide them with a training session and guarantee employment.

Currently, CJ Foodvill, a giant food processor and producer, is helping out with the program, Ko added. ``North Koreans can work as regular workers in about 700 branches of the company nationwide after they finish a five-month training course and earn a certificate. Seventeen passed the first test for the certificate two weeks ago and 22 are currently being trained under the program,'' he said. Noting that more Saeteomins passed the exam than Anyang residents did, he said this is a very encouraging model to help them settle here.

The second kind of program is one where a company hires a defector first and then trains him or her using its own program.

``GM Daewoo Auto and Technology is a good example. If a defector shows a good performance with sincerity as an apprentice mechanic for one year, he or she can work as a regular worker.'' Seven joined the program in January, he said. The settlement-supporting office invited 10 more people but nearly 30 applied for the vacancy. The office and the company are currently screening them, he said.

Lastly, North Korean defectors can set up and run their own company with funds from a charity foundation.

``A Christian foundation, named `Fruit,' has funded a box-making firm run by defectors. I found that they have already received an order which they have to produce within the next year,'' Ko said. A total of 17 North Koreans are working there and presented their first piece of work two weeks ago.

Even though these programs are in their initial stage, it is very encouraging that they are making good progress, he said.

Discrimination

Discrimination is another problem that North Korean defectors are facing, he pointed out. They actually have a disadvantage in finding jobs and working with South Korean colleagues, but they sometimes regard harder working conditions in the capitalist state and how to mingle with the people as discrimination, he said.

He stressed that social and national responsibility is necessary to change South Koreans' awareness of North Koreans.

``If citizens here believe that the defectors cannot stand on their own feet without government subsidies, South Koreans may think they need to share financial burdens. It will hinder unity and unification of the two Koreas,'' he said.

He added that it is important to help them settle here for the nation as well as for the defectors themselves.

According to the presidential National Unification Advisory Council, 72 percent of the 10,705 defectors were employed as of May 2007. But 68 percent of them were contract workers while only 14 percent got a full time, regular job. Besides, 69.5 percent were subsidized for living expenses and 74.1 percent for medical services. Children and teenagers followed their parents and relatives to the South and 63 percent of them entered middle and high schools.

The research also showed that Seoul lacked facilities to accommodate North Korean defectors. In 2006, more than 2,000 people entered the South but a facility could house only 1,800 a year providing only a 10-week program to help them adapt to their new circumstances.

ksy@koreatimes.co.kr

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