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| Twelve North Korean restaurant workers and their manager arrive at Incheon International Airport on April 8, 2016. Korea Times file |
Twelve North Korean waitresses and a male manager who worked at a restaurant operated by the North Korean regime in China arrived in South Korea in 2016. The waitresses had mostly maintained a low profile. But not anymore. ―Ed.
Q: Could you introduce yourself?
A: I was born in Pyongyang, North Korea. In 2014, I was sent overseas by the North Korean government to work as a waitress in China. My family did not support my decision but I got an opportunity to go to China.
In 2016, I was one of the 12 North Korean waitresses who came to South Korea as refugees. Our manager, a man named Heo Kang-il, brought us here. I graduated from a South Korean University in 2020 and I am now employed here.
Q: Could you tell us more about the lawsuit you filed?
A: I filed a lawsuit with the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in June 2018. I sued Heo because of physical assault and for confining me in China and his physical violence against me after we had arrived at South Korea's National Intelligence Service facility.
Heo first assaulted me in Yanji and later in Shenyang, where he punched me with his fists, grabbed my head and threw me to the ground and kicked me. I had broken the rule that we (the waitresses) must move in pairs whenever we went out. Heo could have reported me to North Korean agents, but instead, he took me, alone, to Shenyang. For two days, he tried to force me into prostitution. I rejected his demand and strongly refused. He harshly beat me in Shenyang. After returning to Yanji, Heo locked me up in the attic on the third floor of the restaurant, barely allowing me to eat or even drink water.
In South Korea at the National Intelligence Service, Heo hit me with an iron container. I was bleeding and NIS staff took me to a hospital. I survived and decided that I was going to file a lawsuit against him, but I didn't know how to do so. As I was preparing the case against Heo, I heard that he and one of the other former waitresses had a scheme to cheat the South Korean government. Instead of living in her apartment assigned by the government, she was living with Heo and sharing money with him by subletting her home to someone else.
I reported Heo's girlfriend to the Seoul Housing and Communities Corporation. I learned from a lawyer how to file a lawsuit, which I did. During the trial, Heo threatened me, warning me to be prepared for the consequences because he would file a lawsuit against me, too. However, Heo secretly fled to the U.S. during the trial and has not filed a lawsuit against me, although my court case started in 2018 and was ruled in my favor in 2021.
Q: What happened in the trial and what was Heo's defense?
A: Initially, the police said that Heo would only be charged with the physical attack in the NIS [facility]. During the investigation, Heo lied, insisting that he had only slapped me on the face once. The police told me that I needed a witness to collaborate my accusations of attacks and confinement in China.
I called the other former waitresses who were also assaulted by Heo in China and asked them to be a witness at the court. Fortunately, one of them, who was also beaten by Heo and witnessed his violence and how he confined me, became a witness at the court. The court was then willing to review the charges against him for assault, confinement and sexual harassment in China and his violent physical attack at the NIS.
At the beginning of the trial, Heo said that if I didn't withdraw my case that he would demand that the other former waitresses testify against me. However, only the waitress who was living with him came to court to testify on his behalf.
On June 18, 2021, the Supreme Prosecutor's Office sentenced Heo Kang-il to one year in prison. I have, as recommended by the prosecutor's office, remained quiet as the court case was ongoing and then after that as Interpol attempted to track down Heo. I am offering a reward of 1 million won (about $811) for anyone who can provide information leading to Heo's arrest to have him extradited to South Korea. I have attempted to remain quiet, but when Heo began spreading lies about me on YouTube late last year, I decided to disclose the facts of this case, including trial documents that I have shared with The Korea Times
This text was edited for publication by Casey Lartigue Jr., co-founder of Freedom Speakers International (FSI) and co-author with Han Song-mi of the book "Greenlight to Freedom." Ms. Kim's answers to questions were translated by a volunteer translator with FSI.
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