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| The North's Korean Central News Agency broadcasts a discussion with defectors who returned to the North, Friday. They mostly said they were tempted to go to South Korea, but the reality was too harsh. Yonhap |
By Jun Ji-hye
The government is facing growing calls to overhaul its treatment of North Korean defectors as the number returning to the communist country are reportedly increasing.
The North had treated defectors like betrayers; but it recently changed its approach, using them as propaganda tools.
On Friday, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) aired a discussion with three defectors ㅡ Lee Hyuck-cheol (26), Kim Kyung-ock (41) and Kang Kyung-sook (60) ㅡ who had returned to the North.
"My elder brother who went to the South first told me that he was operating a big company and had several cars. He asked me to follow him, but in reality, he was barely eking out a living in the dormitory of a church. He even asked me to give him a half of my resettlement funds," said Lee.
Lee went back to the Stalinist state in a fishing boat he stole from Yeonpyeong Island last month.
Kim described the South as "a rotten society" where money rules everything. "When I heard that the North was looking after my family, I was so touched. So, I decided to return," she said.
This was the second time that the Pyongyang's news agency has reported such a story after broadcasting a press conference with four people who returned to the North in January. Those people mostly said they were tempted to go to the South, but the reality was different.
Under the current system, when defectors come to the South, the government first provides them with a three-week educational program in Hanawon, a settlement support center for North Korean refugees.
Then, they are further educated at local centers. The official period of government support for education and police protection is five years.
However, the increasing number of cases of North Korean defectors returning to the North reflects loopholes in the current program.
Listen to their complaint
"I heard of several cases. Some went back to the North after being discovered to be spies. Some returned as their families in the North were threatened. There are also those who decided to go back after becoming delinquent borrowers," said a 21-year-old defector who is a university student in Seoul.
He added Pyongyang's attempt to use them as propaganda is unlikely to have the intended effect though, because defectors in the South are aware that the televised criticism of the South is often done under coercion.
Analysts say the government needs to supplement the way it manages North Korean defectors in a way to reflect their diversity, rather than uniformly managing them, in order to help them better adjust to Korean society.
"What the government needs to do first is to find out why seven defectors went back to the North. Those people would have various reasons, such as longing for family and failure of the South to live up to their expectations," said Park Young-ho, an analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification.
After identifying the cause of their return, Park said, the government needs to draw up a management system which reflects diverse characteristics and various backgrounds of defectors, rather than handling all of them the same way.
"Of course this won't be that easy, but the government at least needs to attempt to categorize them into small groups in accordance with their peculiarities. Plus, private organizations also need to actively participate in the task to help defectors achieve harmony in the South. Religious groups have mostly done such things, but more substantial assistance will be necessary."
