’Daughter of Tongyeong’

By Lee Chang-sup

The story of Shin Sook-ja, 69, seems to be more dramatic than a drama itself.

The woman in the North’s gulag is called the Daughter of Tongyeong as she was born in the southeastern port town in the South.

She and her two 30-something daughters symbolize the suffering of the other South Koreans living in the North against their will.

Shin, then a nurse, married Oh Kil-nam, a Seoul National University German literature graduate pursuing a doctoral degree in economics in 1972 in Germany.

The couple decided to defect to North Korea in 1985 together with the two children.

Their relocation to the North completely changed their lives. The couple had worked at a radio station in a propaganda war against the South. One year later, Oh visited Germany with the mission of recruiting South Korean students there. Shin reportedly told Oh not to return to the North and to regard her and their two teenage daughters as being dead in a car accident.

Upon arrival in Copenhagen en route to Germany, he sought political asylum in 1986. He returned to South Korea in 1992. The North placed Mrs. Shin and her two daughters in the Yodok concentration camp. Shin has reportedly attempted failed suicide attempts. The husband confirmed his wife and the two daughters were alive in 1991. Since then, he has devoted his life to a reunion with the three in the North. Oh published a book titled “Return My Wife and Daughters, Kim Il-sung” in the early 1990s.

The sad saga received national attention this summer when U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon visited Seoul. His supporters put up advertisements saying “Save the Daughter of Tongyeong.”

The three are alive, according to reports this week. As the family saga received international attention the North allegedly relocated them from the gulag to another concentration camp near Pyongyang. Shin allegedly denies writing a pledge of allegiance to Kim Jong-il.

The retired economist’s most precious personal assets are pictures of his wife and two daughters posing in the snow in the North. He can also hear the voices of his daughters begging to see him on a cassette. He received the photos and tape two decades ago from the late Germany-based pro-North Korean musician Yun Isang.

He can see the facility where his wife and the unmarried daughters are allegedly living through a high-resolution satellite image on Google Earth. Amnesty International has started a letter-writing campaign to North Korean officials to free the three and other prisoners of conscience.

A campaign has also been under way on Facebook and Daum. Thirty human rights organizations in 15 countries, including Human Rights Watch, Freedom Watch and the International Federation for Human Rights, have launched a global coalition to stop crimes against humanity in the North. A signature-collection drive has been underway in Tongyeong. A collection of 100,000 signatures will be sent to the United Nations.

Unification Minister Yu Woo-ik said Tuesday that he would give his attention to the issue. The government has a dilemma over the Shin family, however.

First, the North does not acknowledge the existence of the abducted. Pyongyang may argue that the Oh-Shin family made a voluntary decision.

Second, it is unclear whether Shin and her two daughters are willing to move to the South. The possibly-brainwashed three might ask Oh to return to the North. Shin may want to come to the South, but the two daughters might not as they have lived for more than two decades in the communist system.

Third, the North might demand massive compensation in behind-the-scenes negotiations. There is no free lunch with the North.

Fourth, the government cannot handle only the high-profile case. Many family members of those abducted to the North, want their fathers, husbands, brothers and daughters back to the South.

Fifth, the North might propose the swapping of the pro-North Koreans and spies in the South for those abducted by the North. This took place under the Kim Dae-jung administration.

Sixth, Koreas are not in so an amicable a mood as to discuss the issue.

Seventh, the North would not let the Shin family go to the South. This would hurt the pride of Kim Jong-il.

Eighth, the North can no longer ignore a growing international focus on its abuses of human rights just by confining the three at a concentration camp.

Before anything else happens, Pyongyang needs to confirm whether Oh’s family is alive or not. Later, the Red Cross societies of the Koreas could arrange a meeting either at the truce village of Panmunjom or Mt. Geumgang.

Germany can play a role of intermediary so that the Shin-Lee family could settle in Germany, the place from which they went to the North. Later the family could freely decide where to live — either in South Korea, North Korea, Germany or a different country altogether. Former first lady Lee Hee-ho could meet Kim Jong-il over the issue.

Ban could persuade Kim to let the three make an independent decision.

Kim Jong-il may chuckle that he has the final option of writing the closing chapter of the Shin-Oh drama ― either a happy or tragic ending.

Lee Chang-sup is the chief editorial writer of The Korea Times. He can be reached at editorial@koreatimes.co.kr.