ed Defectors in distress

The news that North Korean defectors in South Korea receive lower wages while working longer hours is a sad reminder that most of them are enduring harsh realities in the capitalist South.

According to a survey of 12,777 defectors aged 15 or older conducted by the Korea Hana Foundation, North Korean refugees’ monthly income rose to 1.47 million won last year on average from 1.41 million won in 2013. But the 2014 figure remained at 66 percent of the 2.23 million won earned by South Koreans.

In contrast, North Korean defectors work 47 hours a week, about three hours more than South Koreans. Moreover, many of them perform physically demanding work ― 32 percent make their living doing manual labor.

The survey, carried out from July through September last year, also showed that nearly one-quarter of respondents were discriminated against or ignored because they came from North Korea. In a separate poll of 1,785 defectors, 20 percent had suicidal impulses because of economic problems, diseases and loneliness, compared with 6.8 percent among South Koreans.

Fortunately, the 2014 survey showed that 67.4 percent of the defectors were satisfied with their lives in the South. But this result might be natural, considering North Korea’s dire economic straits and their painful escape experiences.

In fact, the plight of North Korean refugees in the South is hardly surprising. They have no alternative but to feel snubbed as soon as they identify themselves as defectors from the impoverished North.

As a result, nearly 40 percent of female defectors do not reveal that they came from North Korea, according to a survey of 600 female defectors that the Korean Women’s Development Institute carried out in 2013. Nor is it rare to see women refugees fall prey to sexual harassment.

The number of North Korean defectors has been declining each year since peaking at 2,914 in 2009. Last year, 1,396 North Koreans defected to the South, bringing the total number of defectors to 27,518 as of the end of 2014.

The number of defectors has slowed since Kim Jong-un, the reclusive state’s young leader, came to power in late 2011. North Korea’s improving economic conditions and strengthened crackdown on defectors are cited as reasons for the dip in the number of refugees, but we have to wonder if the harsh realities in South Korea might be another reason.

All this explains why the government should do what it can to resolve their housing and employment problems. Specifically it is necessary to provide refugees with tailored support measures.

What is more important, however, is to embrace them warmly as our neighbors. This approach is badly needed to help advance the day of national unification.