The Korea Times

North Korean refugees speak out: 'My Hanawon experience'

Casey Lartigue Jr.On July 8, 1999, the South Korean government opened the Settlement Support Center for North Korean Refugees, often referred to as "Hanawon." In the past two decades, more than 32,000 North Korean refugees have made it to South Korea, with almost every refugee passing through Hanawon. In the lead-up to a forum marking its 20th anniversary, TNKR began asking North Korean refugees about their Hanawon experiences. ― ED. Female, name and arrival year withheld by requestMy Hanawon experience was terrible, one of the worst things to happen to me in my life. My family was in a good position in North Korea; we had relatives in China who helped me escape. One of my relatives there paid for me to get a Chinese ID. I was living and working with Chinese people and having a fine life. I didn't like having a fake life, however, worried about being revealed as being from North Korea. My ID was fine for traveling within China, working and going to school or the hospital. I wasn't confident that my ID would be valid if I tried to get through Chinese immigration or if I returned from

Jun 1, 2019By Casey Lartigue Jr.

North Korean refugees speak out: 'My Hanawon experience'

Opinion

Female defectors speak out on English and adjustment to South Korea

According to the Ministry of Unification, 71 percent of North Korean refugees are female. This edition of "Voices from the North" presents three female refugees discussing how they have adjusted to South Korea and how English has had a role in that adjustment. ― ED.Ji-hye, escaped from North Korea in 2011, arrived in South Korea in 2011.My first memory of English haunts me. I had just escaped to South Korea; I was so hopeful about life here. After leaving a hanawon, I enrolled in a middle school immediately. In one of my first classes, we played an English game. Everyone else knew the vocabulary; I was the only one who had no idea. I felt eager to learn, but instead I felt so humiliated by their responses and ridicule. They said the reason I was ignorant of the vocabulary was because I was from North Korea. I felt so humiliated. Eventually I dropped out of school and enrolled in a refugee school where the teachers and staff would be more understanding.I should get over it, I know it and I tell myself that, but for years that continued to haunt me in interactions with South Koreans. I

Apr 6, 2019By Casey Lartigue Jr.

Female defectors speak out on English and adjustment to South Korea

Opinion

Male defectors on English and adjustment to South Korea

According to the Ministry of Unification, 71 percent of North Korean refugees are female, 29 percent are male. This edition of “Voices from the North” presents three refugee males discussing how they have adjusted to South Korea, and how English has had a role in that adjustment. The next edition of “Voices from the North” will present three refugee females discussing similar issues. ― ED. Yoo-chul escaped from North Korea in 1997, arrived in South Korea in 2005Honestly, I'm tired of living in South Korea's competitive society. The longer I stay, the more stressed I get. I think part of it is because I have lived abroad where things are much slower. I am now at an important point in my life. I want to sharpen my English so I can get a better job to save some money, then I can decide if I will live abroad or become a farmer. I am thinking about living in a Third World country where I can be free and with people who are happy. When I lived in Cambodia, the people were happy with what they have. Here in South Korea, people are constantly under stress, angry, thei

Mar 31, 2019By Casey Lartigue Jr.

Male defectors on English and adjustment to South Korea

Opinion

North Korean defectors: 'Please, don't ask me about…'

Nahyun, female, escaped North Korea in 2004, arrived in South Korea in 2006.Sometimes, it seems that North Korean TV programming has a special channel here. There is so much talk about the leaders of North Korea. I'm really tired of hearing about them. I have never started a conversation with anyone about the Kim family ruling North Korea, but people constantly ask me about them. It was propaganda all of the time when I was in North Korea, and it seems that North Korea has successfully hired South Korean media to report constantly on its leaders. I escaped that place, I'm sick of hearing about the leaders of North Korea, I turn off the TV when I see any of their faces. Even when I was in North Korea, my father would curse them all, so I may have learned from him. The worst thing is when people try to judge me based on them. They are dictators, I had nothing to do with them, I would have never met them except as a slave. I hope people will wait for North Korean refugees to start conversations about the Kims before asking about them. There is a difference between a North Korean refugee

Mar 17, 2019By Casey Lartigue Jr.

North Korean defectors: 'Please, don't ask me about…'

Opinion

Defectors' perspective: Why am I negative about tourism to North Korea? (part2)

Refugees studying in Teach North Korean Refugees Global Education answered questions about tourism to North Korea. Part 2 quotes several refugees who expressed opposition to tourism to North Korea in several ways. ― ED. Nina (Escaped North Korea in 2011, Arrived in South Korea in 2011).I'm ashamed that people go to North Korea, it is so disappointing. The trips organized or approved by North Korea only show what North Korea wants them to see. Tourists might see 1 percent of North Korea, but they won't see how most North Koreans live. North Korea is a big propaganda machine, so everything they do will have propaganda in mind. They won't allow anything that will embarrass them unless they think they can get some foreign aid out of it. The area I lived is in the far west; there are many fields producing rice. It is like the countryside there. Some foreign tourists visited there. All of the foreigners would stay in the city, in a nice hotel reserved for them. There are human rights abuses nearby, but they can't see that. So many foreigners and media are fascinated by the Mass Games, but

Mar 13, 2019By Casey Lartigue Jr.

Defectors' perspective: Why am I negative about tourism to North Korea? (part2)

Opinion

Defectors' perspective: Why am I positive about tourism to North Korea? (part1)

Refugees studying in Teach North Korean Refugees Global Education answered questions about tourism to North Korea. Part 1 quotes several refugees who expressed support for tourism in several ways. ― ED. Eunji (Escaped North Korea: 2017; Arrived in South Korea: 2018).I support the idea of tourism to North Korea, for two main reasons. One, North Koreans should see foreigners. Ordinary people can't meet foreigners and aren't allowed to talk to them. If foreigners aren't allowed to go there, then it could seem to North Koreans that there are only North Koreans in this world. I was a nurse, so foreigners visited our hospital sometimes. Only a few people were authorized to talk to foreigners visiting, and everyone knew to be very careful about what they said. Even the ones who couldn't talk could be aware of the outside world, not just the evil foreigners in North Korean propaganda. It encourages people to open their minds.I welcome tourism to North Korea for a second reason: Kim Jong-un. Many people only think about Kim Jong-un when the topic of North Korea comes up, everyday people in No

Mar 12, 2019By Casey Lartigue Jr.

Defectors' perspective: Why am I positive about tourism to North Korea? (part1)

Opinion

Why North Korean defectors learn English (7)

Taeyeon (her name has been changed at her request) escaped from North Korea in 2017 and arrived in South Korea in 2018. She is a student in the Teach North Korean Refugees program, and was interviewed at the TNKR office by co-founder Casey Lartigue and her comments were translated by Eunkoo Lee also a TNKR co-founder.Casey Lartigue: You mentioned the other day that English has been your biggest adjustment challenge in South Korea. Could you explain in a bit more detail about what you meant?Taeyeon: English is a big problem! South Korean friends seem to be surprised that North Korean refugees struggle so much because of English. South Koreans add so much English to their conversations, so it can be really confusing. We will be talking in Korean, then suddenly, an English word is added. Nobody stops to explain what the word means; it seems that everyone already knows. Sometimes I'm not sure if it is a Korean word I don't know or if it an English word in Korean. Then my friends wonder why I don't understand. I'm not the only one. North Korean refugee friends I met after we went through

Feb 3, 2019By Casey Lartigue Jr.

Why North Korean defectors learn English (7)

Opinion

Defectors 'amazed' by South Koreans' positive reactions to Kim's Seoul visit

On December 9, several North Korean refugees visited the Teach North Korean Refugees (TNKR) office at the invitation of a TNKR student studying in the organization. The refugees were in agreement in denouncing South Koreans for welcoming Kim Jung-un to South Korea.Mikyung, female, escaped from North Korea in 2016 and arrived in 2016I am amazed that South Koreans have high expectations that Kim Jung-un is seeking peace. It should be clear to anyone who understands the regime that it is seeking survival on its own terms, not to compromise. At last, more people are recognizing that he will not give up his nuclear weapons. The next realization needs to be that he won't give up control of North Korea, that he will continue trying to exert complete control over everyone within North Korean territory and maybe even the entire Korean Peninsula.We can see that even though he seems to be opening up, he still isn't allowing North Koreans to talk with the outside world, to visit South Korea, or to even Skype with their elderly relatives in the South. It is a human tragedy, not just a North Korea

Dec 16, 2018By Casey Lartigue Jr.

Defectors 'amazed' by South Koreans' positive reactions to Kim's Seoul visit

Opinion

Defectors' view of Kim Jong-un's Seoul visit

Casey Lartigue Jr.Yeona, female, escaped from North Korea in 2011, arrived in South Korea in 2012I'm busy with other things, such as learning English, so I don't really think about Kim Jong-un. Even when I was in North Korea, I didn't really care about him. A wonderful thing about being in freedom is that I am free to ignore North Korea and Kim.Having said that, I'm not happy with welcoming Kim Jung-un. He is an a―hole. My hope is that South Koreans will see that he is a jerk and a dictator who is ruining people's lives. My concern is that South Korean media will put on a show trying to make him look like a nice guy because they don't want to embarrass President Moon.When I was in North Korea I read that North Korea's first dictator, Kim Il-sung, supported South Korean activists. Some of those people are now in positions of power, and some of them may still be supportive of North Korea. I heard that he gave diamonds and gold to some of them. I don't know if it is true, but that is the kind of thing North Koreans think about when they hear South Koreans defending North Korea's leaders

Dec 8, 2018By Casey Lartigue Jr.

Defectors' view of Kim Jong-un's Seoul visit

Opinion

A North Korean defector's account of English speech contest

On Saturday November 3, The Hana Foundation hosted an English speech contest for North Korean refugee youths. Casey Lartigue Jr., a Korean Times columnist and blogger, was one of the judges. He asked James Lee, a North Korean refugee who helped prepare the contest, to share his thoughts for this blog. ― E.D.  Casey Lartigue Jr.Saturday November 3 was a regular day for most people in the world, and it started that way for me too. I got up as usual, I got dressed. Then I headed out to be an assistant at the second English speech contest hosted by the Korea Hana Foundation, the government agency that assists North Korean refugees after they enter South Korean society.My mission that day was to assist Casey Lartigue, one of the judges of the contest, and Teach North Korean Refugees (TNKR) volunteers who had helped the young North Korean refugees get prepared to speak at the contest. Twenty North Korean refugees between the ages of 13 to 20 minutes were each given up to five minutes to speak about reunification or their adjustment to South Korea.I arrived early to help set things up,

Nov 11, 2018By Casey Lartigue Jr.

Casey Lartigue Jr.

Read more

North Korean refugees speak out: 'My Hanawon experience'

Female defectors speak out on English and adjustment to South Korea

Male defectors on English and adjustment to South Korea

North Korean defectors: 'Please, don't ask me about…'

Defectors' perspective: Why am I negative about tourism to North Korea? (part2)

Defectors' perspective: Why am I positive about tourism to North Korea? (part1)

Why North Korean defectors learn English (7)

Defectors 'amazed' by South Koreans' positive reactions to Kim's Seoul visit

Defectors' view of Kim Jong-un's Seoul visit

A North Korean defector's account of English speech contest

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