N. Korean Refugee Earns Ph.D. in Oriental Medicine for First Time
By Cho Jae-hyon
Staff Reporter
Park Su-hyun crossed the North Korean border in 1993 at the age of 28, after being coaxed by his friend who told him to do some translation work in China, and found himself boarding a ship from the Chinese coast to Incheon.
About 16 years later, Park obtained a doctorate degree in Oriental medicine, a first among those who have escaped the North.
He recalls luck being a vital factor in the course of his dramatic escape.
"I was totally blind to my friend's scheme until I arrived in China. I found out later that he originally planned to escape to the South," Park said during an interview with The Korea Times.
Boarding a ship to South Korea was the hardest part. To get approval for boarding, they had to deceive officials from the South Korean National Security Agency in China and act as if they were undercover agents.
"On Oct. 9, 1993, we swam in the cold sea for one and a half hours to sneak onto a ship from Tianjin and managed to make it to Incheon," Park said.
Park, who was a senior at the Oriental Medicine Department of Chungjin Medical University in the North, landed a job at a pharmaceutical firm here and there he decided to restart his study of Oriental medicine.
"I introduced some herbal medicine to a senior at the company who was suffering from a prostate gland disease. He was cured after taking the herbal medicine and told me that I should study Oriental medicine again," Park said.
He enrolled as a sophomore at the Oriental medicine department at Kyung Hee University in 1995. The next year, he tied the knot with a lady who was introduced to him by another North Korean escapee.
But his escape wasn't complete with his family still living in the North. He used a lot of money and mobilized all his connections to bring his parents and three other brothers to the South in 1998.
"My wife went to China to bring them here and we were finally reunited five years after I escaped the North," he said.
Park graduated from Kyung Hee University in 2001 and passed the state-run exam to become a doctor of Oriental medicine, the first time for a North Korean escapee to do so. He opened Myohyangsan Oriental Medicine Hospital in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province that year.
Refusing to become complacent about his status, Park enrolled at Kyungwon University with the aim of getting his master's and doctorate degrees.
However, to get a master's degree, he had to overcome a major hurdle: English.
"Normally, it takes about two years to finish the master's course. But I failed the English test six times in three years. ... It took me five years to get my master's degree," Park said.
Park will get his doctorate degree on Feb. 23 at a ceremony at Kyungwon University.
Asked why he is studying so hard, he said he wants to become a better doctor who can be a bigger help to his patients.
"In the medical field, patients' confidence in a doctor is very important. I think, with a doctorate degree, I will be able to better use my medical skills for my patients and return what I owe to this society in a bigger way," Park said.
Park said Oriental medicine is not popular in the North either.
"North Korean people also favor Western doctors over Oriental medicine practitioners. Only students from families with power can enroll at the Western medical departments at universities there," he said.
Park wants to help change this, adding that"Oriental medicine is underestimated."
He is not the only Oriental medicine doctor in his family. His youngest brother is running another Oriental medicine hospital in Yangju, Gyeonggi Province.
Another brother, a graduate from the Oriental medicine department at Sangji University, recently failed to pass the state exam to become an Oriental medicine doctor.
"I hope he will pass the test next time. Then the three of us will be Oriental medicine doctors," he said.
Park said he is studying English hard these days. "If the opportunity arises, I would like to teach Oriental medicine at a U.S. school someday."