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| Joseph Park, third from right, poses with employees of his coffee shop Yovel in Hannam-dong, Seoul. / Courtesy of Joseph Park |
By Kim Bo-eun
As a North Korean defector, coffee shop Yovel CEO Joseph Park understands defectors' situation in the South.
Due to their background, many of the defectors are emotionally unstable, and feel intimidated as a minority.
Also due to their lack of education, they have trouble learning, which limits their career opportunities and results in them resorting to part-time jobs.
While Park attended college in the South after his defection, he realized that there were little opportunities for defectors even if they had dreams and goals.
"There were defectors who wanted to work in the fashion industry, but they were unable to pursue their dreams and ended up working at convenience stores instead," Park, 38, recalled.
"It was then that I thought I should start a business that could cultivate professionals among defectors."
For Park, a coffees shop was a relatively easy business to start.
Yovel opened its first store in Yongin in 2014, and the second one in Hannam-dong in Seoul in 2016. Yovel operates within the Industrial Bank of Korea's buildings.
While it was Park's plan to train defectors, he also hires local South Koreans so that they have an opportunity to work and interact with one another.
"South and North Koreans need to have experience working together, as a means to prepare for unification," he said.
However, it was not easy for them to get along.
"North Koreans tend to speak in a direct manner, and in many cases their South Korean colleagues felt hurt," Park said. "It takes a while to get used to each other."
Meanwhile, different dispositions were not the only problem.
He found that the defectors direly lacked work capabilities.
As a startup, Park was unable to focus on providing all of the training the defectors needed.
While the defectors learned how to make coffee, learning how to plan, run the business and market its products was a different story.
"Looking back over the past five years, I realized I needed to start to train the defectors," Park said. This became his next goal.
"Although Yovel's impact on society may not be great, I hope it can serve as a buffer for defectors before they begin work."
As a defector himself, Park feels it is important that North Koreans who come to the South adjust well and lead stable lives here, considering the Koreas may be unified sooner than one may expect.
"Defectors and people in the North are different. People in the South are accustomed to change and people in the North are not," he said.
"Defectors, who have experienced living in both the North and South should think about making a bridge between the North and South, and about creating a harmonious society despite our differences," Park said.
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