Lee So-yeon speaks out for NK female defectors

Lee So-yeon, head of the New Korea Women's Union, talks about the work of the union that publicizes the plight of North Korean female defectors, at her office in Dangsan-dong, western Seoul.
/ Korea Times photos by Kim Ji-soo

By Kim Ji-soo

Lee So-yeon, 40, remembers her hometown of Hoeryeong, North Hamgyeong Province, North Korea, as a town of white apricots.

"White apricots, not the usual orange ones, which people used to say would make you a beauty," she said, smiling faintly.

It is a place she will not be able to visit unless the two Koreas are united. Until that time, Lee, as head of the New Korea Women's Union, aims to speak about human rights violations, particularly of women in North Korea, and hopes that people will listen and act. Founded in 2011, the group hosts talks at schools and other groups, and provides job training and psychological counseling to defectors as well. What makes Lee, a defector, stand out is that she comes forth to speak about the ordeals of women defectors from North Korea.

"Whether it's in the restaurant business, in the radio industry or something else, I believe North Korean defectors groups all are working for unification, for the democratization of North Korea and for change in North Korea," Lee said in a recent interview at her office in Dangsan-dong, western Seoul. Desks at her office are filled with placards blasting North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, placards she and her some 300 union members use in rallies and press conferences.

A placard that blasts the North Korean regime led by Kim Jong-un sits on the desk at the union's office.

"I thought about what I, a woman defector, could do, and that is tell the reality," Lee said. "I see North Korean women defectors who could have had normal lives as women, or mothers, but suffered while fleeing to and adjusting in the South," Lee added.

The influx of North Korean defectors, began around the late 1990s as famine in North Korea worsened, their population has grown to around 27,000.Unification Ministry's estimates show that about 70 percent of the defectors are women.

Relatedly recent survey conducted by the ministry and the Korea Hana Foundation found that six out of 10 North Korean defectors consider themselves to be lower class based on their economic activities.

"I look at female defectors and think that they could have been like regular women, mothers if they were born in South Korea but because they were born in the North, they were sold and gave birth against their wills in China, and subsequently struggled to adjust in the South," she said. "It is not their fault, I remind them."

A former signal corpswoman with the North Korean army, Lee has led a comparably successful life in the South as a broadcast personality and speaker on North Korean issues.

"People look at me now, and think that Idid not experience hardship in settling," she said.

But it wasn't easy when she finally defected to the South in 2008 on her second attempt. She worked at several menial jobs, including at noodle shops and, at bookstores and as a cleaning lady at "gosiwon" or small crammed housing for those preparing for national exams in Seoul.

"I was so happy to be earning money, but also I had this pressure to earn as much as I can and as fast as I can to help my family back home," she said. The first two years were the hardest, where she felt that people were looking down on her because of menial job, causing her weight to drop to 40 kilograms. She admitted that she felt proud of herself when her former employers called after seeing her on television.

"Then one day, I looked around and saw what the southerners were doing and noticed that they studied for the future," Lee said. Just last year, she earned her bachelor's degree in social welfare from Gukje Cyber University based in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province. As the years passed, things began to work out, but something was still lacking.

"I too initially focused on making money, but when I looked deep inside myself, I realized that I was trapped ... by my anger toward the North and the pain from my defection, and invariably, these factors prompted me to speak against the perpetrator, which is the Kim Jong-un regime," she said.

Lee said that her defection was relative smooth, compared to those of others.

She first attempted fleeing in 2006 when her "business" of selling used goods in the North suffered. After graduating from the North Korean army at 28, she became a Workers' Party member and returned to her hometown. She sought the help of her professor father — he taught Kim Il-sung's revolution history, in finding good jobs. But when the North's economy worsened, she like many North Koreans at that time, turned to the black market. She failed the first time, and was forcibly returned to North Korea and imprisoned.

"I learned a few things at the North Korean prison," Lee said.

"I learned about the various ways of defection, and how diverse the reasons were for defection. It was not only because people wanted to come to South Korea, but it was also for simple reasons such as wanting to eat or just to flee the North," she said.

"I also learned about people. What better place is there to learn about people than a prison?" she said.

Still she stressed that she fared better than other female defectors who were sent back to the North as many as six or eight times, those who lived as beggars in the North and those sold into sex slavery. Because she was considered a defector to China for "daily economic" reasons, she underwent a training camp and a prison for one year, after which she made her second attempt.

"I too testify about what I experienced during defection," Lee said. "But when I hear the stories of other female defectors, I think they are the stuff for movies, and I wonder how people (in the South) will reconcile these horrific stories once the Koreas are united," she said.

Lee also spoke strongly on people's growing indifference to the plight of North Korean defectors, particularly, the women.

"Some people, even the press, say they have heard so much about defection," Lee said. "There were probably witnesses in the late 1990s or early 2000s. But then if they did hear so much about it, the problem should have been solved and the North Korean women defectors should never be trafficked today, or tomorrow," she said.

What did she think of the 13 recent North Korean defectors, former employees at North Korea-run restaurants overseas who arrived in South Korea in the wake of U.N. sanctions taken againstNorth Korea in March and just before the April 13 general election?

"I think they represent the change that people in North Korea desire," she said.

Asked if she thought that they must have had a relatively easier trip knowing that they would come to Korea, she said. "I don't think so. They went through that painful process of having to come via a third country." Lee said.

Now that she is married with one son, did Lee envision a political future?

"No. My primary dream is to embrace and heal the North Korean women when Korean unification comes," she said. "More immediately, I hope the union will survive."