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I recently attended a United Nations conference in Seoul at which a couple of distinguished speakers asked: Why aren't more of the almost 30,000 North Korean refugees directly involved in activism against North Korea? A few others at the conference asked: Why don't South Koreans care more about their Northern brethren? And others asked: Why are so many expats in Korea interested in helping North Korean refugees?
To start with the last question, many people get surprised when I tell them that there are not many expats in Korea involved in North Korean issues, that people are mistaking a handful of changing foreign faces with a revolution.
To be clear, I have had the privilege the last few years of collaborating with some wonderful volunteers who have given a tremendous amount of time volunteering for North Korean refugees. Some travel three and four hours by bus each way to come to Seoul to tutor or mentor North Korean refugees. We even had one tutor who flew from Jeju to Seoul once a month to tutor back-to-back days. Other tutors have held extended study sessions lasting up to six hours. I get to read many of the lovely messages of thanks and congratulations that are shared by North Korean refugee learners and tutors in a project I co-founded.
As wonderful as they have been, most of the expats are involved short-term. There are a variety of reasons expats get involved: To make a difference, to help refugees, a nice line on a resume in preparation for graduate school or to build their careers, a neat anecdote to share on Facebook, out of curiosity, love volunteering, or because they are interested in North Korea. Rare is the expat who stays involved, becomes a leader, or develops a significant role. When I hold Open House sessions recruiting volunteers, I am thrilled if just one or two remain with us six months later. The few expats that remain committed are like flowers in a desert, even more beautiful because they are so rare.
The level of support from expats is a mile wide and an inch deep. They will attend occasional events and also volunteer, but in many cases, they are squeezing NK activities into their schedules, attending a speech or volunteering before rushing off to join flash mob snowball or pillow fights, mud wrestling festivals or their own lives of work or study. The most common question prospective volunteers ask me before an event or meeting: "How long will it last?"
This is not to criticize them, many people come to Korea short-term, we are lucky to have them join us during their time here. My point is that it doesn't make sense to compare people jumping on-and-off an elevator with those who can't easily exit.
North Korean refugees getting involved in activism about North Korea face serious consequences about the security and privacy of their families in North Korea. They can expect harsh attacks if they don't remain both poor and pure. They even get blamed by some idiotic South Koreans accusing them of "selfishly" running away from their families. Expats can leave or rejoin at any time without real consequences to their lives, families or careers.
Instead of debating why more refugees don't get involved, I ask the questioners: How are you collaborating with those who have already stepped forward? Based on human rights scuttlebutt I have heard, either refugees aren't authentic, educated, or polished enough. The search continues for hypothetical refugees to replace the flawed ones who have already emerged.
It isn't just North Korean refugees who are considered flawed by those calling for more to get involved. There are as many as 50 North Korean focused NGOs and schools that I am aware of that are operating in South Korea (others have higher estimates), with almost all of them being led and staffed by South Koreans. They are typically underfunded, understaffed, relying on underpaid staffers, volunteers, and interns. Working with them would be a great start, instead of hoping that people who have not gotten involved will a) suddenly get inspired and b) be more effective than those already helping.
I often turn the question around: If there aren't enough refugees and South Koreans engaged now, then what are human rights leaders doing differently to attract more refugees? When your strategy is failing, then it may be time to adopt a new approach.
Most people don't get involved in politics, and that includes North Korean refugees who have risked their lives to escape a brutal dictatorship. With their new freedom, they also have the freedom to join flash mob pillow fights, mud wrestling festivals or study in my project instead of making themselves targets by trying to topple the North Korean regime.
Casey Lartigue Jr. is the co-founder of Teach North Korean Refugees (TNKR) in Seoul. He can be reached at CJL@post.harvard.edu.
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