Exclusive report: Escaping North Korea

[Music] [Music] [Music] Bienvenue two swatting to reporters Plus here on the front spanked ad in this edition we take you on a journey with two fugitives from North Korea young women who've been sold slaves forced into marriage raped we meet them as they begin another perilous part of their journey to their dream a life were they're free to choose and to live as they please the regime in North Korea is known as the most secretive and closed society in the world but for these young women it was where they grew up and where their families still remained their determination to be free tainted by their feelings of homesickness and guilt at having left the others behind and fears of a possible reprisals for them from the Kim regime the journey takes them from the North Korea China border thousands of miles to Laos and then on to South Korea one day they hope their friends and family can join them but taking the shorter direct route from north to south in the meantime adjusting to life in South Korea has its ups and it's downs are reported by her Olivia pontus and bronto bands Elli if the Chinese police catch me they'll send me back home it's 6:00 a.m. in Beijing twenty-five-year-old song he and 23 year old Mina are preparing to leave the Chinese capital last night these North Korean women were given shelter by a volunteer with a South Korean charity they're on the run traveling with fake ID documents provided by the NGO when we first arrived in China we were sold to poor peasants I was sold to a disabled man I worked hard but people looked down on me because I'm North Korean falling victim to the local mafia the two women were forced into marriage with Chinese peasants sung-hee and Minah allow us to film but at first refused to show their faces for fear of reprisal but on the calendar the Chinese police arrested my aunt after she'd spent three years here have no money she was sent back to North Korea where she was tortured they even burnt her skin here's a after that I was terrorized by the idea of going back there 200,000 North Koreans live undercover in China where they aren't considered refugees but rather illegal immigrants the journey will be long and dangerous the women must go unnoticed disappear into the crowd to help them leave the country they rely on 33 year old namu another volunteer working with the South Korean NGO the North Koreans don't know anything about the people around them before I was like them Madam President for Nami was just 17 years old when she fled the Pyongyang regime figure suppose it's true that North Korea has a very bad image but it's my country I miss it because all of my childhood memories are there so you know I guess it makes me sad sung-hee and Meena now agreed to appear on camera they're much more relaxed but the first checkpoint once again fills them with dread we just passed a checkpoint I was extremely nervous I was really scared it's a new beginning a new chapter we can't be scared even if it is risky we need to put all of our hope into this new adventure it's make-or-break Meena and song who are starting a new life full of discoveries and new encounters that before were just unimaginable can you ask them if they know France no no it's the first time I'm speaking to a foreigner I'm an engineer I saw some once when I worked at a hotel in North Korea I saw an American a Chinese person and someone from Russia it's fascinating for me to see a foreigner fascinating but dangerous foreigners are extremely rare on these domestic routes so we attract attention today because today maybe Mina and song he have had many brushes with danger going back several years to when they crossed North Korea's border with China [Music] come on work on earth when I crossed the two men and I'm knock rivers I was scared of the water because it was dark there was a really strong current and I panicked I fell and hit a rock there was blood running all the way down my leg whose hand argued on it's a 44 hour train journey covering some 3,000 kilometers [Music] we're heading for nowis south of the border [Music] after traveling for two days and two nights we arrived in Kunming in Yunnan Province it's five o'clock in the morning to stop now would be risky namu goes in search of tickets leaving on the next available bus what time does it leave at 7 o'clock hand over 500 us now and you'll pay the rest when we get there Louis is getting closer but the journey isn't over yet there's still another eight hours to go the trip comes to a grinding halt when we arrive at a checkpoints your IDs out there will be an inspection stress takes over song he tries to create a diversion ID please sir I really need to use the bathroom well will be arriving soon can I get off the bus please you can get off but there aren't any toilet facilities the inspection drags on the officer is meticulous the idea that the journey could end here when they're so close to reaching their goal is hard to swallow for song here [Music] relief washes over them once the bus starts up again the ordeal is nearly over but questions are swirling operatic identity could only come son I wonder what my future will be like I ask myself if everything is going to be okay my worries have become fears I have sleepless nights well I have any control over my life as we near the border we stop for the night as a hotel tomorrow the two women will arrive in Laos but for now Moo the journey stops here [Music] we'll see each other in South Korea or the u.s. be careful and keep praying until you get there take care of yourself at the crack of dawn Mina and song he finally leave China with the help of some people smugglers years if his how if everything works out from now on I'll arrive safe and sound in South Korea [Music] all that remains is crossing the border into Laos this leg requires a two hour drive in a 4x4 followed by a two hour trek through the jungle [Music] the next day we meet Mina and song he invent e'en the capital of Laos [Music] pastor Chun the man who masterminded their escape is there to welcome them [Music] for the past 20 years this man has successfully helped more than 1,000 North Koreans escape from China in China I was very moved by the suffering of those who fled the North Korean regime I saw the frozen bodies of defectors who had tried and failed to cross the river I saw women being sold off and children beaten until they were bloody before being sent back to North Korea that's why I had to do something I was very worried about showing my face on TV because it could cause problems for my family who are still in North Korea that's why at the beginning I refused to talk on camera you have nothing to hide you've shown your suffering so that things like this will never happen again people will hail your courage but when you arrive in South Korea you must study hard so that you can help your family in your country okay most people get there and are only focused on making money they don't think of anyone else it's not a good way to do [Music] before heading to Seoul Mina and song he will have to spend several weeks at the South Korean embassy we go our separate ways not knowing that one day we cross paths again [Music] one year has passed since Laos we've lost track of Mina but thanks to social media we've kept in touch with Seong hee [Music] we meet her in the heart of Seoul looking like a completely different person [Music] today she lives with her boyfriend 25 year old minsu he too is North Korean and several months earlier also fled from China to get to Seoul both had to trace the same steps haha I spend one month at the Embassy invention because I needed a passport to get on the plane if you do any girl I stayed for three months I stayed for one month there are around 15 of us taking the flight to South Korea afterwards I was interrogated by the intelligence services for three months the first question the Secret Service agent asked me was to find out if I was really North Korean they were to make sure that I wasn't a spy after that I went to hanawon where I did a three-month training course Hana Juan is a top-secret government run facility usually off-limits to the media the center gives newly arrived North Korean defectors a crash course on living in the capitalist world of the south this is where Seong hee and minsu met when you first get there you don't know anything about South Korea how to pay the rent taking care of finances the language the customers everything is different it's stressful because we don't know where to start cookies well that's why they teach our South Korean culture so we can settle in lor easily after spending seven months under South Korean surveillance today's song he can enjoy her freedom in North Korea I didn't have a home I lived in a caretaker Lodge in a factory there was no electricity no television all that we could see or hear was the propaganda of Kim jong-un and Kim Jong Il but here I eat what I want I sleep when I want and I can take hot showers I like my life now I'm really very happy that's no surprise because for Seong hee her life changed almost overnight [Music] hello corporal Choi Seung hee head nurse of the 960 3rd military unit special department of the supreme guard command today I'll be telling you stories of my experience working at a hospital in Pyongyang stay tuned it ends as a an incredible twist of fate only two months after song he arrived in Seoul the defector was catapulted to fame as a TV commentator for a talk show where all of the participants are North Korean sharing stories about their past lives on the other side of the border opinion sorry Albert you gotta watch your comedy in December 2012 my father passed away and we had no money I was desperate along with another woman I crossed the river into China I was captured straightaway by organ traffickers gardener third I was terrified I escaped and spent three days hiding in a cornfield my feet were numb from the cold and I had to go to the toilet right where I was hari Kavita has a wooden gate open on a circle with its heart-wrenching stories and tearjerker dramatization the show is a hit with viewers on the edge of their seats never afterwards I said to myself you will survive the program has not only given song he a job but also a taste of celebrity as she makes her way home song he reflects on some of the differences between the north and the south it's impossible to see traffic jams in North Korea because even if we wanted to see them there were just no cars a traffic jam over there would be a rickshaw crashing into a passerby there is simply no traffic jams with cars seungji and her fiance live in a social housing apartments in the suburbs while she has her freedom she still fears for her safety if you filmed the building you'll need to delete the footage it's not actually a problem for the other places but in the future my whole life will be here Korea is a developed country you can easily tell where a person lives by the building number and that information will definitely reach North Korea here we are this is my place nobody treats I don't go see her this is where we sleep it's a modest apartment but there's a beautiful view it's fine in the circle once they arrive in South Korea each defector is given the equivalent of ten thousand euros and there's social housing rental bills are taken care of for the rest of their lives while there are significant benefits for song he her saga is bittersweet CGV a certain number my dream was to be at home with my family but last May I found out that my mother passed away and my dreams were shattered yeah so much the only family I have left is my older brother the day I found out my mother died I broke down I'm glad I came out when I went through and survived so many hardships while hoping that one day we could be happy even if we were poor I just started to make a new life here when she died her única Tom and what I really wanted to give up everything he thought I asked myself who I was still living for and why we won't see song he for almost three days it was impossible to get hold of her after our film shoot she was interrogated by the Intelligence Agency officially authorities advised her not to speak to us [Music] geopolitical tensions have recently cranked up a notch authorities and citizens south of the border remain on edge we are still in war okay I'm mystics innocence when it comes to the North Korea wherever I don't like that yeah that's when that China Russia they have to spot to get people that's why there was a big power in Seoul the army clocks up what it says our anti-terrorist operations fears of a North Korean Fifth Column have never been so strong especially since a recent event stirred up further suspicions about the refugee community several months ago news bulletins headlines on the extraordinary story of a TV star in South Korea a defector from the north who returned to Pyongyang fled to South Korea with an illusion and I was led astray by the idea that I would eat well and that I would earn a lot of money but South Korea isn't at all what I thought it would be while she achieves success in her new life she describes while on the verge of tears the hell she said she went through in South Korea women like me who've betrayed the motherland what we experienced it's a physical and mental ordeal in South Korean society where everything is driven by money was she pressured to go back to North Korea did her family receive threats was she taken by the North Korean secret services or did she return of her own accord speculation and rumors run rife fueling deep distrust towards the refugee community [Music] between 2000 and 2500 refugees arrived in South Korea each year those who returned to the north are in the minority and for those who stay it's not easy to fully integrate into a materialistic and individualistic South Korean society [Music] before we leave soul song he agrees to see us one last time but far from her home we meet her at a bowling alley in the city center with her friends all North Korean refugees [Music] [Applause] could you have fun like this in those Korea over there there isn't any of this modern equipment like karaoke bowling alleys or nightclubs it's not like here in the north if we want to have fun we get together to talk or dance why do you teach yourselves because we have no family here we feel alone North Korean refugees understand each other because we went through the same thing we have the same memories the South Koreans just can't understand everything is different here the people the culture that's what's difficult [Music] for example when I went to pick wild herbs with my father that's the kind of thing that I really miss did you ever go back to North Korea go back there even if I do really miss it I definitely don't want to return that would be like digging my own grave why would I want to go back there song he's gamble paid off but how many others want to follow in her footsteps and flee the Pyongyang regime one thing's for certain since Kim jong-un came to power the country has beefed up its border controls for North Korean fugitives the price of freedom has never been so high [Music] defecting from north to south korea via the long and lengthy route through China and Indochina I report by Olivia pontus and Bronto Barnes Ellie this is reporters plus a frost man can stay with us

Channel: FRANCE 24 English

Views: 417,271

Keywords: North Korea, Kim Jong-un, South Korea, China, REPORTERS, france24, news

Id: PVFx2gbiUIM

Length: 25min 59sec (1559 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 09 2018