Is escaping North Korea really worth it? | Foreign Correspondent

foreign this is Korea's demilitarized zone for more than 70 years the DMZ has divided the nation between North and South a war in suspended animation [Music] but over the Border in the north people have been desperate to escape for decades [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] s risk their lives to escape some fleeing political persecution others in search of a better life but the reality is often very different computers you have to fit in it's a tribal Society they are always in a way Outsiders [Music] those who Escape are known as defectors they rarely speak out publicly still fearful of the regime here to meet the North Korean defect been worth it [Music] inside seoul's Channel ATV a group of women dubbed by producers as defective Beauties is getting ready their guests on the country's popular variety show called now on my way to meet you that [Music] the defectors are from North Korea and the show is filmed on a set modeled on panmunjong a village in the DMZ for many South Koreans The Defector gas questioned by the show's panelists are their only insight into the people who risk their lives seeking freedom in the south um foreign [Music] Australia the guests provide an entertaining takedown of North Korean culture and politics often poking fun at the regime [Music] thank you hey Jin Ryu is a regular defective guests she started secretly watching smuggled South Korean TV shows and became obsessed with the life she could have if she escaped um agent was one of the tens of thousands of North Koreans sent to work overseas to raise money for the regime working abroad gave her the opportunity to get away do you ever worry about the safety risks for your family given that your parents are still living there that there may be consequences for them from you speaking out on the program well [Music] are you in contact at all with your family in North Korea no it's not possible for me because yeah my family stay in the city Pyongyang so this is not easy and not possible for me yeah that must be really tough not being able to speak yeah [Music] for many defectors the reality of life in South Korea is a shock yeah and you will be filming until Thursday Dr Joanna husseiniak has been documenting the human rights of North Koreans for more than 20 years her not-for-profit organization has become increasingly focused on their plight in the south first and foremost they look at the soap operas and they see how South Koreans are living their lives what car they drives how what their apartments look like this is the kind of you know expectations that these people have that they will be better educated here and that they will have better jobs and that they will live Better Lives there are nearly 34 000 defectors living in South Korea most of them are women and they're viewed with suspicion in reality majority of South Koreans don't want to know North Koreans or they are afraid of them even they do not View North Korea as kind of the same country anymore a meeting with a Defector who's been here in Seoul since 2019 she's asked us to use a pseudonym because she's afraid of being targeted by the North Korean regime sunju was drawn by the Glamorous South Korean lifestyle she saw on smuggled TV shows um foreign [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] foreign they made it safely across the river but the journey was far from over they traveled for weeks through southeast Asia the most common route used by defectors there is foreign [Music] South Korean life she'd seen on screen was nothing like reality foreign [Music] foreign they are always in a way Outsiders South Koreans expect them that oh you speak Korean language you know Korean culture so you are South Koreans and there is little understanding for that variety a tolerance that you might be Korean but you might have totally different history okay good you have to fit in it's a tribal Society you have to fit in if you don't you are an outsider and I think many North Koreans are in a way in their country and they are foreigners the South Korean government does have a program aimed at integrating defectors they're screened on arrival to weed out spies before being sent for three months to a compulsory re-education camp aign [Music] is the director of the Hana Foundation the government-funded organization responsible for the long-term care of defectors oh no foreign [Music] they are completely secluded from the society they are bombarded with all of this education of like how to open your bank account you know how to drive a car how to control your money where to apply for job Etc what what kinds of kimchi and cheese and other type of produce you have many of them told us that the moment they are out they've realized that they forgot everything that they've been educated and they really don't know how to manage their life when the defectors are released they're given a resettlement payment and a subsidized Department the subsidies are not enormous and when they finish and you don't have a family you don't have a system of support to fall back it's very difficult for them to find better jobs because the fact that they were born in North Korea affects them for Life almost and so I think they are kind of pushed to poverty all the time one criticism that has been shared with us is that the resettlement package is not sufficient to support the needs of defectors in the long term do you think that the program is really offering them the ability to adjust to life here foreign [Music] [Music] across this modern city of almost 26 million people many North Korean defectors live in isolation on the fringes of society [Music] knows what that's like um foreign foreign [Music] [Music] foreign sounds incredibly lonely here is me ponson Antonio leads a group of volunteers who check on the welfare of defectors foreign [Music] [Music] has been living in South Korea now for three years come on [Music] foreign foreign [Music] fled North Korea after being imprisoned and tortured by the military she'd been caught trying to speak to her son who'd fled to China months earlier she's now living with severe liver cirrhosis you haven't been seeing the doctor because you can't afford to foreign [Music] foreign this team are the only people that visit her during the week and the rest of the time she doesn't have the energy to go outside struggling financially her entire world essentially of these occasional visits from the team they give her food they give us some company sometimes they do some health checks and they just help with chores around the house but they are really all that she's got it the visit lasts less than 30 minutes then they're off to the next one there's still many more people to check on the biggest wave of North Korean defectors escaped in the 90s a devastating famine engulfed the North and is estimated to have killed Millions thousands of people fled over the border into China I'm traveling to meet one of them a few hours outside of Seoul her name is Sujin Jude she lives in the back room of the restaurant where she works the height of the famine she and her family had to scavenge to survive [Music] um when a trafficker offered to take surgeon across the border and into China she didn't hesitate [Music] [Music] surgeons swam across the Truman river which divides North Korea and China but she wasn't free like many of the women fleeing the regime she was sold into a forced marriage then [Music] foreign just months into her ordeal Sujin became pregnant the arrival of her daughter chunmi changed everything and um foreign the courage to escape her marriage she thought it was safer to leave chunmi in the care of her Chinese grandparents Sujin traveled for several months through China and Laos to South Korea foreign [Music] two years to bring her daughter to South Korea [Music] um [Music] foreign do you remember coming here when you were younger yeah just remember that um cream color [Music] Jun May's reunion with her mother was short-lived Sujin had to work long hours in the restaurant so chunmi was placed here in this shelter for the children of North Korean defectors she's been living here ever since how many people live here 10 more people ten more and where do you sleep oh I sleep Don okay can you show me okay cool [Music] Sujin and chunmi's separation has made their relationship difficult [Music] um [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] her doctors said she would never walk again yeah okay [Laughter] foreign [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] has not healed all wounds they remain distant o ego [Music] tuni is trying to find her own way she's enrolled in her first year of University has her own network of friends and she's documenting her life on YouTube wow my channel two classes what have you got on trying drawing class and find English class foreign [Music] [Music] [Music]

Channel: ABC News In-depth

Views: 157,404

Keywords: Foreign Correspondent, South Korea, North Korea, Defectors, defectors to north korea, south korea defector, Hee-Jin Ryu, Now On My Way To Meet You, NOMWTMY, Seoul, pyongyang, north korea documentary, north korean defector, Life in south korea, escaping north korea, kim jong un, fleeing north korea, abc news australia, abc, The Defectors: Is Escaping North Korea Really Worth it? | Foreign Correspondent, North Koreans, yeonmi park, Naomi Selvaratnam, south korea documentary

Id: 5fK4LZdJRwI

Length: 29min 25sec (1765 seconds)

Published: Thu Apr 27 2023