by Daniel Tudor
What did you think when you saw election campaigns in South Korea?
DT: According the The Economist’s Democracy Index and many other measures, North Korea is the least democratic country in the world. Meanwhile South Korea has recently shown itself to be one of the world’s most robust democracies, as the events surrounding the downfall of former president Park Geun-hye in late 2016 and early 2017 demonstrate. The difference between the two Koreas is jarring, and so it is surely interesting to ask what a North Korean arrival to the South might make of that great symbol of democracy, the election.
Je Son Lee:
Election campaigning doesn’t exist in North Korea. So, when I witnessed election campaigning with my own eyes for the first time in South Korea, I didn’t understand what they were doing. Candidates and their supporters made so much of an effort to speak to people on the streets. These people distributed the candidate’s business cards and flyers to passersby. When I witnessed all of this for the first time, I thought, these people have too much time on their hands, don’t they? At that time, I didn’t know anything about the role of politicians, or what kind of power they could exercise.
In North Korea, politicians are nothing more than puppets for the regime. Of course, top officials in the Supreme People’s Committee may exercise limited political power while closely assisting Kim Jong Un. Apart from these top officials, the people chosen to serve on most provincial committees in the DPRK are puppets. They don’t exercise any political power. Nor can they “motion” for or oppose any legislation.
More importantly, they don’t have any competition, either. Once they become a candidate, they automatically get elected. That means they don’t need to go out in the streets to beg citizens for votes. After all, there’s no need to take any time and effort to campaign. Once the Workers’ Party of Korea appoints you to be a candidate for your district in the upcoming election, you’re going to be elected 99.9 percent of the time.
If you’re a North Korean with political ambition, all you need to do is to win the hearts of top officials at the Workers’ Party, not the voters. You shower the top party official with extravagant presents and money in order to be nominated. Even if you succeed in becoming a member of the committee, which is the legislative body, there’s nothing you can change about the way North Korea is. So, if anyone wants to invest in bribery just for the nomination, that probably means they’re just out for fame. They just want to brag about the fact that they’re “honorable” committee members.
These are normally the kind of people who don’t even possess basic qualifications to be a good politician. They just want the status. Of course, I’m sure that not all committee members are pompous or arrogant. But, at least those who I met wanted to brag about it. That’s all I knew about politics back in North Korea.
When I witnessed the election campaign in South Korea for the first time, I was blown away. Everything they did looked so crazy to me! At first, I didn’t understand why they were pouring so much money into their campaigns. I thought, why don’t they spend that money on the elderly and other people living in poverty? However, after I began to understand more about the election process, I learned that not all these candidates get elected. They have to compete with others. That’s why they were spending so much money. But what caught my attention was a list of policies they pledged to carry out once elected. I believed they would carry them out, but it didn’t take me long to realize that they were all false promises. I don’t know if these politicians are bad for being pathetic liars, or whether it’s my fault for believing them in the first place.
It left me in complete shock. I became confused. It crossed my mind that South Korea’s election system could be more dangerous than North Korea’s. In the North, no matter who gets elected, they’re given no political power. Therefore, they cannot implement any laws or regulations that could put people in danger.
However, people in South Korea have freedom of speech and can express their political stance and opinions freely. It is an amazing thing that South Koreans can vote for whoever they want. No one forces them to vote for a particular candidate.
When an election comes up, I do wonder who I should vote for. I’m still not knowledgeable about the electoral system, the role of politicians, or what the candidates are like. Some people vote for the political party the candidate represents. Others vote for candidates based on their capabilities, even if they don’t necessarily endorse the candidate’s party. Either way, one needs to take an interest in politics.
But South Korea’s election campaign looks too extravagant and luxurious to me. It looks like they’re all spending way too much money.
How do South Koreans react when you tell them you’re from North Korea?
DT: I have a few North Korean acquaintances in South Korea, and generally, they will say they feel discriminated against by South Koreans. If they are sat in a restaurant and speak to each other in North Korean accents, people sat at nearby tables will stare, or start talking about North Korea themselves. Some older people even consider North Korean defectors as potential spies. That said, I doubt that most regret coming to the South.
Kim Yoo-sung:
When my family escaped from North Korea, our intended destination was America, not South Korea. The reason we initially chose to immigrate to America was because we received help from an American civic group called LiNK (Liberty in North Korea). At the time my family left North Korea, it cost about US$3,000 to get one person out and bring them to the immigration office in Thailand. So, it cost approximately US$9,000 for the three members of my family to escape from North Korea. Even when I was arrested by the Chinese authorities, this American civic group paid to rescue me from the Chinese detention center.
For these reasons, I’m still thankful for all the Americans who helped me. I think they literally saved my life. I’m opening with this story because, if I could turn back time, I would choose to immigrate to America instead of South Korea.
I’ve now been living in South Korea for over six years. Most South Koreans treat North Koreans with prejudice, stereotypes and discrimination. Within the first month of arriving in South Korea, I got a part-time job at a company that made small parts for smart-phones. That company had its headquarters in Seoul and a factory in Suwon, an hour south of Seoul. There were eight workers at that factory, including myself. Five of them were women.
When ten days had passed, a new college graduate joined. When he found out that I came from North Korea, he stopped calling me by my name. Instead, he started saying “Hey, you! You come over here!” He became very rude and he started treating me with disrespect and ridicule just because I was from North Korea. Every morning I took a shower before going to work. But he kept telling me that I stank. I couldn’t stand being discriminated against like that. So, I left that job after a month. Ever since, I have stopped telling people that I come from North Korea.
According to a poll, only two out of 10 North Koreans reveal that they come from North Korea. North Koreans constantly feel that it is better for them to conceal their origins. I wanted to work in sales most of all. I applied for numerous vacant positions in sales, but I could never pass the first round. When my application passed the first screening process and I was called in for an interview, I was told that I had little experience in South Korea. I was confident that I could do very well in sales, but the recruiter told me that they would only consider my application again once I had gained two years work experience in South Korea.
So, I chose plan B. I decided to work really hard for the first company that would hire me. I’ve successfully landed a job with a South Korean company now. At first, I was worried about how they would treat me, knowing that I am from North Korea. I was relieved when they treated me very well. They didn’t ridicule or shun me. When I started working for them, the tasks were very challenging and demanding. However, I didn’t quit, because they treated me the same as they would South Koreans. After two months, I became used to the w
ork and would even whistle on my way to work every morning. I don’t know how long I will work for this company. But since I’m highly satisfied with my workplace, I would love to work for them for 30 years or more, until I retire.
We see and read news reports about racism happening in America today. In South Korea, it’s the same; both prejudiced and tolerant people exist. And so it will take time before discrimination against North Koreans disappears. South Koreans and North Koreans are of the same race and we share blood. Still, we have to face discrimination in South Korea.
I had a chance to visit America in August 2014. To be honest, I didn’t love New York City, because it was too crowded, hectic and flashy. But I absolutely loved other parts of America I visited. It felt like paradise to me. If I could speak English and if U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services would allow me to immigrate to America, I would live in the U.S. rather than South Korea. I don’t know if it will ever happen. Right now, I will continue to work hard for my company so that I can be a valuable employee.
What should South Korea do to prepare for reunification?
DT: Reunification is an awkward topic. South Korean politicians pay lip service to the importance of reunification, but increasingly, the South Korean public lacks interest in it. When I visited North Korea, I got the sense that reunification is a much bigger deal there. Perhaps due to propaganda, or perhaps due to other reasons, I was told several times there that it was the dream and destiny of Koreans to be reunited. One rarely sees this kind of fervency in the South.
Sung-ha Joo:
South Korea simply wants to avoid reunification. That’s because South Koreans are scared of the potential tax burden and of what it will be like to live side-by-side with North Koreans.
Because of this, I believe it is important for the South Korean government and NGOs to make efforts to change South Korean attitudes. South Koreans need to be open-minded about living with North Koreans, and in particular understand that unification is coming and has to come, no matter what they want.
I believe the current discourse about unification focuses too much on economic issues and does not focus enough on pointing out that above all, unification is about living together.
Mina Yoon:
The South Korean government needs to take the lead in inter-Korea relations. To help this process, South Korea needs to recruit more experts on North Korea.
NGOs and organizations need to raise awareness of the importance of unification for South Koreans, especially the younger generation, as well as inform North Koreans about the outside world. The government has a limited role and limited abilities. But NGOs and other organizations have more to offer.
Ji-min Kang:
In North Korea, you are either the oppressor or the oppressed—there’s no middle ground. But things might turn around if there are radical changes in the North. Indeed, there will be countless people who hold grudges against the government for its ruthless and oppressive rule.
So without adequate measures after a regime collapse, North Korea could become a stage for bloody retaliation. Revenge will beget even more revenge. If we don’t prepare beforehand, the country will turn into a bloodbath within a few months of any major transition.
I have heard that people in North Korea’s security forces say that they may one day need to escape into China. I think this shows just how strong people’s hostility could be—and the level of fear in the North Korean government. North Korea will therefore need international assistance, especially in dealing with security problems and food shortages.
Also, people who have suffered in the political prison camps will need quite a bit of help—including, possibly, therapy. Medical facilities in North Korea have undergone extreme deterioration. Medication and medical equipment are all lacking and many people are dying from various diseases. Medical aid is therefore another area where there is a dire need for assistance.
Ji-hyun Park:
One of the major things South Korea needs to do today is to help defectors living in South Korea adapt to the capitalist system. Once North Korea collapses, the defectors will be the ones leading the North Korean people. However, even they find difficulty in gaining a foothold in South Korean society, and so they are forced to go to foreign countries. NGO groups should provide support so that defectors are able to achieve refugee status.
Hyun-moo Jung:
The first thing South Korea should do is to make efforts to understand North Koreans better. Don’t we have almost 26,000 defectors here in South Korea?
Still, South Koreans cannot judge all North Koreans by looking at these 26,000 people. Most defectors who have made it to South Korea are the ones who almost starved to death or who were subject to political oppression back in North Korea. In other words, they’re mostly either top elites or from the lowest classes—there aren’t many from the middle class.
PART 7
Health and Welfare
[Introduction]
From my time spent in North Korea, the impression that stays with me the most is that of the tough lives led by the majority of the people. One day we took a drive from Pyongyang to another nearby city, Pyongsong. Though Pyongyang is not rich by international standards, and Pyongsong is certainly not the hardest-up place in North Korea, the difference between the two places was stark.
The citizens of Pyongsong lived in decrepit old apartment buildings where electricity looked to be in short supply. They were scraping a living by trading basic goods on the street, or by engaging in related work—transporting goods around by bicycle, or fixing said bicycles, for instance. The clothes they wore were rather shabby, and generally people looked weary and weathered. One can only imagine what it must be like to live in this way during the deep sub-zero winters.
People living in such circumstances are naturally more susceptible to illness than you or I, other things being equal. But what happens when you fall ill in North Korea? Technically, free healthcare is available for all. Anyone can see a doctor. However, in practical terms there is a huge variance in quality, depending upon who you are. The Pyongyang elite can enjoy a reasonable standard of treatment, whilst the masses may have to just take a few aspirin and hope for the best.
It wasn’t always like this. Healthcare is another aspect of life that has changed since the famine of the 1990s. As with food, shelter, and education provision, the standard of healthcare enjoyed by the general population was much better and much less dependent on how much money one had. But as mentioned previously, the government’s social contract with the people—obedience in return for guaranteed welfare and security—has completely broken down. Rule now is the result of fear, and residual positive feelings about Kim Il Sung.
And how about old people? Elderly North Koreans simply have to keep working. There is no concept of a pension. Or, indeed, welfare payments for those who fall ill and cannot work; there is little help for the disabled either.
As one may imagine, the need to survive has made North Koreans become extraordinarily resourceful and resilient. In the event of reunification, I would definitely want to invest in North Korea—very few people could compete with North Koreans in creative problem-solving on low budgets, and sheer hustle. In a better world though, they wouldn’t have needed to develop such skills.
What was it like to live through the famine?
DT: In the mid-1990s, North Koreans experienced a devastating famine that left hundreds of thousands, possibly even more than one million, dead. I can clearly remember my shock when a defector acquaintance told me that he saw bodies literally piled up in his hometown during that period. It is truly strange and horrifying to think that this was going on just 50 kilometers from a city like Seoul.
Mina Yoon:
Based on North Korean standards, not many people suffered from malnutrition. Or, I should put it this way: The North Korean people do not have any standards when it comes to malnutrition. That’s because it was such a common condition. In this situation, anyone who could walk was
considered “normal.” Even now, my rough guess is that based on global standards, more than half of North Koreans would be considered malnourished.
Thus when I lived in North Korea, I never thought I was suffering from malnutrition—even though I was not very healthy at the time. And compared to my younger sister, who suffered from critical malnutrition, my health was not a concern.
My little sister went to kindergarten then, and she occasionally collapsed just while walking on the street. Then one day even her eyesight started deteriorating. She could not see anything at night. She could not even pick up her rice bowl. My mother could not do anything, but shed tears looking at her, and my father did not know because, as always, he was away (with the military) and busy with work.
My friends and I went out to the hills and fields nearby, and collected shepherd’s purse, a herb known to be good for night blindness. My kind-hearted friends filled my basket with shepherd’s purse all day long, which could have made a decent dinner soup for their hungry families. However, even this could not save my little sister. There was no progress in her condition, and my mother finally wrote a letter to my father, who eventually managed to get pig’s liver and sent it to my mother. She steamed it and fed it to my sister with salt, and fortunately it worked. My sister gradually recovered her eyesight.
At a time when a kernel of corn seemed more valuable than gold, I think the biggest victims were the children.
In my hometown, there was a little girl named Soon Yi. I often saw her drawing something with a broken branch on the ground, waiting for her dad, who was out looking for something to feed her. Because she was four years old, the same age as my own little sister then, I was a bit attached to her. Then, one day, I woke up and heard the sad news that she had died. Her mother passed away when she was still a baby and her father was the only one looking after her. It was not easy to find food then.