North Korea, Defectors and Life

  Life and Struggle of North Korean Defectors

Well, today we are about to talk about a prison of hell on Earth, no I'm not talking about Gulag or any sort of island-isolation punishment, I am talking about North Korea. North Korea is not a joke. It's one of the worst countries in the world. The people of North Korea are totally isolated from the outer world, which means a North Korean is not allowed to leave his country, there is no internet and telecommunication for common people, there are televisions but that too telecast only Anti-American propaganda. North Korea is strict where you will never know which act will bring you death, yes death. Eventually, a normal death is considered as a light punishment in North Korea, things get worse in concentration camps and brutal modes of punishment. But, above all North Korea is depressing, poverty, starvation, and exploitation can be seen clearly on local people's faces.

As a tourist, you can not roam freely inside the country, like what you can do in almost every country around the globe. You are allowed in an organized tour group, via 24-hour train from Beijing to North Korean Border to Pyongyang. The minute you will cross the border you will enter a whole new world, I would like to call it time travel as just a bridge and you're in an extremely poor country from second-biggest economy in the world. Soldiers will inspect everything you're carrying with you, they check your phone, tablet, laptop, and books. No Religious scriptures are allowed as religion is banned in North Korea, no Internet Transmitter, no sensitive information of the outer world, also you can't interact with locals of North Korea and can't leave hotels without your tour guide, there is no trade with the external world, no cars on the highway, no stable power inside homes in Pyongyang, no powers across the country

This Image is issued by NASA, regarding the light or energy consumption of each country.

You can see the light density of South Korea, marking its prosperity. Also, the light density of China marks its development and prosperity. But, not with North Korea, Energy shortage can be seen clearly in this poor nation.

Is there anyone who made it out of North Korea?

Well, The answer is yes, there are lots of people who made it out of North Korea, if you ever think of giving up on something just have a look at what struggle they have to do, maybe after that you'll feel some motivation for sure.

For an instance let us take a look at North Korean Geography, this country borders three-nation i.e, South Korea, China, and Russia. The good news is South Korea is humble to North Koreans and give them instant citizenship of South Korea but making it to South Korea is not that easy as the border is heavily militarized and if you try to cross it you'll be rained with rounds of machine guns fire. Meanwhile, the whole of North Korea is separated from the Chinese and Russian mainland via the Tumen River, the good news is these borders aren't that much guarded and surveillanced by very few guards, so making it to China and Russia isn't that tough but things aren't that easy for North Koreans, if you're found anywhere in China and Russia, either you'll be a victim of human-trafficking where Men are used as bonded-labor and women are used as a sex-slave, well there is another case where some women consider themselves as fortunate as they are married to Chinese men living in country-side or you'll be immediately deported to North Korea and this time you're again in hell but with some worse punishment like concentration camps. So escaping from North Korea is itself a suicide mission doesn't matter if you're in North Korea or any ally nation. The good news is if you can travel along China to reach Mongolia, you'll be immediately deported to South Korea. Also if you try to travel across China to reach any neighboring country like India, you'll be given Indian citizenship or South Korean deport ship, the decision will be yours. But not every country bordering China is heaven for North Koreans, I mean for example let us say you step into Laos, Vietnam, or Cambodia, you'll again be deported to North Korea but if you pass these countries and reach Thailand, you'll be deported to South Korea.

Sounds impossible to escape North Korea, eh? but some people did it. Let us know their case.

Case of Evelyn Jeong

“I was eight when I saw my first public execution,” said Evelyn Jeong.

Evelyn Jeong, now 21 years old, escaped from North Korea when she was only 15 years old. Evelyn illegally fled North Korea to Thailand, by the way of Laos, all within the span of a month.

Throughout her journey she traveled up and down mountains, in the snow, at night with no lights, running and walking, to attain freedom.

She was able to do this with the help of her mother. The mother, who was a successful businesswoman, planned the escape, for thanks to her connections she was able to bribe the guards. Evelyn’s mom also had lots of money, which helped in aiding the shelter.

Evelyn’s mother asked if she wanted to leave and initially, Jeong agreed because she’d never been on an adventure before. She didn’t leave due to the dictatorship because she was a child who thought she had been living a normal life. She didn’t know that kids being pulled out of class at the age of 8 to go watch a public execution was abnormal.

Evelyn Jeong Instagram

Case of Yeonmi Park

When Yeonmi was 10 years old, her father was sent to a labor camp for illegal trading. He traded clothes, sugar, rice, and copper in order to feed his family. The family even had to eat insects to survive.

Park’s family did not have enough money for food and starved for days, weeks even months. When she saw the lights from China over the North Korea and China river border, she thought “Maybe if I go there I’ll find a bowl of rice.”

When she was 13 years old, she, her sister, and her mother decided to escape North Korea to China without knowing what would happen or how they would get there. Park believed going to China would be a good thing that would bring happiness.

They had to run across a frozen river from North Korea to China praying that they wouldn’t be shot and killed.

One of Park’s most horrifying memories was her mother being raped in China. The people she thought she could trust and lied to her. The same men also tried to rape her, even though her mom did her best to protect her from the men she couldn’t. In order to stay alive in China, you have to sell yourself. Since North Koreans who escaped were illegal in China, those caught would be sent back to North Korea and be executed along with the entire family. The only way to stay in China is to make alliances with the Chinese, which means selling yourself and your family.

Park didn’t know what selling herself meant. She didn’t know what sexual intercourse was or marriage was but  Park was so desperate and hungry, she didn’t care what she had to do. Two years later after being sold and sold again, her sister, mother, and herself crossed the Gobi desert in Mongolia to South Korea. They followed the northern stars to freedom.

Park’s reason for going to South Korea instead of staying in China is that “You can wear jeans. You can watch movies. And you will not be executed or arrested for that. And thought wow that’s amazing and I’m going to risk my life for that”.

When she arrived in South Korea, she was amazed. She saw escalators, she wondered “Why is this ground moving and not this one”. She saw the most beautiful toilet paper she had ever seen. So instead of using it, she rolled it up and kept it. When she stepped out of the bathroom, she saw freedom. Everyone walked around with phones, wearing mini skirts, dying their hair, and wearing earrings none of which was permitted in North Korea.

Today, she is a human rights activist. She hopes to change the world so that no other 8 years old have to see a public execution ever again.

Case of Jin Gyeong-suk

Another Defector Jin Gyeong-suk who escaped 

North Korea in 2002 was abducted by North Korea
again in 2004, Jin managed to reach South Korea, she got South Korean citizenship as well as a Passport but the God isn't that pity always, Jin married Mun a South Korean guy with whom she went to North Korean province of China for her Honeymoon, also she signed a documentary proof with a Japanese production company in which she has to carry some evidence of trade of drugs between China and North Korea, also she has to get some clips of 'What's inside North Korea?'. The North Korean guard and laborers whom they were bribing to smuggle a camera inside North Korea came out to be the assassins sent for them by the Intelligence Department of North Korea.

This all incident happened in front of Mun Jeong Hun, who was lightly injured by those assassins.

Mun Jeong Hun said " I tried in every way to save my wife, but those heartless people showed no mercy to her. Those 4 soldiers beat my wife very badly in front of me, all I tried is to fight them but my efforts weren't enough. They put her in a bag of jute, dragged her across the same frozen Tumen River"

This incident became a major issue at that time, many countries forced North Korea to release her back to South Korea, but the North Korean Dictator is like a monkey with a rooted brain, they can get killed just for a Banana but won't leave it if a python is guarding it. Resource says that she was thrown in the concentration camp of the Chongjin area, where she was brutally raped by guards and officials themselves. The cause of death was determined to be the result of the residual effects of torture to which she had been subjected.

Hope you like this blog. I'll be coming with another blog soon, till then I'm leaving you with some questions.

• Do you really appreciate the freedom given to you by your country?
• Do you feel privileged of being not born in North Korea?
• Do you feel good that at the age of 8, you played, you studied, instead of seeing a public execution or working as labor?
• Do you feel privileged that you can freely travel across the globe without being a target of Human traffickers?