February 20, 1999	atimes.com

The Koreas Defectors find no capitalist paradise By Ahn Mi Young SEOUL - ''My life here is entirely different fromwhat I had dreamed of in North Korea,'' says Kang Kyong-ho, whodefected to South Korea in 1997 after six months of risky travelby way of China and Vietnam. Kang, 39, and his wife received $24,000 in subsidyfrom Seoul at the time. But the amount is running out, spent onrent and daily needs since Kang lost his job as a public-projectworker one year ago. Kang, who now works as a temporary guard at the local citygovernment, said: ''I am afraid of losing my job again. In NorthKorea, I had at least no fear of losing job. There I worked as afarm supervisor." Up until the early 1990s, North Korean defectors were hailed as''freedom fighters'' and granted handsome money and decent jobsupon reaching the South. But as the number of defectors sharply increased since 1994,South Korea's welcome wore thin. A total of 741 North Korean defectors are officially listed asliving in South Korea, out of 941 who have defected to the Southsince 1953. The remainder have emigrated or died. Defectors who came to the South before 1994 received an averageof $60,000 in government subsidies, but now get some $12,800on average per person. And since the economic crisis hit South Korea in December 1997,many North Korean defectors have been among the first to be laidoff. According to government figures released in December, more than40 percent of the 281 defectors who have finished job trainingcourses since 1994 are jobless. Some defectors, true, have found South Korea a land ofopportunity and found successful careers as venture businessmen,restaurant owners, or entertainers. But for others, the dream land they thought South Korea to behas turned into a strange capitalist world where opportunities areavailable only to those with skill, money and connections. Take Kim Jong-yong, 30, who was hailed as a brave defector in1996 but is now homeless at the Seoul railway station. ''I hadthought that I can do everything. Now I feel so helpless andlonely, with no family and friends to talk to." Even daily life is a challenge for many who have difficultyunderstanding South Korean culture. Kang Chul-ho, a 32-year-old defector, grumbles that he hasfailed five times the written test for a driver's license. ''Herethe way they write makes is so different (from North Korea) thatit makes no sense to me,'' he fumed. Kim Hi-gun, 32, was a physics teacher at a high school in NorthKorea but finds his experience useless here. ''My severalapplications for job ended nowhere, as I have nobody to recommendor hometown connection,'' he explained. Those who drop the old ways and quickly learn the new ways aremoving up. ''The first thing that I learned here is that I must makemoney,'' said Yoon Kyong-sup, who defected to Seoul in 1996.With his savings from an earlier job, he now runs a restaurantserving North Korean-style cold noodles called ''nangmyon''. ''Here nothing is given free. So I must be a hard worker. Inever imagined I would turn into a serviceman, smiling, bowingdeeply and arranging guests' shoes here,'' Yoon explained. Kim Hye-young, a 26-year-old actress who defected to SouthKorea in 1998 with her family, is all set for her television debut as a model in a toothpaste commercial. For thatshe will get $40,000. ''My dream is to make a TV star here as I was'' in NorthKorea, Kim said. According to a government survey, economic difficulties are thebiggest barrier to settling in the South for 58 percent of theNorth Korean defectors, followed by cultural obstacles (20percent) and education for their children (7 percent). Defectors able to come with or be reunited with their familieshave an easier time adjusting to life here. ''I feel happy only because we can live together and freely,''said Lee Yong-un, who defected in 1997 with his wife, two sons anda daughter. He lives on 400 dollars a month working as a janitor. Still, heand his wife dream of their children getting education and decentprofessional careers. Defector Kwon Soon-chul, who was a farm supervisor in theNorth, hankers for his family. ''My heart breaks each time I thinkof my daughter that I left in North Korea, and each time I walkinto an empty dark room,'' he said. To ease defectors' woes, Unification Minister Kang In-dukpromised to double the subsidies for North Korean defectorsbeginning this year. But those already here lament their exclusion from the newbenefits. Some 60 defectors, mainly those who came in 1994-1998,organized a lobbying group in December. ''The government should suppport defectors until they are ableto adapt themselves to the new environment,'' said Han Chang-kwoen, 39, who leads the North Korean Defectors for Freedom. Defectors are also angry with what they claim is Seoul'sdiscrimination on the basis of what their social status was in theNorth. ''Only high-level North Korean defectors are treated wellin the South,'' argued defector Lee Seung-ik. Many South Koreans say the integration of defectors isfor the country's good. ''Helping these defectors adapt to newlife here is in our interest in the long run,'' said journalistKwon Oh-sok. ''When the two Koreas are reunited, these defectors are going to beteachers for other North Koreans following in their footsteps andgetting into the new life here,'' he added. Indeed, despite South Korea's economic headaches, moredefections may come. Some 100,000 North Koreans fleeing hunger arebelieved to be in northern Chinese villages, waiting for a chanceto slip across the border and find their way to the South. (Inter Press Service)

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