APPENDIX: Interviews between Refugees International and North Korean RefugeesInterviews 1-10 Interviews 11-20 Interviews 21-30 Interviews 31-40 Interviews 41-47 INTERVIEW 21 WOMAN, Age 29 PLACE OF ORIGIN: Onsong FIRST ARRIVAL IN CHINA: April 2003 She has a mother and three brothers (two live with their mother and one is in the army), a husband, and a 3-year-old daughter in North Korea. She came to China three months ago to make some money. She worked one day as a waitress in a Chinese restaurant but had to stop because she doesn’t speak Chinese. She lives with relatives in Yanji and they take care of her. In North Korea before marriage she worked in a coal mine on some machines. After marriage she made Korean snacks in the market. Her two brothers are coal miners. Her husband is also a coal miner. If the mining plan gets completed, they get 1000 won/month. In March, her husband got 1000 won. In January, he got 800 won and in February he only got 750 won because they didn’t complete their work. In the coal mine there are 10,000 people working. Everyone is in the same condition. They go to the market to buy rice. In March she could buy nine kilograms in the market but it’s not enough so she goes to the mountains to make a small field to grow corn. She also sells Korean pie and corn noodles in the market. One kilogram of corn is not enough for her family so she mixes it with the leftover water from making tofu. After a couple more days in China she will go back to North Korea.“China is beyond description. Chinese eat rice everyday but in North Korea there is no rice. I want to feed my children rice but there isn’t any. There is no hope in North Korea. North Korea should be open like South Korea and China. I think there should be a big change in North Korea. I saw the Iraq war on TV and think that should happen in North Korea. The condition of Iraq is the same as North Korea. North Korea always says they’re prepared for war so I’m desperate for the war to break out soon. I also want reunification with South Korea so that North Korea can be as rich as South Korea.” INTERVIEW 22 WOMAN, Age 32 PLACE OF ORIGIN: Hoeryong FIRST ARRIVAL IN CHINA: June 2003 In North Korea she has a 7-year-old son. Her husband died in a car accident four years ago. She came here three weeks ago to make money for her child because now her boy is with her parents, but they’re poor. She wants him to go to school but she needs money. She can’t work here because she doesn’t speak Chinese. She met a fine Korean-Chinese man and lives with him. He’s taking care of her; they’re not married. He guided her to Yanji. She only thinks of her child. She wants to bring him here but he’s too young to walk alone. She worked at a paper company until 1997 when she got 70-100 won a month. After 1997 she got married and quit her job. She now sells rice from Hoeryong to Ch’ongjin. Her parents manage a small farm and because she has no husband and has to take care of her son, her parents care for them. She’s afraid to be caught by the Chinese police. She’s so afraid so she doesn’t go outside. It took three days to walk to Yanji but it’s not comfortable to live here because of her fear of the Chinese police. INTERVIEW 23 GIRL, Age 18 PLACE OF ORIGIN: Musan FIRST ARRIVAL IN CHINA: 2002 She first came to China two years ago with her mother and younger brother but was deported two months after she arrived. Her previous trip familiarized her with the route to China. Her mother and younger brother first came to China four years ago. After two years in China, her mother returned to North Korea for her. After only two months in China she was arrested while her mother and brother went out to the market. (Her mother and brother could speak Chinese.) She was at home alone. Someone had informed the police. She spent a week in jail in China. She couldn’t remember too many of the details of her stay in prison because she was too upset. The food in the prison was okay, but she doesn’t like Chinese food. The guards did not mistreat her. She was put onto a bus with nine other people and sent back to North Korea. She was sent to Ch’ongjin to a National Security prison for interrogation, and put in jail along with the nine other defectors for one month. The lack of food was the most difficult to bear. Sometimes she found worms in her soup. She had to struggle. At 16 years old, she was the youngest in the jail. The guards forced her to sit perfectly She’s afraid to be caught by the Chinese police. She’s so afraid so she doesn’t go outside.straight on the ground from 6:00 am until 9:00 pm without a blanket or cushion. If she moved or stretched, she would have to stand all day with her hands over her head. For the first ten days, she was always punished like this. Everyone in the prison was a defector. None of the other prisoners had to work, and they all had to sit perfectly still. At the end of the month, all the prisoners had to swear that they would not return to China. Once their sentence was done, all the prisoners were sent to labor centers in their places of origin. Relocating to a labor center in Musan took ten days, mainly due to administrative errors (she said she had to travel between the first prison and the factory several times). She traveled by train, and she was sent alone with two guards. The main job in the factory was farming. They grew corn, potatoes, and rice. Because she was so young, she wasn’t given a job. She said she would have preferred to work; it would have been easier than doing nothing. She said she spent each day thinking: “Why was I born in this country? I wish I had been born in China. Why didn’t my mother give birth to me in China?” She said she started to realize that it was not her parents’ fault but rather the fault of the Leader. “If I marry, I will take care of my children well and not put them in this situation.” She said the hardest thing for her is surviving without her parents. Most of the other prisoners in the factory had defected to China. Because she was young, she was put in the jail adjacent to the labor reeducation center. Adults were sent to the factory. There were 30 people in jail with her. They were all adults. The authorities were trying to get information from them. She spent 20 days in the second jail. She went home. Her mother and younger brother were still in China. Her father had married another woman, so she stayed with her aunt in Ch’ayu. The situation was bad for her aunt and she felt sorry for her, so she looked for other places to go. She went to her grandmother and then friends but everyone was in a bad situation. She wandered from place to place for two years, and wanted to return to China. When the river was frozen in March 2004, she crossed over into China. She said the economic situation became worse after August 2003. Now the price of corn is up to 200 won (2 RMB). Corn is usually 80. When she left in March there were many beggars, mainly orphans, on the streets. She was totally alone during her two years of wandering. Last September [2003], she decided to commit suicide. Around 10:00 am she walked into the sea. She almost drowned. She kept sinking and sinking. She thought she was dead. She felt the sea floor. She felt something grab her body and bring her up to the surface. There was nothing holding her or touching her. She thought it was definitely God. Two years ago in China, she received the gospel. She knew who God was, but she was not a Christian. She felt God in the middle of the sea. She came out of the sea at 10:00 pm, 12 hours later. After that she felt a need to worship God, so she prayed and prayed. “If you’re real, lead me to China again.” The journey back to China was not too difficult because she was familiar with the route. She crossed alone in one day. It only took 10 minutes to cross the frozen river. There were no guards on the North Korean side. There are usually many guards. After crossing the river, she crossed the snow-covered mountain. The only difficulty she faced was climbing the snow-covered mountain inside China. Before she left for China, her aunt had given her some money, so she got on a bus. She was trying to go to Seusung because she had been there two years earlier. She doesn’t know where her mother is. She couldn’t speak Chinese or read the bus sign so she ended up in Yanji around 5:00 pm. She wandered around until 11:00 pm and then went to sleep under a bridge. She prayed for a taxi to come to her, and she met a driver who spoke Korean. She went to Seusung and met a missionary who she had known two years ago. The missionary brought her to the shelter. She went to school in North Korea. There are supposed to be 50 students in each class, but usually only 30 attend. Poor kids can’t go because they have to help their parents. The teachers can’t teach because they are hungry. Sometimes they fall down during teaching. She went to school for eight years. She studied math, English, Korean, and stories about Kim Il Sung. In middle school, they had to take “Revolution I (Kim Il Sung), Revolution II (Kim Jong Il) and Revolution III (Kim Jong Suk). There were four classes a week on the revolutions. When she first crossed over into China, she couldn’t believe how developed China was. “I felt good that I can eat. Here I can have freedom.” In North Korea people really believe the political education. Now she feels like she was deceived. “If I were born in another country, maybe I would have gotten more affection from my parents or maybe I could have fulfilled my dreams, but now I rely on God.” INTERVIEW 24 MAN, Age 20 PLACE OF ORIGIN: Unknown FIRST ARRIVAL IN CHINA: 1999 He came to China alone for the first time five years ago, and he has come back and forth seven times. He was 15 when he first came. He has been caught in China five times. When he was captured, he escaped four out of the five times. The fifth time he was sent to reeducation in his hometown. The center was not just for defectors but for criminals as well. The first time he left for China, he had had no intention to stay. His mother had stomach cancer and he thought he could earn some money trading corn to different villages. He gathered 600 NK won and left home. He wandered from place to place in North Korea, but some of his money was stolen and with some he had to pay in fines. Soon all his money was gone so he decided to steal something because he had to go back with something. He went to Ch’ongjin, where laws were strictly enforced, and the police caught him because he was a young boy wandering on the streets alone. The police took him to a hotel-like building. The police office kept children on the third floor. There he met a ten year old who told him that he had been in China and had worked for one month and had earned 100 RMB ( 2500 NK won). So he decided to escape to China. That night, while the two guards were sleeping, he got the key and escaped.It was November when he escaped. It was not difficult to cross; at the time, there were no guards. In 1997-98 there were many other Koreans escaping to China. At first, Korean-Chinese individuals were sympathetic to people from North Korea and provided money and food to North Koreans who recently arrived. But the sympathy stopped when some defectors began to rob and kill Korean-Chinese people. When he arrived, the boy entered a house where some old people were living. They were Christians, and they invited some Canadians to meet him. Four Canadians gave him food and 200 RMB, and prayed for him. He thought 200 RMB was a huge amount of money, more than enough to take home, so he immediately decided to go back to North Korea. He tried to cross the border. He was caught, but the border guards didn’t know that he had come from China, because he was wearing his school uniform. The guards searched him and found the 200 RMB and arrested him. He escaped during the transport to the labor center. He described the conditions in the labor center when he was caught. He was sent to his hometown and spent most of 2003 in the At first, Korean-Chinese individuals were sympathetic to people from North Korea and provided money and food to North Koreans who recently arrived.center. Security was very strict. Barbed wire and electric fencing lined the three meter high walls. Soldiers were armed with guns and swords. If the guards spotted someone escaping (which they always did), they would first yell “Stop,” and if the escapee didn’t stop, the guards could shoot. He never saw anyone get shot, nor did anyone ever escape, but some tried. If someone tried to escape, they were put in solitary confinement. In the small cell, prisoners had to sit totally still with a straight back and only received a small amount of food. They could rejoin the other prisoners after being confined for ten days. The guards did not physically mistreat them as long as they didn’t try to escape. But, there was a great deal of violence between prisoners. Defectors and criminals were mixed together, and the prisoners would beat each other. The conditions in the center were bad. There were 12 rooms in the center, and there were 500-600 prisoners. Anyone over 18 could go there. They woke at 6:00 am, and as soon as they got up there was roll call so the guards could check the number of prisoners. They ate breakfast at 6:30, which usually was corn, rice (3 spoons), and beans. No side dishes except on Kim Jong Il’s birthday. The cafeteria could only seat 100, so they had to eat in five minutes because others were waiting to eat. They started work at 8:30. There was a river near the center, and their job was to dig a canal. Prisoners were expected to carry dirt and gravel on their back: one cubic meter per person. There were 50 people in each group, so each group had to carry the equivalent of 50 cubic meters. Not everyone carried earth, so the quota for each worker/prisoner was actually much higher. It took 40 minutes to walk from their rooms to the work site. They would bring everything to cook lunch with them—cabbage, a big pot—and they would cook lunch where they worked. They had a 1.5 hour break, and during this time they would eat lunch, do their laundry, and bathe.Their work schedule was as follows: 9:00-12:00 work; lunch 12:00-1:30; work 1:30-4:30 and dinner from 7:00-7:30. After dinner, they had political education classes. They had to sing political education songs and memorize slogans. He became sick with diarrhea in prison. He said he was just like an animal, eating anything that fell on the ground and even bark off trees. The food problem in prison was the most difficult. The guards did not allow the prisoners to drink water in case they contracted diarrhea. There was a hospital at the prison, but there was no medicine. He said sometime they were given an herbal remedy but it didn’t work. There was a room for the morgue, where they piled the dead bodies. The guards would bury them in the nearby town. Two or three prisoners died every day from diarrhea. He stayed there ten months. He got a special amnesty because of the 55th anniversary of the party. Most of the prisoners who came before March 2003 (around 300) received amnesty. He thinks this happened all over North Korea. When he was granted amnesty he went home. He was still sick from diarrhea, and his arms were very thin when he arrived. His father and stepmother were there. The living conditions were not so bad. His father was a farmer. His wife was able to sell some eggs. The prices of food had increased (230 NK won/ 1 kg rice). He said he felt no hope at home. He couldn’t study, he couldn’t work, so he came again to China. A minister at a church near the border led him to the shelter. INTERVIEW 25 WOMAN, Age 30 PLACE OF ORIGIN: Pyongyang FIRST ARRIVAL IN CHINA: 2000 Prior to leaving, she had been living with her mother, father, brother and sister. In Pyongyang, she worked in a textile factory. She decided to go to China to make money. When she left North Korea, the conditions There was a room for the morgue, where they piled the dead bodies. The guards would bury them in the nearby town.were bad. She ate soup cooked with dandelion greens and rice husks. Three years after Kim Il Sung’s death, the economic conditions had become worse and worse. She had not been paid for a long time, and there were many dead bodies on the street. She had heard rumors people could travel to China and make lots of money. She wanted to do odd jobs or menial labor in China. She came to China with her neighbors — three women together — when she was 26. The neighbors knew the route after living in China with their new husbands and children before being deported. Each of the neighbors had spent six months in prison and wanted to return to China to be with their families. They carried 1000 NK won to bribe the North Korean border guards. It was a 10-day journey by train to the border (the train was very slow). She did not have much food on the journey. The two neighbors went to their husbands and children as soon as they crossed the border. She was walking around alone by the railroad station. She was poorly dressed. A Korean-Chinese man saw her and felt sorry for her and tried to help her. He called his relatives who introduced her to a man in the village. This man is now her husband. He treats her well and is kind to her and their child. There was no religion in North Korea. She met some missionaries in China, and now she relies on religion. Now she has no problem with eating, but she faces new difficulties. She does not have a good relationship with her mother-in-law. Her mother-in-law gives her a hard time. There is no physical mistreatment, but she always says, “Get out. We can live better without you.” She also threatens to turn her into the police. She said that even if she had a hard time in North Korea, she didn’t have to deal with this difficult relationship. She has a daughter, who has Chinese citizenship and who can eventually go to school. Her husband is a Party member. He went to South Korea to earn money, and now he is a sailor. She gets about 800 RMB every 2 months, but her mother-in-law controls it. She knows a little Chinese, basic survival words, but not enough to get a job. She stays at home, and plants and farms in the field. She hasn’t received any assistance from any organization since she came to China. There is no problem going to the hospital as long as she can pay. There are seven North Korean women in her village — all married to Korean-Chinese men. Her biggest problem is that she wants to be free from fear. She is frightened by small sounds and she is always afraid that someone is watching her. She also wants to live a better life here. She wants to wear makeup and nice clothes. Now she always wears second-hand clothes. She wants to have a life like other Chinese girls. She doesn’t want to be depressed any more. She doesn’t know anything about North Korean women in prostitution. She stays at home and doesn’t really talk to anyone. She has heard that some women were deported from the next village. “We came here from hunger pains, not politics. We want the rest of the world to understand our situation and help us.” She hears news about North Korean refugees on South Korean radio. “We want to live more comfortably.” She said that China is a good place to live. There are lots of foods, lots of products, but she lives in continual fear. When she decided to come to China, her plan was to make money and return. At first she missed her mother and father, but now she is a mother and she has a good husband so she doesn’t want to return. She hasn’t received any news from her mother and father. She has heard that her neighbors from Pyongyang arrived 15 days ago, but she’s afraid to go and see them in case someone from North Korea catches her. INTERVIEW 26 WOMAN, Age 44 PLACE OF ORIGIN: Pyongyang FIRST ARRIVAL IN CHINA: 1997 She was a housewife in North Korea and her husband a Party member. He worked in a government security office. In 1995, her husband died from kidney disease. The food rations stopped, even though her husband was a Party member. She decided to go to China to make money. She has two adult children in North Korea, but she doesn’t know anything about their situation. She came to China with five women. She escaped alone and met the others at the border and crossed without difficulty. She didn’t have money to bribe the border guards. She and the five women (ages ranging from 26 to early 40s) all crossed the river together. She wanted to do small-scale trade, but she couldn’t speak Chinese. She didn’t have any idea where to go when she first arrived. At the border, she met some Korean-Chinese people who knew she was from North Korea and felt sorry for her. They gave her some food and helped her buy a train ticket to Dun Hua. She met the man who became her husband by accident in front of the railway station a week after she arrived. She followed him to his house and they started living together. He is 47, and he is Korean-Chinese. He’s a moto-rickshaw driver. She doesn’t know Chinese, so she can’t work. Her life in China is better than her life was in North Korea. She worries constantly, however, about being caught. Someone informed the police about her, and she was caught twice. Each time she had to pay a fine of 2000 RMB. The police asked for 5000. Her husband was also caught because he was living with a North Korean woman and had to pay a fine. She used to have six North Korean neighbors, but now she is the only North Korean left. Some were deported and others went to other areas. She stays at home so she doesn’t know about new arrivals or the conditions in North Korea. She stays at home and cultivates.Her Chinese neighbors are nice. When there is a crackdown, they inform her. Her plan was to return to North Korea when she made some money, but now conditions are too bad there to go back. She has sent mail to her children several times, but there has been no response. She thinks they may have moved. Her daughter would be 24 now, if she is alive. INTERVIEW 27 BOY, Age 18 PLACE OF ORI GIN: Musan FIRST ARRIVAL IN CHINA: 2001 He decided to go to China primarily to earn money, but also to learn in a developed country like China. He had heard rumors that people could make money in China. He wanted to earn money farming. He had also been told that you will be caught, arrested and sent back if you go to China. He went to China in 2001 with two male neighbors. One was the same age and the other was 23. The older neighbor led the others because he was familiar with the route. On the first day, he climbed a mountain for 18 hours. It was difficult, but the next day he crossed the border. He arrived at the border at dawn. There were no guards. It was spring so the water in the river was up to his chest. He had no trouble crossing the border. He left behind an older brother in North Korea. He learned from a trader who travels to North Korea that his brother’s situation is not bad. His brother didn’t want to go to China. He was studying to be a driver. His brother did not stop him or try to dissuade him from coming. In 1998, three years prior to his departure for China, his father died. His mother changed oil in trucks in the Musan mine for the gas company. She decided to go to China to make money. After she escaped to China, he was living only with his brother. His mother was deported back to North Korea. She was sent to a labor center. His Her plan was to return to North Korea when she made some money, but now conditions are too bad there to go back.aunt and uncle bribed the guards to release her. She decided to go to China again. She had no job, no house, no money, so she had no choice but to go. She was caught a second time in 2001 and deported again. After she left for China the second time, he never saw her again. The news of her deportation is the last news he has of her. After his mother escaped to China, he and his brother did not have food. He knew some workers at the company where his mother worked, and they would try to help them out. His brother also had friends in an orphanage. He and his brother entered the orphanage and stayed there for 2 years. The food was bad, only porridge. There were around 40 children in the orphanage, and now there are only 10 because of the bad conditions. During his stay in the orphanage, he did farming. He realizes that people in China look down on him because he’s from North Korea. Much of the time, he slept in a tent in the mountains — except in winter. The tent was a bit larger than a twin size bed. It needed to be small so that it wouldn’t be detected. Three people stayed in the tent. The tent was a 10 minute walk from the village. During the winter, there weren’t so many people in the village. There are many North Koreans in the village. They usually go back to North Korea during the winter because they can’t farm. In the winter he stayed inside a home. He earned 500 RMB a year. He didn’t need to pay for food, so he could keep the 500 RMB for himself. He thinks he can earn 2000 RMB in bigger cities. He was friends with a trader who traveled back and forth between China and North Korea and who could deliver money to North Korea. Sometimes he sent money back to his brother. The first year he was in China, he sent 400 RMB to his brother. Later, when he saw his brother, he found out that the trader had given his brother only 100 RMB. He didn’t ask the trader to take money to his brother again. He heard that the trader was caught in North Korea last year and he hasn’t heard from him since. He has traveled back and forth to North Korea twice. Last September, he went to see his brother for 15 days. His brother is living with their uncle who is a truck driver. The brother was a worker on a train. It is hard for them to eat because the economic situation is getting worse. Escapees from Musan are able to send money, food, or clothes to their families in North Korea because of the town’s proximity to the border. His landlord knew a Christian woman in Yanji. She called the landlord and said she wanted to take care of a needy North Korean orphan. He went to Yanji three months ago to live with the woman. He is the only North Korean living with her. He doesn’t do any farming anymore. He wants to study and learn. Even though there is a computer in his house, it is not connected to the internet. He’s learning Chinese, but he does not have a proper teacher. Sometimes he feels angry and believes that he is wasting his time. In North Korea, he went to primary school and earned good grades. In middle school, he didn’t study and didn’t get good grades. In the future he wants to be a driver, learn English, and computers. “I’m upset because I haven’t had a chance to learn.” Every day he reads books, magazines, the Bible, works on the computer, or studies Chinese. He doesn’t leave the house. He feels very frustrated. “I want to lead a normal life like other teenagers. The situation here does not allow me to dream about my future.” Until last year, he sent money back to his brother, but now his own situation has changed. He wants to settle down. He wants to meet his brother again in the future. Sometimes he thinks about going to South Korea. He said it would be hard to lead a happy life in South Korea because it would be difficult to readjust. Ultimately, he just wants a chance to learn.“The situation here does not allow me to dream about my future.” INTERVIEW 28 MAN, Age 21 PLACE OF ORIGIN: Onsong FIRST ARRIVAL IN CHINA: May 2004 He came to China in May 2004. He had never been to China before. In Onsong, he went to primary school, middle school, and a vocational school to learn to be a driver. He was a driver for one and a half years. He lived with his mother, his father, and he had an older sister (age 23) who was married. His father was a driver at a fire station, but he quit his job two years ago. His mother doesn’t work, but earned some money doing small-scale trade. Life was difficult. He decided to go to China to make some money. He had no information on how he could earn money or what kind of job he could find before arriving. All he knew was that he wanted to earn money. He said that he is finding out that it is really hard to make money in China. Others in his town had gone to China also. He didn’t tell anyone, including his parents, that he was leaving. He had been thinking about going to China for a long time. He went to Musan to see a friend. In Musan, he met a 13-year-old boy (see Interview 29) who had been to China, so he decided to go to China with the boy. The living conditions in North Korea were bad when he left. They had to eat bark and grass and most people were out of work. They would eat rice about 10 days a month and the rest of the days they ate dandelion porridge. The economic conditions are a little better than two years earlier. Food rations are distributed irregularly. Each family receives a five-day ration, which is only sufficient for one family member. Prices of food have increased. There is more rice — most of which comes from China — and clothes in the market, but prices are high. One kilo of rice costs 350-400 NK won; last April or May, the price was 200-250 NK won. He was not well-paid in his job. There have been salary increases for people, but prices have also increased. He earned 1500 NK won per month. Entering China was easy. He crossed the river at dawn, and didn’t see any guards. The 13-year-old he was traveling with brought him to the house of an acquaintance in Yanji. At first it was hard to survive because conditions were so different than in North Korea. He doesn’t have Chinese citizenship and can’t speak Chinese. He doesn’t know much about Yanji and spends all day at home. He was ashamed when he first came to China. Escaping is a shameful experience. His landlord is Korean-Chinese. He went to another city to make money. There is no one taking care of them (himself, the 13-year-old, and the son of the Korean Chinese landlord). [We later found out that the “son of the Korean Chinese landlord” was in fact from North Korea but did not want to talk to us so said he was Chinese.] He doesn’t eat well. The neighbors will sometimes give them side dishes. Otherwise there is nothing to eat. Every day he stays inside the house all day watching TV. He hasn’t received any kind of assistance yet. His biggest concern is work. “Nothing is going the right way here. The reality is very different from my expectations.” He is not certain whether he wants to return to North Korea. He worries about being caught by the Chinese police. He hasn’t heard anything specific about them, but believes that if he doesn’t do anything wrong and is not discovered, he may survive in China. INTERVIEW 29 BOY, Age 13 PLACE OF ORIGIN: Musan FIRST ARRIVAL IN CHINA: 2003 He went to primary school, but he was too poor to go to middle school. He doesn’t have any brothers or sisters. He lives with his father. His parents are separated, and he doesn’t have any information about his mother. His father worked in a mine and earned about 1200 NK won. His father received rations — corn or South Korean rice — every two months. He would add to his father’s earnings by selling wood. He couldn’t say exactly how much money he could earn, but he could sell a big piece of wood for around 150 NK won. He usually ate corn meal porridge. He only ate rice on holidays and special occasions. He would usually go to the mountains with groups of people. They would drag the tree home and cut it into smaller pieces. It was easy to do in winter because they could drag it in the snow. He did this kind of work for two years. He mentioned now there are not many trees on the mountains because of heavy logging. The living situation in North Korea has become worse. He said that the rich have become richer and the poor are now poorer. Prices have only increased. A few years ago a kilo of rice cost 250-300 NK won. Now it is upwards of 400 NK won. Although there are many products available, they are all too expensive to buy. He decided to go to China because it was too difficult to live in North Korea. He said that everyone would make the same decision in his situation. Last summer, he came to China for the first time. He followed his older neighbor to meet someone in Yanji, but they were not able to contact the person. They decided to go to another town, where they found an abandoned house. There were some clothes in the house, so they took them back to North Korea. They stayed in China for a week. They had to move at night and hide during the day. In December, he visited China again with a 16 year old neighbor. The neighbor convinced him to go to China to learn Chinese and computers. They avoided the guards who were sleeping. They went to the neighbor’s relative’s house. The living conditions were bad, and it was hard to stay with the relative for long. The relative gave them an old cell phone to take back to North Korea to sell. They stayed for 15 days in China before they returned. They sold the cell phone for 30,000 NK won, but had to pay a “fine,” which left them with about 1000 won. He explained that his father’s workplace was far from their home. He spent a lot of time commuting because his father had to return home every night to see him. Otherwise, his father could just stay at the workplace. He felt sorry that his father had to travel so much, so he decided to escape to China again. In April, he left for China, with the 21-year-old (see Interview 28, above). INTERVIEW 30 WOMAN, Age 32 PLACE OF ORIGIN: Hoeryong FIRST ARRIVAL IN CHINA: 1998 In North Korea, she was single and did farming work. Her father died in 1991 from a stroke. At that time, they were receiving food rations but not enough to survive. She had six brothers and sisters. In 1992 her older sister died, and last year another older sister died. She came to China for the first time in 1998, and came for the last time in Dec 2002. She has been caught five times. In 1993-94, food rations stopped. She waited for conditions to improve, but when they did not, she left for China. “If I stay here, I could die of starvation, so maybe I should just go to China.” Many people started to escape starting in 1996. At that time China was not too serious about deporting North Koreans. Now they watch out on the Chinese side. Since 2001, new policies are being implemented in her town. These policies are not in place all over North Korea. Before, everyone got the same salary; however, with these policies in place, people get a higher salary if they work and produce more. Also, now people have to pay for health care. She said the rich like this system, and the poor only suffer. In 1998, she came to China for the first time. She had heard rumors that if North “If I stay here, I could die of starvation, so maybe I should just go to China.” Koreans go to China, South Koreans would give them rice and the Chinese would beat them. She admitted that she was from an extremely rural area and she didn’t know how things worked. The river was high because of heavy rains. She escaped with two men who held her hand and helped her to cross the river. When she first arrived in China, a stranger invited her to live with him. He took good care of her. She continues to live with him and he is in effect her husband. In 1999, she was caught twice. Both times she paid a bribe of 1000 RMB to the police. Her “in-laws” borrowed money to pay the bribe. In 2001 and 2002 she was caught and sent back to North Korea. She was on her way to South Korea when she was caught in 2002. One of her neighbors, a North Korean woman who had been living in her villagein China, called her from South Korea to tell her how much better off she would be in South Korea. Her plan was to take the train to Beijing and meet someone who could help her enter South Korea. She didn’t know who would be meeting her. Her neighbor in South Korea had paid someone, and she would repay her once she made some money. She thinks her neighbor works in a cafeteria. Her neighbor is also very Christian, and she thinks the neighbor now has a high position in the church. But she was apprehended halfway to Beijing. There was a Party meeting in Beijing at the time and security was very tight. She was caught on the train because she couldn’t speak Chinese. In her four arrests, she was not mistreated by the Chinese police. She explained that many police officers are Korean Chinese and feel sorry for North Koreans. The police say they don’t want to catch the North Koreans, but it’s the law. In 2001, when she was first arrested and deported, she was sent to a detention center near Yanji. She stayed for two days. The Chinese would just send everyone back to North Korea once the detention center filled up. In her case, there were lots of defectors, and after two days they were all sent back. She was sent to the National Security Jail. Besides political education, officials told them over and over that they could never return to China. She mentioned a North Korean guard telling the defectors that “a man without a country is worse than a dog at a funeral.” She was not mistreated, and the food wasn’t too bad. They ate corn and kimchee. She was not certain about the exact number of prisoners because defectors were mixed with criminals. But, there were three or four guards taking care of them. She was in jail for 20 days. Before being released, she had to promise not to return to China. She was sent back to her hometown, but had no place to go, nothing to live on, no job. She stayed at her sister’s house, but her sister was facing many hardships. After 15 days, she decided to go back to China and her husband. She was caught again in December 2002 on her way to Beijing. She had the same experience as in 2001. The officials at the National Security Jail remembered her. She worries about getting caught again. The Chinese are cracking down. Having been caught several times, she thinks the police know that she’s staying in this village. She is uncertain if the police have come looking for her. She doesn’t speak Chinese so she stays at home all day. Sometimes she leaves to do some farming work. Her biggest concern is her safety. She does not want to feel afraid anymore. She remembers her family in North Korea during holidays and special occasions. However, the family doesn’t have a telephone so she has not been able to contact them. |
Executive Summary Introduction The Scope of the Problem The Motivation for Leaving The Situation in China Treatment Upon Deportation The Case for Refugee Status for North Koreans in China Protection for North Koreans in China South Korean Policy United States Policy and the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 Recommendations ----------- Notes Appendix: Interviews between Refugees International and North Korean Refugees Acknowledgments |
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Acts of Betrayal: Interviews 21-30
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