An Interview with North Korean Defectors

Three North Korean defectors addressed Harvard students at the Fong Auditorium last Tuesday, sharing their personal stories of acclimatizing to life outside their birth country. The trio, now North Korean human rights activists, also shed light on their efforts to ameliorate human rights violations in the country. The event was facilitated by Harvard Human Rights in North Korea (HRiNK) and Woorihana, a North Korean human rights organization that seeks to connect students from the United States with defector students from North Korea.  HPR Senior Campus Editor Joe Choe sat down with human rights activists Eunju Kim, Gwang Seong Jung and Se Jun Park to learn more.
Harvard Political Review: What do you enjoy the most about your new life in South Korea?
Eunju Kim: In South Korea, I think freedom is a very normal word. But to North Korean refugees, it’s a very big and important word. Because of that word—because I have been granted freedom by the South Korean government—I have been able to visit the United States several times. Freedom gives me many possibilities.
HPR: What do you miss about North Korea?
Eunju Kim: I miss my childhood friends. In South Korea, I have no friends with whom I have shared my childhood. It brings sadness to me, because I cannot see [my North Korean childhood friends] when I want to.
HPR: What is your occupation now? How has it changed since arriving in South Korea?
Eunju Kim: I couldn’t go to school when I lived in North Korea. So when I arrived in South Korea, the first thing I did was study. I graduated high school first, then university. A few days ago, I quit my job, which was working for an NGO concerned with North Korean human rights. Now, I’m writing a book about my life in North Korea. I hope it will help people understand North Korean life. What I can do is share my story and give more people my testimony, so more people can get exposed to the issue.
Se Jun Park: I graduated from a university in South Korea before working in the private sector. Five years ago, I started working as a human rights activist for this NGO, Woorihana. Woorihana is a youth organization that seeks to bring young people together to rally for North Korean human rights. We do three key things. First, the organization trains defectors with skills to be leaders for unification. Second, we send information into North Korea to raise awareness of the outside world for the North Korean people. Third, we raise awareness internationally.
 

Eunju Kim (right) and companion make traditional North Korean dough deserts. The group also gave out traditional imported North Korean candies.
HPR: What has been the biggest challenge since adjusting to South Korea?
Se Jun Park: When I came to South Korea, I had to change everything about myself. It wasn’t just starting from zero–it was starting from negatives. Everything about my past, my habits, my thoughts, my manners had to be changed. I chose to start again and learn about South Korean society. I graduated from university in North Korea, but I went to university again in South Korea.
Gwang Seong Jung: I had to learn everything again, but it was easier for me, because I adapted from an earlier age. My parents had a harder time.
Eunju Kim:  To North Koreans, South Korea is a new society… Yes, there are some people who help the refugees, but ultimately, they have to solve the problems by themselves. Communication was a problem. We use the same language, but I couldn’t talk in the South Korean dialect. I couldn’t join the discussions about entertainers or movies. They used Konglish; I couldn’t understand it.
Editor’s Note: An interpreter was used for the interviews of Gwang Seong Jung and Se Jun Park. This interview has been edited and condensed.
Image Credits: Mattea Mrkusic