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2 Defectors reveal hard road to Korea
reunification By Sunny Lee
lecture in South Korea, I felt
insulted, because in North Korea a lecture is not
regarded as labor, and I did that from my heart.
But if I take money, it looks like I am only
speaking for financial gain."
Jeon's
research also revealed the serious depth of
post-traumatic experiences the North Korean
refugees had endured. As many as 87% of defectors
had personally seen public executions in North
Korea; 81% saw their family members or relatives
starving to
death; 83% said they felt
their own life was in danger because of their fear
of being caught by Chinese authorities as they
fled.
Jeon's team also discovered that 69%
of the North Korean settlers in the South suffer
from persistent anxiety, 47% experience clinical
depression, 34% insomnia, 28% excessive drinking
and 22% recurrent nightmares.
The most
pervasive issue for North Korean defectors across
the board, however, was loneliness (65%). This is
understandable, because 69% of Jeon's study
subjects defected without their families; 44% of
them could not even inform their families of their
intention to defect. Once in the South, it was
difficult for them to get close to South Korean
people because of their low economic status,
cultural differences, and a lack of assurance
whether they would be accepted.
Surprisingly, 34% of them also said it was
difficult for them to make friends with other
defectors. Because of mistrust and suspicion, some
said they believed that fellow defectors might
actually be North Korean agents.
All these
figures illustrate how far people of the same
ethnicity have drifted away from each other during
the past 60 years, and as such, Jeon said he
believes it is important that both North and South
Koreans to increase their mutual "cultural
literacy".
"We need to learn more about
each other. South Koreans need to know more about
how North Koreans think and why they behave the
way they do and vice versa. Only then, our
understanding will get deeper and we will be able
to embrace each other," Jeon said. Seoul is
extremely self-conscious of how North Koreans fare
in the South. It's not only because of
international attention, but also because North
Koreans who are thinking about defecting to the
South are very sensitive to rumors about how
defectors are treated by the South Korean
government and how they adjust to their new lives.
The lives and adaptation of the defectors may
influence the attitude of North Korean people
toward South Korea and, ultimately, also affect
their desire for unification.
Since Jeon
is publicly known as the "psychiatrist who deals
with North Korean mental problems", he has become
increasingly cautious about the media, as well. He
fears that his publicity might have negative
repercussions on people's perception of defectors.
For example, although he deals with the
mental-health issues of North Koreans, he said it
doesn't mean that all defectors suffer from mental
illness. Although his research includes defectors'
accounts of traumatic experiences, such as rape or
human trafficking, he said it doesn't mean every
defector suffered such horrors.
"Mental
illness is a very subjective matter until it
develops to show objective symptoms. We should be
careful not to give the impression that all [North
Koreans] have some sort of mental problems," Jeon
said.
The total number of North Korean
refugees in the South passed the 10,000 mark in
April 2006, according to data from South Korea's
Ministry of Unification. Most of these defectors
literally risked their lives to go there. For
them, South Korea meant a land of hope and
economic prosperity. But once in the South, things
were not always hopeful, as Jeon's research has
revealed.
Jeon said it would take two or
three generations for the two Koreans to achieve
the "unification of hearts".
"We should be
ready for a long stretch. Eventually, we need a
new generation who grow up in a unified Korea. We
shouldn't be too anxious about the slow progress.
Look at Germany. It's been 20 years since
unification, but they still have some problems.
Likewise, we should take a 'long-breath'
approach," he said.
Sunny Lee is
a journalist based in Beijing, where he has lived
for five years. A native of South Korea, Lee is a
graduate of Harvard University and Beijing Foreign
Studies University.
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