For the hundreds of North Koreans who’ve escaped from their oppressive homeland and accomplished an often-dangerous journey to South Korea, the issues are sometimes not over.
Some defectors face prejudice in South Korean society, based on a latest report wanting on the experiences of latest arrivals within the South final yr – earlier than the North Korean regime closed its borders amid the coronavirus pandemic.
According to the report, defectors face boundaries in training, housing and employment alternatives.
defectors report bullying, despair
Yeong-nam Eom fled North Korea in 2010 and now has a steady job and residential within the South’s capital, Seoul. But he has skilled discrimination in opposition to fellow defectors. This occurred as he struggled to adapt to residing in a society he grew up in.
As a part of its grasp’s thesis, EOM interviewed fellow defectors. A younger man instructed her that he skilled extreme despair after feeling excluded from South Korean society, whereas realizing {that a} return to the North was not possible.
“He was no longer sure of his identity,” Eom stated. “He didn’t feel like he belonged anywhere and became more and more depressed until he came very close to committing suicide. He didn’t go through with it in the end, but he longed for his future in South Korea.” Struggled to search out.”
North Korea, South Korean Army troopers work to organize for his or her train in Paju, close to the border with South Korea. (AP)
Another was brutally bullied after telling his new college classmates that he was initially from the North.
Eom stated he had a relatively “lucky” expertise when he arrived in South Korea.
“At the educational facility where I first went, the other students were helpful and there were no problems, but after graduating I ran into trouble,” he stated.
“First, I sent my resume with my full background over 100 times,” he stated, “including my education and work experience in North Korea.”
“But none of the companies invited me for an interview,” he stated. “Then I just put my experiences in South Korea on my resume and I quickly started getting calls from companies.”
Discrimination will not be unusual
The research performed by the Hana Foundation, a state-run group that helps North Korean defectors settle within the South, discovered that a little bit over 17% of three,000 people who took half in a survey stated that they had spent the previous yr. had skilled discrimination.
This determine was marginally down from the earlier yr’s 20.3%, however nonetheless confirmed a bias in South Korean society in opposition to defectors from the North.
Most of those that felt they have been prejudiced stated it was as a result of cultural variations between the 2 international locations, resembling accent, method of talking, social etiquette or life-style.
Forty p.c stated they have been handled in a different way as a result of they have been from the North. About 23% stated they have been criticized for not having the identical training or work expertise as their South Korean counterparts.
Foundation president Jung In-sung stated in a latest interview with South Korean information company Yonhap News that the individuals of the South ought to welcome defectors and settle for them as “ordinary neighbors” with out prejudice and will do extra.
Speaking ‘Kanglish’
Jung instructed the information company that assist has beforehand centered on efforts to assist defectors obtain “economic self-sufficiency”, however must be expanded in order that newcomers are “fully involved and united in our society.” To be.”
Co-founder and co-president Eun-koo Lee stated, in addition to combating the assorted types of their shared Korean language, some defectors might communicate English, as regimes within the north are inclined to see their individuals past their borders. doesn’t encourage. Freedom Speakers International (FSI) based mostly in Seoul.
“It can be very difficult for defectors to find a job in South Korea for a number of reasons, but a bigger issue is that they haven’t had the opportunity to learn English and are often confused with ‘Konglish’ – a combination of Korean and English – A lot of people in the South use it,” she stated.
“After arriving in the south, defectors are given a place if they want to go to university, but many find it difficult to hold because it is too isolated to study in the north,” he stated. “They find English particularly difficult, which is why we set up in 2013 to help them.”
FSI has to this point assisted over 450 defectors to enhance their English expertise and discover work.
id disaster
Song Young-cha, an educational and activist with the Worldwide Coalition to Stop Genocide in North Korea, stated most of the defectors who helped her group modify to a brand new life within the South are combating their self-identification. Is.
“When they were in the north, these people never thought for themselves and just did what the state ordered them to do,” Song stated.
“Now they are free and they have options, they can travel, they can speak freely,” he stated. “It’s all very confusing for many of them.”
“But I see disappointment in many of them,” he stated.
“North Korea is extra repressive than ever and there are numerous studies of human rights abuses, however it [South Korea’s] The authorities doesn’t say something,” he stated. “It is his household and pals who’re struggling now. He anticipated extra from an impartial authorities.
“Sadly, there are many ordinary people who support the government who follow the same line and prefer to please the north rather than stand up for their siblings,” he stated.
“Many defectors didn’t expect this,” he stated, “and they don’t understand why more can’t be done.”
.
With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
