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DE RUEHUL #2402/01 3500823
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O 150823Z DEC 08
FM AMEMBASSY SEOUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2636
INFO RUEHBK/AMEMBASSY BANGKOK PRIORITY 7755
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING PRIORITY 5068
RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PRIORITY 9128
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO PRIORITY 5175
RUEHSH/AMCONSUL SHENYANG PRIORITY 3886
RHMFISS/COMUSKOREA J5 SEOUL KOR PRIORITY
RUACAAA/COMUSKOREA INTEL SEOUL KOR PRIORITY
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UNCLAS SEOUL 002402 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KTIP PGOV PHUM PREF PREL PINR KS KN
SUBJECT: DAY IN LIFE OF NORTH KOREAN DEFECTORS IN SOUTH 
KOREA: THEIR WEDDINGS, TESTIMONIES, CHALLENGES AND HOPES 
 
REF: SEOUL 004283 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary: Poloff attended the second annual group 
wedding for four North Korean defector couples organized by a 
South Korean NGO.  The couples were grateful for the 
ceremony, which they postponed because of lack of funding. 
Poloff also met with two of the brides to discuss their 
experiences in, and en route to, South Korea.  Choi arrived 
in South Korea in 2006, after leaving North Korea in 1998. 
Lee escaped in 2001, finally arriving in South Korea in 
January 2008 after spending four years in different prisons. 
Both left North Korea in search of food, lost their lump sum 
ROKG subsidy to brokers waiting at the doorstep, experienced 
discrimination in the South Korean job market and continue to 
face economic hardship because the KRW 590,000 (about USD 
450) monthly handout from the ROKG is just not enough. 
Despite current hardship, both brides were hopeful that a 
brighter future is ahead for their children.  End Summary. 
 
--------------------------------------- 
Group Wedding for North Korean Defectors 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) On November 29, four North Korean defector couples 
held their wedding ceremony in Yong-in city, about an hour 
south of Seoul.  Approximately 150 guests attended the 
ceremony, half of whom were volunteers from the sponsoring 
NGO.  The one-hour ceremony included exchange of vows, North 
Korean wedding songs sung by a 10-member choir from Hanawon 
equipped with an accordion, and reading of a poem composed by 
a North Korean defector in the audience, followed by a 
reception in the upper floor of the wedding hall.  The mood 
was celebratory, despite tears of many attendees, including 
the couples themselves.  VIP Guests included Hanawon Director 
Ko Kyung-bin and Yong-in Deputy Mayor Choi Sung-dai. 
 
------------------------- 
Sponsoring NGO: Saripmoon 
------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (SBU) The group wedding was sponsored by Saripmoon, an 
NGO founded in 2003 to assist elders and physically and 
mentally challenged individuals.  Saripmoon, which refers to 
the "front gate" in old Korean homes in the countryside, 
began assisting North Korean defectors in 2006.  Saripmoon 
sponsored a wedding ceremony for North Korean defectors for 
the first time in 2007, initially planned as a one-time 
event.  Three couples were married then.  At the request of 
defectors themselves, Saripmoon hosted another wedding 
ceremony this year.  Two of the three couples married last 
year attended this year's wedding as volunteers.  Saripmoon 
consists of 10 board members, about 45 sponsors and 100 
members, and receives no government funding. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Saripmoon Chairman Kim Jin-hee, also a small 
business owner trading construction material in the city of 
Yong-in, said that North Korean defector couples are often 
already married, some with children, but have never held a 
wedding ceremony because of the cost.  With no pictures of 
the wedding day, or an anniversary date, defector couples 
feel less committed to their partner and are likely to flee 
at the first sign of trouble, according to Kim.  Kim shared 
that he received thank-you messages from couples who were 
married on November 28, 2007, grateful for Kim's assistance 
in making them feel like a "real married couple." 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
Meet the Brides: Choi Kum-sil, Mother of Two, and Former DPRK 
Army Lee Myung-ok 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Poloff met with two of the brides on December 10 to 
discuss their new lives in South Korea.  Choi Kum-sil 
(protect) defected from her hometown Haeryung in North 
Hamkyung province in 1998 in search of food.  She spent eight 
years in China, working for food and hiding from the Chinese 
authorities.  Choi arrived in South Korea in November 2006. 
She recalled the time in China, "not having my own country," 
as the most shameful period in her life.  She does not have 
regular contacts with her family in Haeryung. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Former DPRK soldier Lee Myung-ok (protect) arrived 
in South Korea January 2008.  She left North Korea for the 
 
first time in 2001 and was repatriated multiple times. 
Altogether, Lee spent more than four years in prisons -- in 
Chinese jails, North Korean interrogation centers and Thai 
detention centers.  Lee also spent almost two years in a 
political prison camp in Oh-ro, which she described as "a 
little better than Yodok."  Lee explained that she was 
surprised to have made it out alive, since about half of the 
prisoners die in the prison camp.  She credited six years of 
experience in the DPRK Army for her survival. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
Interrogation Questions: DPRK Deeply Concerned About Contact 
with ROK Citizens, Media and Christians 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Calling herself as an "interrogation expert," Lee 
listed the following questions as "standard questions" which 
the DPRK authorities ask to all detainees returned by Chinese 
authorities at the border.  If a detainee would answer 
anything other than a firm "no" to any of the questions, the 
detainee would never be freed, Lee explained. 
 
-- Did you meet any South Koreans? 
-- Did you see any South Korean TV programs? 
-- Did you listen to South Korean radio? 
-- Did you meet any South Korean Christians? 
-- Are you a Christian? 
 
Because Lee "knew the drill" and did not provide answers to 
any of the questions, she received an additional beating, but 
a beating was far better than death, she said. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------------ 
Rough Beginning: Brokers at Door Step for Payment; Forced to 
Forfeit All Subsidies Received from ROKG 
--------------------------------------------- ------------ 
 
¶8.  (SBU) Like other defectors, both Choi and Lee were 
processed through Hanawon; Choi is the graduate of the 92nd 
class and Lee the 100th.  (NOTE: Hanawon's graduation classes 
are similar to the Foreign Service A-100 classes, in class 
size, length, and opportunity for bonding.  Like FSOs, 
Hanawon alumni will identify with their class batch, or "ki," 
number.  By comparing each other's "ki" number, one can 
easily estimate the time of arrival in South Korea. 
Currently, the 122-ki began processing at Hanawon in the 
second week of December, 2008. END NOTE.)  Both recalled the 
time in Hanawon to be the "most comfortable" in their lives. 
 
¶9.  (SBU) The tough reality in South Korea began as early as 
Hanawon graduation.  The day Choi received her resettlement 
money (distributed in a lump sum back in 2006), her broker 
was waiting at the Hanawon gate.  The broker also waited for 
Choi at the door steps of her new government-funded 
apartment.  She owed KRW 3,500,000 (about USD 3,500 at the 
time).  Choi gave all of her ROKG lump sum subsidy, KRW 
2,700,000 (or USD 2,700) to her broker and worked in multiple 
restaurants to pay back the remaining sum within a month, 
before the high interest payment started to compound.  Choi 
explained that "everyone" is aware of brokers' practices, 
including the police and Hanawon, but they "cannot interfere" 
since it was an oral agreement made between her and the 
broker, which ultimately led Choi to South Korea.  On her 
"real first day" in South Korea, on her own in her new home, 
Choi painted a grim picture of a new beginning with no 
furniture, no food, and no friends -- just like her days 
before arriving in South Korea. 
 
¶10.  (SBU) Lee, who arrived three years after Choi, also had 
a broker waiting at her new home.  Lee owed KRW 4,500,000 (or 
USD 4,500) to the broker and she is still making payments, 
because the subsidy that Lee received at the end of her 
Hanawon stay is no longer distributed in one lump sum, but 
divided into multiple installments of smaller sums.  The 
broker price has gone up in the past few years also, 
according to Lee. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
Continued Difficulties: Widespread Prejudice; Still Without A 
Country 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
 
¶11.  (SBU) Choi said that even after three years living in 
 
South Korea, She does not feel like a South Korean, nor is 
she accepted as one.  Choi recalled numerous job interviews 
where the interviewer's behavior drastically changed once 
Choi provided her national identification (KID) number. 
(NOTE: Korean ID numbers include the ID holder's gender, 
hometown and DOB.  Earlier cohorts of North Korean defectors 
share the same  "hometown" number, which identifies them as 
defectors.  This issue has been addressed within the ROKG KID 
issuing office and recent KIDs issued to newly arrived 
defectors do not allow such easy spotting.  END NOTE.)  Choi 
also said that some South Korean restaurant owners did not 
pay the full day's wage when they found out that she was from 
North Korea. 
 
¶12.  (SBU) With no real connection to South Korean society, 
Choi admitted that South Korea does not feel like her 
country.  In China, she had food, but no peace of mind in her 
hiding place.  In Korea, her mind is at peace, but she 
struggles economically and socially.  She hoped at least that 
her children will "feel at home" in South Korea when they 
grow up.  Choi is a mother of two; her youngest daughter is 
six-months old. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
Down, but Not Out: Small Subsidy, but Big Dreams for Future 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
 
¶13.  (SBU)  Choi and Lee said that they receive a monthly sum 
of KRW 390,000 (about USD 300) per adult defector in the 
family from the ROKG.  Their husbands are not eligible since 
they are Chinese nationals whom they met during their stay in 
China and invited to the ROK after their settlement. 
Assistance is available for their children, however.  Each 
child born to a defector mother receives KRW 200,000 per 
month, or approximately USD 150. 
 
¶14.  (SBU) Despite difficult economic circumstances, Choi and 
Lee both dreamed of having a better life in the future.  One 
of the defector brides who wed last year through Saripmoon, 
Kim hae-young, enrolled in a beauty school, also subsidized 
by the ROKG.  Choi hopes to follow Kim's footsteps as soon as 
she finishes nursing.  Lee, who is a trained masseuse in 
China, was disappointed that the massage culture is not as 
widespread in South Korea as is in China.  She hopes to work 
hard in South Korea to save enough money to open a spa 
specializing in massage in China.  Just as dreamy, Lee 
recalled the wedding day, when she wore "a dress for the 
first time in her life." 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
Fond Memories of Kim Il-Sung, but Deathwish for Kim Jong-il 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
 
¶15.  (SBU) Lee blamed Kim Jong-il for hundreds of corpses she 
saw along the roads in North Korea, as a result of 
starvation.  "I hope he (KJI) will rot soon," Lee said.  When 
speaking of her childhood, including the time when she was 
the final candidate picked from her hometown to participate 
in the prestigious "state receptionist training program" in 
Pyongyang, she referred to Kim Il-sung as "our beloved Great 
Leader and General" and spoke fondly of the Kim Il-sung days, 
freeing him of any responsibility for the current state which 
North Korea is in.  Lee said it was good to have food in 
South Korea, but "everything else was better in the North," 
referring to South Korea's high cost of living compared to 
virtually "free" items in North Korea. 
 
------- 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶16.  (SBU) Despite a common language and shared history, 
South Korean society and North Korean defectors are not yet 
ready and willing to accept each other fully.  These 
defectors, like others we have spoken to, feel discriminated 
against and don't think they can compete with South Korean 
candidates in the job market.  After relying on the state for 
all aspects of their lives, they find the new life in a 
free-market system too competitive and exhausting.  As the 
quality of ROKG support for defectors likely to decline as 
more North Koreans arrive, the gap will only get wider. 
STEPHENS