Maybe this will finally prompt me to translate the articles from September’s issue is of Mal Magazine. It really is now or never. My mission: to translate several articles from the famous progressive/liberal Korean monthly about progressive perspectives on North Korean refugees and their human rights. I don’t agree with everything they said, but it is important eneough that the text be made available in English. So, over the next few days, I will translate it piece by piece and upload it here for access by anyone.
In the meantime, this Wednesday night (13th October) on KBS 2 from 11pm to midnight, there will be a big story about defectors. Of course this will all be in Korean. The title of the story is “2004: North Korean Defectors settling in South Korea: what dreams do they have?” There is also a short preview film that you can watch to give you an idea of the stories to be covered. You will need to register (free!) to see this, though.
The sub-titles in the preview video say:
“Having risked their lives to escape their north, what are their dreams of South Korea?”
Eon Pil-suk (not her real name/defector) “Did we suffer like this to come to South Korea, only to be treated like this? Who can settle in with this kind of alienation and ostracism?”
” Defectors who have fallen into crime! Where does it all end?!”
[business card] Kidney Comprehensive Financial Consulting
Choi Myeong-ryong (not his real name/defector) “If you sell your kidney you can earn 40, 50 million won [US$33,333-41,666 ].”
Yoon Jeong-yeon (not her real name/defector) “I don’t understand why people ask us, who have nothing, to lend money to them. South Korean society is scary.”
“Exclusive story! A defector who chose prison!” [not sensationalist at all - Hamel]
Seo Jeong-woo (not his real name/defector) “I just wanted to go to jail, so I committed a crime and stood outside the police station and shouted ‘Come and get me!’, and didn’t run away.”
“Approaching 6000 defectors! Is the Republic of Korea the warm southern land that it’s cracked up to me?”
“2004: North Korean Defectors settling in South Korea: what dreams do they have? Wednesdaym 11pm.”
It’s an important issue, and one close to my heart, so I hope all those who can should watch it, even those of us (like yours truly here) whose Korean listening skills are not up to scratch. Let’s see some comments after the show.
7 Comments
Of off topic here, but I just realized I had never re-linked to you after the ban and since you changed your host. All this time you’ve kept me linked, so I wanted to apologize. I just read your blog by clicking on my bookmark and never realized you weren’t in my blogroll, which by the way has shrunk dramatically lately. A lot of people have stopped updating.
Shawn, you were probably doing your readers a favor by protecting them from accidently clicking on to my talentless, horribly uninformed drivel
Thanks for relinking me, though.
In case any potential commenters missed it, post above by “Hamel” and not Marmot.
Be waiting for that translation, btw, I’ve read parts and Hamel has found an interesting article.
Hmm, that comment may hold true if you remove the link from your blog to mine too, Marmot. Most of my hits come from here or Google anyway.
Not that I want you to remove the link
Better clarify that one. Love the prostitution coverage, by the way.
If Bush wins I’ll be slightly surprised, but if Marmot doesn’t win Korean blog of the year, this year, I will be completely shocked.
I watched the show, especially after seeing some footage of the North Koreans climbing over the Canadian Embassy fence in Beijing. That wasn’t the subject of the show and I’m wondering just what happened to that story.
Anyway, I don’t speak enough Korean to follow the show. I did note the prison-like conditions the defectors stayed in for their adjustment period.
Does ‘ ???? ‘ (Ga-myeong) mean pseudonym? I saw it by the names given in the interviews.
So many of the interviewed cried. I accept that South Korea can be a tough place to start from scratch in but is it really so bad compared to the North? Maybe I am a victim of propaganda but I thought South Korea on it’s worst day would be an easy pick against North Korea on an average day.