Choe Sang-Hun has written such a horrifically frightening North Korean report that is heart wrenching.
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Abomination
This entry was written by R. Elgin, posted on July 10, 2007 at 12:11 pm, filed under Asides. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.
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23 Comments
That’s exactly what I thought when I read that…born and raised in a concentration camp. It’s like something from a Kafka novel, except that it really happened.
And S.K. goes right on pretending that these camps don’t exist and inter-Korean “reconciliation” is real.
And despite my efforts, way more people are convinced that Carbon Dioxide is a bigger threat to humanity.
A shocking story. It’s a little sick that these tales never get printed by the SK press.
The sooner KJI and his regime come to an end the better. Roh and his ilk should go to trial for aiding and abetting the NK’s human rights abuses.
Awake, he wonders what happened to his father and about the man he left behind at the fence. Did he sacrifice himself to help Shin escape?
And a big thank you to the IHT for publishing the photo of “Mr. Shin Dong Hyok.”
Keith,
The reason they don’t write about this kind of stuff in S. Korea is they don’t want jeopardize(provoke) relation they have now with north. It’s how politics work in Korea and that’s coming from Korean. Who cares what they do to their political prisoner in N. Korea as long as we look good towards how N. Korean regime perceive us by not critizing, that’s the mentality of S. Korean government.
For all those who wish for an immediate demise of the Kim Jong-Il regime, myself included, these lines should give pause for reflection:
“Now in Seoul, he said he sometimes finds life ‘more burdensome than the hardest labor in the prison camp, where I only had to do what I was told.’
Shin said he sometimes wished he could return to the time before he learned about the greater world, ‘without knowing that we were in a prison camp, without knowing that there was a place called South Korea.’”
I’ve read numerous accounts of defectors, some of them former concentration camp inmates, some of them not. And this is a recurring, disturbing theme.
The mere 10,000 North Koreans that have made it south have not been successfully absorbed by South Korean society by any stretch of the imagination, despite all the government assistance.
The discrimination against the fellow “minjok” members is profound; the rates of depression, unemployment, alcoholism and suicide are very high. And longing for the fatherland, incontinent reverence for Kim Jong-Il, and feelings of regret for coming south are hardly uncommon (even among the Shin Dong Hyoks).
Now imagine what life would be like if the NK regime fell, the Oz curtain pulled down, and hundreds of thousands streamed south in hopes of integrating into SK society. Again, it’s something that should give pause. And playing devil’s advocate, might unconciously or consciously explain the SK government’s seemingly brutal indifference to the real situation in the north?
In propping up the NK regime, perhaps the SK gov’t is effectively acknowledging its society’s capacity for brutality of subtler sort? Might foreknowledge of what they would really do to their “brothers and sisters” if unification by absorption came precipitously being fueling some misguided(?) attempt to shield them from that fate?
Although the end of the current regime is the first step toward ending the suffering, things will not get better after unification. At least not for the North Koreans, who although they will be free, will be worse than third-class citizens in “their own” land. North Korean women will become “war brides”, cleaning ladies or whores to survive, and North Korean men — well, who needs them? These angry, unemployable North Korean will be the source of untold havoc here in Seoul if unification happens suddenly and they are able to find their way here.
Thats all we need, drunken North Korean males climbing on taxis and assaulting locals.
Maybe we could move them down south somewhere so they don’t become a blight on the capital.
“…and North Korean men — well, who needs them? These angry, unemployable North Korean will be the source of untold havoc here in Seoul if unification happens suddenly and they are able to find their way here.”
Brendon:
I agree with you that there is, indeed, such a risk. In Germany, after re-unification, the government did everything humanly possible to prevent this risk from materialising, but even now, 17 years afterwards, it cannot really be regarded as banned…
http://www.spiegel.de/internat.....42,00.html
Mr. Carr: How can things not get better? At least South Korea’s desire to ‘be the leaders of the world’ (as quoted from my hakwon textbook) will influence them to do more with their rebels than just toss them to the dogs.
It makes one think, though, about the healing power of piety or at least the rush of mass conviction.
That we still look to governments to topple common sense or hatred betrays our inclination to confusion.
#7
Which is why I fear there will be a second Korean War if North Korea collapses. Pardon the cliches, but idle hands are the devil’s playground and resentment breeds contempt.
dlatn,
As soon as I saw the IHT article with the pic of Shin, I also thought it was pretty stupid. But the Telegraph published his pic back in June (when this story broke) as well. I’d also thought his name was a pseudonym, but it may not be. I guess no one told Shin that his real name an pic would not be real good for any of his family still alive in North Korea. Assuming that is his real name and his pic.
After reunification things will be dicey in Korea for “awhile.” Soft landing theories can pretty much be discarded as even a peaceful collapse scenario will rock the ROK economy. If there is not war, there might be isolated pockets of fighting, and the need to secure unknown but vast amounts of weapons, including chemical and biological weapons. Then there will be social issues; disaffected North Koreans, South Korean men clambering over North Korean women, etc. A society filled with military trained, disaffected, and perhaps unemployed men, along with the economic stress that will go with reunification, is a recipe for trouble. From defector complaints, it seems one key will be to simply keep them (former “north” Koreans) busy.
“No beast so fierce but knows some touch of pity.”
“But I know none, and therefore am no beast.”
#14.
Where’s that from? The trailer for a Chuck Norris movie?
Maybe it was the trailer of a Bruce Lee movie; he’s the one that trained Chuck Norris.
Richardson,
I don’t think it really matters whether he uses his real name or pic. Considering that he escaped from a camp for families of the hostile class, what more could NK possibly do? Kill his family? They already did that. Frankly I’m glad there is a real face behind NK’s depravity (Shin is 24, only 2 years my senior, he looks way older).
For those so concerned about economic costs of a free NK, then I guess we can pay now with our sense of humanity so we can put it off a couple more years.
If he can’t forgive his mother for trying to esacpe and causing him to be tortured for 7 odd months, why did he do the exact same thing and possibly subject his father to a death sentence or more torture at least???
I can’t read enough about North Korean’s experiences on the other side of the DMZ…thanks for the post.
Paul,
Well, he was already a well established martial artist before he met Bruce Lee, but Bruce Lee did train him.
A bit of interesting trivia: Chuck Norris does Tae Kwon Do. In fact, he was the first Westerner to be given the rank of Grand Master in Tae Kwon Do. He began doing martial arts while he was stationed at Osan Air Base, doing Tang Soo Do, a Korean style of Karate that, with others, eventually evolved into Tae Kwon Do. Naturally, the martial art system he developed, Chun Kuk Do, has a Korean name.
To No. 3 and No. 5, et al.
There are plenty of stories like this. There wqas even a hit theatrical production “Yoduk Story” I have plenty of articles in Korean and some in English, too.
Norht Korea and the Human Rights abuses that occur there are , naturally wrenching issues for all Korean, South and ones living abroad, as well as for other people who simply see such rights as universal.
No one here has a special insight or knowledge or courage to speak out about it.
But, people on this blog should consider the fact that Koreans have the wish to some day reconcile the division of peninsula, agree to a “peace” and re-unify.
You guys dont seem to get how important that is.
I suspect in such extreme situations, the individual becomes extremely egotistical as a requirement for physical survival. Yet, in a totalitarian society, the State calls for submission of the ego for the good of society while at the same fosters the ego’s fear of survival as a control lever. This as good of a case in point I have ever come across.
yourbutt,
Re: “But, people on this blog should consider the fact that Koreans have the wish to some day reconcile the division of peninsula, agree to a “peace” and re-unify.
You guys dont seem to get how important that is.”
We understand how important it is, which is why we’re completely frustrated with the incompetence of the ROK government, especially the Noh administration.
Propping up deranged dictators without demanding reciprocity is a sure formula for failure. Kim Jong-Il and his generals are more than happy to take everything they can from South Korea and give little to nothing back in return.
I would fully support the ROK’s efforts to unify the peninsula if there was some forward progress, but there seems to be only handouts to the DPRK, thus sending the message that Seoul not only tolerates the DPRK’s abuses, but supports them.
If your little brother is out of line and hurting other kids, do you keep quiet and keep rewarding him for his misbehavior ?
Case study : WWII and Hitler. Europe was hoping like hell to avoid another World War. However, by caving to Hitler’s every demand, they helped to bring it about.
Someguy:
Sorry, I was being sarcastic earlier in response to your perceived sarcasm.
I should (again) take a lesson from Baduk.
The quote is from Shakespeare — Richard III. Act I, scene II.
Your instinct as to it being part of a movie was a good one, actually; these lines are quoted at the very end of an “existential action movie” called “Runaway Train” (1985).
4 Trackbacks
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