lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="blue">Interview of Ms. Lee Soonjeong (pseudonym) by Lee Songyi lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;">

lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="blue">North Korean refugee nurse

lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="olive">‘What if North and South Korea were reunited?’ The thought
flashed through my mind while reminiscing bout my childhood. I was singing the
song ‘Our wish is to be Reunified.’ When I watched reunions of separated family
members on TV, and choked up. I had participated the last two years in the charity
concert to help teenagers in School but 1 had never met a North Korean. Now,
I had a chance to meet a woman who escaped from North Korea. My heart pounded
while I waited to interview her. Her name is Soonjeong Lee; she wanted to use
a pseudonym because revealing her real name might put her family, still residing
in North Korea, in danger. Soonjeong is 25 years old, born in North Korea, a
graduate from nursing school, and an escapee to South Korea which occurred while
working as a nurse. During our interview, she sincerely shared many stories
with me.

lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="navy">Q: So, did you come straight from North to South Korea?

lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="purple">A: “No, it couldn’t be done that way because the whole route
is a minefield and is strictly guarded. So I came through China to South Korea.
When escaping to China, if the guard had stopped me, then I had to stop. If
1 hadn't stopped, they would have shot me immediately. If I had gotten caught
on my way to China, they would have sent me back to North Korea. There I would
have been sent to forced labor as a slave or I would have been sentenced to
jail for one to two years. However, if I had gotten caught on my way to South
Korea from China, I would have been sent to a concentration camp for political
prisoners, euphemistically called a ‘reeducation camp’ for the rest of my
life. This means you can never dream of escaping. That's definitely easier said
than done.” She seemed to hate thinking about her escape to South Korea, but
told me vivid details about it.

lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="navy">Q: Why did you want to escape to South Korea?

lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="purple">A: “Well, I heard that freedom is allowed in South Korea. Actually,
at first, I went to China to earn money. Every single day was like a continuing
game of hide and seek. I could not even breathe freely (which I hated) but I
never wanted to go back to North Korea. Finally, I decided to come to South
Korea, where there are guaranteed freedom and citizenship to North Korean defectors.”

lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="navy">Q: Is there a special high school in North Korea?

lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="purple">A: “There is only one special school where the top students
are selected from each classroom. They usually take exams for entrance but some
are admitted to the school based on who their parents are.”

lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="navy">Q: What is the difference in classes between North and South Korea?

lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="purple">A: “South Korean students learn all the histories that the
Korean country has had. However, North Korea teaches a distorted history, only
the history of Kim long I1 and Kim Il Sung.”

lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="navy">Q: you learned this distorted history did you realize that it
was distorted?

lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="purple">A: “I did not know then,” she sighed, saying that she learned
its true history shortly after her arrival in South Korea.

lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="navy">Q: Are there any outcasts in North Korean schools like there are
in South Korea?

lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="purple">A: “Oh, of course. But it’s different from South Korea. In
North Korea, it's really up to the student. When a student skips school, then
the other students must bring him or her co school. Here, nobody cares about
absentees. There, other students keep visiting the absentee until he or she
returns to school. How annoying to think that's how outcasts are formed.”

lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="navy">Q: Is there Scholastic Aptitude Test like in South Korea?

lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="purple">A: “Yes, a similar one, I do not quite remember the name of
it but there is an entrance test to get into college.”

lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="navy">Q: If you are not going to college, then what type of work do
you do?

lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="purple">A: “They probably would just work in a factory or farm..”

lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="navy">Q: If you are attending college, would you he able to defer or
avoid joining the army?

lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="purple">A: “No. Joining the army is required for all men, except perhaps
one or two. But everyone else must go. When I was there, men who joined the
military were proud to be soldiers. But sometimes soldiers tried to escape the
army or died of malnutrition... Once they are discharged from military service,
they start working or open their own business. They must pretend to be working.
If government "officials discover that they are not working for a company
or the government and are just operating their own business, the government
can drag the into military service. Originally there was a rationing system
and the government distributed 700g rice pet person per day. However, since
North Korea's economic condition has worsened, the government has distributed
a ration of only 2-3kg of rice on holidays. How can anyone survive with that?
That is why North Koreans farm, sell, steal, beg, and escape to China.”

lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="navy">Q What do you think is the most urgent thing needed for the education
of North Korean defectors?

lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="purple">A: “English! Foreign languages. South Korea uses many foreign
languages. I came here when I was 25 years old, and I had a hard time getting
used to the foreign words, in the North there are no other languages besides
the Korean language. It was so difficult for me that I deeply learned what the
word ‘stress’ means.”

lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="navy">Q: Are there religions in North Korea?

lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="purple">A: “No. There are only Kim Jong Il and Kim Il Sung, home people
believe superstitions; but they must be careful or they might be caught.”

lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="navy">Q: If Korea were reunified, what do you think is the first thing
that should be done in North Korea?

lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="purple">A: “Build welfare facilities and hospitals.”

lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="navy">Q: Aren't there many hospitals in North Korea?

lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="purple">A: “With a hollow smile, she said, 'Hospital? Thcre are only
two of them. Yanggang-do (state) hospital and Haesan-si (city) Hospital, just
two of them. There are a few tiny clinics in towns but they are all very small,
perhaps the size of a pharmacy in South Korea. That’s it! Just two big hospitals!”

lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="navy">Q: Then, what if you need an operation?

lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="purple">A: “You should enter one of those two big hospitals. The size
of hospital... I worked in a three or four-story-building.”

lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="navy">Q: Do you have any advice for North Korean teenager defectors?

lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="purple">A: “I know how it is when they come to South Korea. Sometimes
they are too excited with the concept of freedom and other times they fed really
stressed and confused with everything. They should focus on studying and learning
only positive things instead of learning about negatives such as cigarettes....”

lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="navy">Q: What do you want to say about North Korea to South Korean students?

lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="purple">A: “South Koreans hold stereotypes of us. A Many of them consider
North Korea a poor and ignorant country. However, North Korea is also part of
Korea. South Koreans should understand that North Koreans don’t know what they
are doing because they are used to following what the government tells them
to do. I heard that North Korean students can be outcasts in a regular South
Korean school. I wish South Koreans would show consideration for and embrace
North Koreans. Changing their negative thoughts and impressions would be the
most important thing to do”

lang="EN-US" style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="olive">At the end, Lee said that, while some people look down on North
Korean defectors, most South Koreans are kind and good. She wanted to make friends
with good South Koreans. Even though he has lived in Korea for seven years,
she expressed difficulties making South Korean friends. ‘What obstacles would
he have in South Korea?’ I thought. She is pretty, speaks well, and has no
accent. I suspect that the obstacles are our prejudices. We both are Koreans
and have just lived apart for a brief moment in a long history. Seven years
is not long enough to get over the prejudices! style="mso-fareast-font-family:함초롬바탕;mso-font-width:100%;letter-spacing:0pt;mso-text-raise:0pt;"> color="olive">I sighed out of sadness.