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N. Korean Refugees Dazed by Capitalist Life

By Kevin Spak, Newser Staff

Posted Apr 11, 2009 3:33 PM CDT

(Newser) – They arrive undernourished and barely able to read. They marvel at credit cards, can’t stomach pizza, and when the lights dim in movie theaters, they panic, fearing kidnappers will strike. Welcome to the world of the North Korean defector in South Korea, where an ever-growing wave of refugees is sneaking over the border and struggling to keep up with capitalist life.

About 15,000 defectors have settled in South Korea, 4,000 in the last 2 years alone. Seoul doesn’t officially encourage them, but once across, they are quietly granted citizenship, given an apartment, and enrolled in much-needed classes. Even then many struggle to assimilate, hampered by paranoia and guilt. “These things really weigh them down,” said the principal of one defector school. “They cry for the family they left behind.”

[Images (6)]

[Quotes (3)]

A South Korean man walks by an effigy of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and mock North Korean rockets during a rally against the North's rocket launch in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, April 10, 2009. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

The Rev. Chun Ki-won of the Seoul-based Durihana Mission, a Christian group that helps defectors, points at a border village between the North Korea and China. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Indonesian Embassy is seen in Hanoi, Vietnam, Aug. 21, 2007. Five North Korean defectors have entered the embassy, apparently seeking asylum in South Korea, Foreign Ministry officials said Tuesday. (AP Photo/Chitose Suzuki)

North Korean asylum seekers wave while sitting in a bus after arriving at Incheon International Airport after traveling from Beijing via the Philippines September 12, 2002. (Getty Images)

A North Korean child is seen on a bus after arriving with nine other asylum seekers at Incheon International Airport August 23, 2003 in Incheon, South Korea. (Getty Images)

A North Korean asylum seeker weeps as others wave to reporters March 18, 2002 after landing at Incheon International airport from Manila, Philippines. (Getty Images)

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When they start to make progress, they feel guilty. One hundred percent of the time, when you throw a birthday party for these young people, they cry for the family they left behind. - Gwak Jong-moon, principle of a school for defectors

All I learned in school in North Korea was that Kim Jong Il was the best leader and that North Korea was the best country. - Lee J.Y., a defector who asked that her full name be withheld, lest authorities retaliate against her family back in North Korea

When I walked into my apartment, I smelled the freshness of a new carpet and somehow I felt so utterly alone.
- Chol Y.H., defector from Pyongyang

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