68 The Australian Women’s Weekly|OCTOBER 2019
Investigation
publicationsis forbidden,although
short-waveradiosallowsomenews
oftheoutsideworld.There is no
accesstotheinternet.
Crimesagainsthumanity
A fewweeksafterourcookingclass,
encouragedbyJihyun,twoofthe
womenagreetomeetmein a cafein
NewMalden.It is freezingoutside
andtheyarelate,sparkinganxietyin
ouryoungSouthKoreantranslator,
whofearssomethinghashappenedto
them.Justaswearelosinghope,they
arrive,apologisingthatthesermonat
theirlocalchurchwentovertime.
Jeong-okPark,a tinywoman
withfierceeyesandanunlinedface,
looksa decadeyoungerthanher 63
years.Sheescaped,crossingtheborder
intoChinawithhersonanddaughter
in 2004,butarrivedalonein the
UKeightyearslater.Hersadness
is palpable:bothchildrenremain
in Chinaandsheonlymanaged
tore-establishcontactwiththem
threeyearsago.
Shechosetosettlein theUK
insteadofSouthKoreaforfear
ofbeingreportedbytheNational
IntelligenceServiceofSouthKorea
andreturnedtothenorth.
“It’salmostlikeSouthKorea
automaticallysuspectsNorthKorean
refugeesasundercoverspiessentfrom
NorthKoreaonpurpose.Sothere
is a highriskofbeingaccusedand
repatriatedbacktoNorthKorea,”
sheexplains.
Herfriend,Jeong-hwaPark,
56,is marriedwitha daughter,14,
anda son,25.Shewearsherhair
in thebouffantstylefashionablein
theearly1960sandhasa kind,shy
faceandexpressive,longfingers
thatdanceasshespeaks.
Jeong-oksaysherhusbandworked
illegallyin transportin China,and
thatsurvivalwastheconstantin their
lives:“Hungerwasthemostterrible
thing.Towatchmywholefamily
suffer,especiallyseeingmychildren
sufferfromhunger,wasreallytough.”
Thatandthelackofpersonal
freedom:“Youcannothaveyour
ownpersonallifethere.Fromthe
moment you wake up, you haveto
bein a group,work
as a group.When
you’reyoung,you
havetobewiththe
youthgroup.When
yougetmarried,you
belongtothegroup
ofmarriedwomen,”
saysJeong-ok.
“Youcanneverjust
gosomewhereonyourown.When
you’reoutofyourhome,youalways
havetomovewiththegroup.Even
afteryoucomehomeat theendofthe
day,youhavetoattendallsortsof
meetingsoreventsofthegroup.”
Freedom,Jeong-okadds,was
nota conceptsheunderstood:
“Everyoneis brainwashedand
educatedtofollowtheorder
fromthetimetheyareborn.”
Thefearstillfeltbysomany
NorthKoreanrefugeesis veryreal.
Ina reportpublishedbyOxford
UniversityPresslastyear,Melbourne
University’sJayJiyoungSongand
herSheffieldUniversitycolleague
MarkusBellnotedthatwhilethe
UKacceptsthereis a realfearof
persecutionshoulddefectorsreturn
home,thefactthatsomanyfleefirst
toSouthKorea,wheretheyhavea
rightofresidency,meansthatthey
areseenasdefaultcitizensthere–
notasstateless.Forthatreason,
many governments believe NorthKoreanasylumseekerscanbe
returned“home”(toSouthKorea)
safely.TheUKHomeOfficehas
rejectedalmostone-thirdofallasylum
applicantsoverthepast 15 years.In
Australia,NorthKoreans’refugee
claimsarenotconsideredat all.
Thisis despitea 2014UN
reportthatdocumentedcrimes–
includingextermination,murder,
enslavement,torture,imprisonment,
rape,forcedabortions,persecution,
deliberatestarvationandenforced
disappearances– committed
“pursuanttopoliciesat the highest
levelofthestate”.Hauntedbyviolence
Thedefectors’terrorofbeingreturned
becomesstarklyapparentwhenI
travelbytraintoa cityin England’s
northtomeetwitha recentarrival
whohasagreedtoaninterviewafter
muchdeliberation.
Wechatformorethantwohours
in her tiny dining room, helped by aClockwisefromabove:
factoryworkersunder
a bannerreading“Let’s
advance”;shortages
haveforcedmanyto
forageforfood;a
military parade in 2007.