Refugees from North Korea share stories of hardship, survival and escape with Winnipeggers

October 11, 2024 Canuck

Refugees from North Korea shared their stories of hardship, escape and survival with Winnipeggers this week, at an event organized by a Seoul-based non-profit intended to raise awareness about the challenges faced by refugees and defectors seeking asylum in Canada.

Thursday’s “Voices from North Korea” event, which included a talk at the University of Manitoba and a meet and greet session at The Forks, was organized by Freedom Speakers International, which works to help North Korean refugees share their stories.

Myeong Hee Kin, a PhD student in Seoul, told her story of trying to escape from North Korea three times, before finally settling in South Korea 10 years ago.

Facing the danger of starvation and a lack of freedom, she decided when she was 17 that she wanted to escape, she said, but wasn’t successful until she was 21.

“In North Korea I couldn’t dream and do anything,” said Kin. “I couldn’t travel to other countries, I couldn’t watch movies or listen to music, I couldn’t even put on jeans.”

A woman in a black and white top speaks. — Myeong Hee Kin is now a PhD student in Seoul. She says she tried to escape from North Korea three times before finally settling in South Korea 10 years ago. (Zubina Ahmed/CBC)

She made a dangerous escape from North Korea to China 10 years ago, crossing the Tumen River into China and trying to avoid Chinese police and human traffickers en route, she said. She eventually escaped to South Korea.

Casey Lartigue, the chairman and co-founder of Freedom Speakers International, says while many fleeing North Korea go to South Korea, some still feel endangered due to discrimination against North Koreans there.

“They want to see the world. They want to go to other places, experience different cultures, and Canada is one of the countries they heard good things about,” said Lartigue.

Change policy on North Korean refugees: advocate

As soon as North Koreans enter South Korea, they are granted citizenship, but that makes them ineligible to apply for asylum in Canada, since South Korea is considered a safe country, he said.

Lartigue has met with government officials in Ottawa to urge for policy changes to help them come to Canada.

“We thought it would be good to come here, give them an opportunity to share their stories, and maybe some Canadians would think twice about the policy,” he said.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada said in a statement to CBC News that Canada usually helps resettle refugees who have fled persecution and have no “durable or lasting solution” — meaning they can’t stay where they are.

South Korea is considered a “durable solution” for most North Koreans, which is why Canada does not generally resettle North Koreans, the IRCC spokesperson said in an email.

North Koreans who are eligible to make a claim for asylum in Canada have their claim referred to the independent Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada for a decision, the spokesperson said.

But people who have already been granted citizenship by South Korea “could be excluded from refugee protection,” the IRCC spokesperson said, which “has resulted in negative decisions on asylum claims in many cases.”

However, “there may still be instances in which a North Korean requires protection, which is why every eligible claim is heard by the IRB,” the spokesperson said.

According to the IRB website, no claims have been made by North Koreans this year.

Facing famine in North Korea

Nayoung Lee, one of the defectors who spoke in Winnipeg this week, said her life in North Korea was hellish.

“When I was in North Korea I didn’t know who I was, what I liked, what I wanted to do, and what is the motivation for my life,” said Lee, speaking to CBC via translator Eunkoo Lee, who is a co-founder of Freedom Speakers International.

In 2006, Lee escaped from North Korea and made it to China. After living in hiding for two years, she moved to South Korea, and then to Vancouver last year.

Two women sit next to each other. — Nayoung Lee, left, spoke via a translator, Eunkoo Lee, right, who is also a co-founder of Freedom Speakers International. (Zubina Ahmed/CBC)

Lee says she lived through famine in North Korea, and finding food was often her only focus.

“The purpose of life in North Korea for me was to survive. So every day after I finished breakfast, I wondered if I could eat the next meal,” she said.

Now, her goal is to help other North Koreans settle in Canada.

“I want to help them learn English, find a school, find ways to get them financial support,” said Lee.

Kin also recalls that during the famine of the 1990s, which is believed to have killed hundreds of thousands, everything was shut down, and people were left without food, water, or electricity.

Sick people couldn’t get medical care, and some had to resort to getting medicine from the black market, she said. If caught they were sent to prison or killed, said Kin.

Now safely out of North Korea, Kin said she dreams of travelling to other countries, like Canada, and is doing research on how to help North Korean refugee women settle in new countries.

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