'NK defector got divorced for watching S. Korean dramas'

By Kwon E-youn

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"A few months ago, I heard the news that if anyone betrays the regime in North Korea, he or she would be executed along with all the three generations of his or her family. I pray for my family's safety".

When asked whether he misses his family left in North Korea, a 48-year-old man, identified by his family name Lee from North Hamgyeong Province in the North, who has now settled in the South, dropped tears, without answers.

Lee crossed the Tumen River, bordering three states of North Korea, China and Russia, and then came to South Korea via China, Laos and Thailand alone in January 2011.

Unlike other Saeteomin, or North Korean defectors in a formal shelter, who generally flee from their home country due to lack of foodstuffs or to earn money, he risked his life to escape the communist country because the society never accepted him anymore.

In 2005, he first watched Korean soap operas and films while working as a welder in China. Then he got quickly indulged in them.

"I was shocked to find that daily life of South Koreans was quite different from what I had imagined", he said. "I've watched drama series like 'The Trappings of Youth', 'You and I' and films like 'The General's Son', 'Taegukgi'."

Video tapes of the South's soap operas and movies have circulated in the North since 1990s. Now a considerable number of North Korean residents watch them in turns", he said. "Even one senior member of North Korean Security Department was caught for watching tapes that he confiscated from residents".

As a result, there are no North Korean residents who did not know that South Koreans have been living a wealthier life than them, according to him.

"Anyone hopes to come to the South when chances are given",he said. "But since they learned that capitalism is something that only makes the rich richer, they have kind of antipathy to capitalist regime itself, at the same time yearning for life in the South". he also said.

He smuggled 100 video tapes of South Korean dramas and films wrapped in a cloth into the North in September, 2005.

Later, his wife, parents-in-law, other relatives and friends were found by agents of the Security Department for watching the video tapes.

For conviction of treason, he served five years in Correction Center No. 12 in North Hamgyeong Province. He got released from the prison in September, 2010.

He described the life in the prison as a hell. "As many as 1,000 inmates were starved to death every year. The others have managed to survive hunger by eating horse fodder",he said.

After release from the prison, he was forced to divorce on grounds that he committed treason. To make matters worse, he was also kicked out of his workplace. It was all because he was a 'betrayer'.

He sought jobs to support his adopted daughter, elder sister and brothers but there was no place to accept the traitor.

Three months after the release from the correction camp, he decided to escape to the Republic of Korea.

"Branded as a traitor, I couldn't live in the North Korean society any more. I was afraid of sufferings that my family might receive. So I told them that I was going to neighbor China, but not South Korea, then left my home country. I haven't heard any news about my family yet. "

After release from Hanawon, or the temporary shelter for North Korean defectors, last December, he now resides in Yongin, south of Seoul, learning to drive heavy construction equipment.

"South Korea is wonderful place to live in. Here, you can do whatever you want to do. I wish someday I could live here with my family", he slurred his words.

The writer is a Korea Times intern.

"한국드라마 본다고... 강제이혼 당했다"

"얼마 전 북한에서 반역자는 가족 3대를 멸한다는 뉴스가 나오던데.. 제발 가족들이 무사했으면 좋겠어요"

지난해 7월 남한에 정착한 이모(48ㆍ함경북도)씨는 북한에 두고 온 가족이 그립지 않느냐는 질문에 눈물을 흘렸다.

이씨는 지난해 1월 홀로 두만강을 넘어 중국, 라오스, 태국을 거쳐 한국에 들어왔다.

식량이 부족해서라거나 돈을 벌겠다는 등의 이유로 두만강을 넘는 주변 새터민들과는 달리 이씨는 '북한 사회가 받아주지 않아' 목숨 건 탈북을 결심했다.

함경북도의 한 공장에서 용접을 하던 이씨는 2005년 더 나은 일자리를 찾아 간 중국에서 한국드라마와 영화를 처음 접하고 이내 빠져들었다.

그는 "알고 있던 남한의 모습과 너무 달라 충격을 받았고 무엇보다 이야기가 재밌어서 계속 봤어요. 드라마 '청춘의 덫', '그대 그리고 나'와 영화 '장군의 아들', '태극기 휘날리며'는 몇번을 봤습니다"라며 기억을 더듬었다.

그는 "90년대부터 남쪽 드라마와 영화가 돌았어요. 지금은 많은 주민들이 테이프를 돌려보고 있어요. 보위부 간부가 압수한 테이프를 돌리다가 적발된 일도 있습니다"라고 말했다.

그러다 보니 한국이 북한보다 잘 산다는 사실을 모르는 주민은 없다고 했다.

이씨는 "다들 기회만 되면 남쪽으로 가고 싶어해요. 다만 자본주의는 돈 많은 사람에게만 좋다고 교육을 받아 북한 주민들은 남쪽을 부러워하면서도 자본주의 자체에 대해서는 반감을 갖고 있어요"라고 전했다.

그 해 9월 이씨는 한국드라마와 영화 녹화테이프 100개를 보자기에 싸서 몰래 북한으로 들여왔다.

얼마 안돼 아내와 장인, 장모 등 친인척과 지인들이 테이프를 돌려보다가 보위부에 적발됐다.

이씨는 교화소에 대해 "사람 살 곳이 아니에요. 그곳에서 매년 1천명씩 굶어 죽었어요. 살아남은 사람도 교화소에서 주는 말 사료를 먹으며 버텼습니다"라고 말했다.

그는 출소한 뒤 반역죄를 지었다는 이유로 강제이혼을 당하고 다니던 공장에서도 쫓겨났다.
반역죄로 징역 5년형을 선고받은 이씨는 함경북도 12교화소에서 복역, 지난 2010년 9월 출소했다.

수양딸과 누나, 동생들을 먹여 살리기 위해 일자리를 찾아 다녔지만 반역자를 받아주는 곳은 없었다.

결국 교화소에서 출소한지 3개월 만에 한국행을 결심했다.

그는 "반역자 낙인이 찍혀 북한에서 도저히 사회생활을 할 수가 없었어요. 남은 가족들이 피해를 입을까봐 중국에 간다고 말하고 집을 나왔죠. 아직 가족 소식은 듣지 못했습니다"라며 고개를 떨궜다.

이씨는 지난해 12월 하나원에서 나온 뒤 용인에 거주하며 중장비 운전을 배우고 있다.

그는 "한국은 자유롭기 때문에 살기 좋은 곳입니다. 북한에 두고 온 가족들과 이곳에서 함께 살 날이 언젠가는 오겠죠"라며 말끝을 흐렸다.