This is how North Koreans manage to escape

Have you ever wondered how North Koreans are able to escape? The country is heavily militarized and citizens are under constant vigilance. So how do North Koreans manage to get out?

Imagine you’re an average North Korean citizen that has decided to escape the iron fist of the Kim family. Well, these are your options and the life that comes after.

Defectors of the People’s Democratic Republic of Korea are generally referred to by its southern neighbor as Northern refugees. In the most recent years, the term “people who have renounced North Korea” has been preferred.

The term ‘Defector’, generally used by the Pyongyang government, has been heavily criticized by some experts since most of them don’t leave the country for political reasons but due to material poverty and hunger.

North Koreans fleeing the hermit kingdom generally have two options: Go north to the People’s Republic of China or go south, to South Korea. Let’s say that you follow your instinct, and you go south.

However, despite getting immediate citizenship on arrival, getting from North Korea to South Korea is not as easy as simply following a compass.

Between the two countries stand the Korean Demilitarized Zone, a strip of land that despite its name, it’s surrounded by mines, walls, watchtowers, and an overall heavy military presence. It’s one of the most heavily militarized borders in the entire world!

Your best option then is to go north. The majority of North Korean deserters try their luck by crossing into China, specifically into the Northeastern provinces of Jilin and Liaoning.

However, it’s no secret that the governments of Beijing and Pyongyang have had good relations in the past. China is the biggest trading partner of the mostly-isolated North Korea.

North Korean defectors are regarded as illegal economic migrants by the People’s Republic of China and are routinely sent back to their home country, where they usually face harsh punishments such as being sent to reeducation camps.

The South China Morning Post writes that North Koreans trying to reach South Korea through China generally have to go on a trip of over 4,000 kilometers (nearly 2,500 miles) where they will travel on buses, boats, and by walking.

However, the BBC reports that for many Northern refugees, arriving in South Korea is the start of another, more complicated process.

Image: Mathew Schwartz / Unsplash

First, they are subjected to a vetting process done by South Korean authorities to make sure that they are not Pyongyang spies.

Image: Elle Morre / Unsplash

North Koreans have to go through a three-month course at a resettlement facility known as Hanawon, where they had to learn everything from how to withdraw money from an ATM to how democracy works.

Defectors from North Korea are then given a public rental home and have a police officer assigned to them, generally with the help of associations or churches.

Image: Daniel Bernard / Unsplash

However, even if they are taught how to get a job at these centers, there are few opportunities available in South Korea to those arriving from the north.

According to the BBC, women generally end up working in the service industry as waitresses, shopkeepers, or kitchen staff while men generally work in construction or packing boxes in online retail.

Despite government subsidies, scholarships, and other programs, North Koreans on average considerably lag behind their southern counterparts.

Pictured: A makeshift shrine to a North Korean defector and his son, who are believed to have died of starvation.

Interestingly enough, According to a piece by The Conversation, 80% of North Korean defectors are women, while those having a hard time adjusting are men who used to have a privileged position back home.

Many also face stigma and suspicion in their new country. The Conversation reports that some North Koreans choose to migrate to Europe or America since they face less discrimination there than in South Korea.

Defectors sometimes return to North Korea due to their inability to adapt to the democratic and capitalist lifestyle of the south.

However, The Guardian points out that these are very rare cases. Of 33,800 North Koreans that have defected, only 30 have returned.

Still, many of them face discrimination and problems adjusting to what they hoped would be a new life, one defined by freedom and fairness.