hankyoreh

North Korean defectors prepare to send balloons filled with anti-North propaganda across the inter-Korean border in 2014. (Park Jong-shik, staff photographer)

“A,” who defected from North Korea in 2004, has recently been unable to sleep at night after hearing reports that North Korea has been tracking down family members of defectors back in the North in response to the scattering of propaganda leaflets by defector groups. A’s mother, father, and younger sibling are all still in North Korea.

“Normally, I telephone my family once a week through a Chinese broker,” A explained. “They’ve always answered in the past, but they didn’t pick up today.” Speaking by telephone with the Hankyoreh on June 19, A let out a deep sigh, unable to continue.

“If they’re demolishing the liaison office, there’s no way [the family members of defectors] aren’t suffering,” a worried A added. “Monitoring is one thing, but I sometimes worry they might be dead.”

With military tensions rising between South and North Korea, defectors with family members still in the North have been worried over reports that North Korean authorities have recently been investigating missing persons in order to locate defector family members. Amid all of this, Park Sang-hak, the executive director of the group Fighters for Free North Korea (FFNK), has announced plans to go ahead with further leaflet launches around June 25.

“For the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War on June 25, we plan to go ahead as scheduled with the scattering of 1 million leaflets to inform North Koreans of the truth, with the preparations already completed last May,” Park told the press.

“B,” who has siblings in North Korea, has also been deeply worried lately. Normally, B’s siblings have provided advance notice ahead of time via a Chinese broker about possible times to call. But B has not heard from them recently.

“Things are playing out exactly the way we [defectors] feared they might,” B said.

“It’s been very difficult with all the smuggling routes in North Korea sealed off these days due to the coronavirus. You can’t do anything in terms of money,” B explained.

“They probably found something small to use [for intimidation]. Why are the defectors giving them an excuse with their balloons?” B’s voice betrayed worries about being unable to guarantee his family members’ safety.

“C” has likewise been unable to sleep at night due to worries about a nephew who is awaiting trial later this month after North Korean authorities discovered he had been speaking to and receiving money from family members who defected to South Korea. C’s fear is that the nephew might suffer an even stiffer punishment to set an “example.”

“They have different prisons there, and what keeps me awake is the thought that he might end up at one of the bad ones,” C said. “This is a life-or-death matter.”

It has not yet been verified whether North Korean authorities actually are investigating missing persons in order to identify defectors. But the defectors the Hankyoreh talked to saw it as a “big possibility.”

“I think the possibility is about 70%,” B said, adding that “this is the first time I’ve ever seen [North Korean authorities] talking so strongly about defectors.” Even if no investigation takes place, some observers said the message may be meant as a stern warning.

“In many cases, [the State Security Department] knows about defectors in families before they begin a full-scale investigation. Defector families live differently because of the money they get sent, so the communities pretty much know all about them,” said another defector “D.”

“They’re indicating that they plan to target family members for intimidation at the very least [even if they don’t conduct an investigation],” D said.

By Jeon Gwang-joon, staff reporter

Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]

Caption: North Korean defectors prepare to send balloons filled with anti-North propaganda across the inter-Korean border in 2014. (Park Jong-shik, staff photographer)