It has been revealed that the North Korean State Security Department – the DPRK secret police, ordered high-ranking officials to attend a seminar warning them about citizens working overseas defecting. Asia Press reporting partner reported on this seminar.
The seminar focused on North Korean defectors struggling in South Korea. The government organized this seminar because the Kim Jong-un regime is feeling the pressure from frequent defections of its people sent abroad for work. (Kang Ji-won)
The seminar was held in early June. The National Security Agency ordered high-ranking government workers and Worker’s Party officials to attend. The ASIA PRESS reporting partner collected detailed information from seminar participants. The seminar speaker told participants that defectors face discrimination and misery after going to South Korea. Our reporting partner explained that such seminars are frequently held for ordinary people, but previously not for high-ranking officials.
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The following is a summary of the seminar.
1.On the matter of resettlement funding for defectors from North Korea in the South:
Brokers, under the control of the National Intelligence Services of South Korea , help people to escape and then steal money from their petty resettlement funds. Although the South Korea government appears generous in offering resettlement funds, as the brokers work for the government, the government is actually stealing money from defectors.
2.On the matter of education and jobs for defectors:
The South Korea government created Hanawon, an education facility for resettling defectors. Defectors are reeducated in Hanawon. However, the education is not helpful for resettlement. Further, Hanawon actually imprisons people in a solitary room as the state investigates their past. No one gets a job after the Hanawon reeducation.
* The speaker talked about ‘Cheon Young-chul’, who re-entered North Korea to destroy a statue. The speaker claimed that Hanawon warped his brain during the interrogation.
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3.On the matter of taxation and expensive medical bills:
People cannot live in South Korea if they do not pay taxes. Without money, people do not receive treatment and die. The government confiscates the belongings of people who do not pay taxes and who lack insurance.
4.On the matter of treating defectors as homeless:
In South Korea, civic organizations, established by order of the government, give defectors out of date food and used clothing
Next page: 5. On the matters of jobs; hard to find and available only for the dangerous and dirty...
