The Olympics Redux

Recently I had an unusual (for me, at least) opportunity to not only meet but also spend time with a half dozen North Korean defectors. To clarify, I do not get to meet North Korean defectors very often. In fact, the only North Korean defector I had ever met in the US before these defectors was Park Yeon-mi at a bookstore in Cambridge during her book signing a couple years ago. Not for lack of trying mind you. There are so few of them in the US, New England in particular. Many North Korean defectors end up in States and areas far removed from large Korean-speaking communities. For instance, Kentucky has received almost as many NK refugees as California. And, as you can imagine, after their home state government's meager support ends, they pack up and leave to resettle in places where there is a significant Korean-speaking community such as LA or DC. My attempt to track down two North Korean defectors who reportedly resettled in Massachusetts has been unsuccessful. Every time I go out for Korean food in the Boston's little "Koreatown" in Allston, I "look for" them. The defectors I met in Cambridge were from South Korea on a month-long program sponsored by NGOs.

Two weeks ago, before their return to South Korea, over pizza and beer I brought up the Winter Olympics. I was curious to find out how these defectors felt about the developments surrounding the Olympics. They have been out of North Korea for between 3 and 10 years. If they were anything like me in my early years in the US, they would be excited about the North Korean participation in the Games and engagement in general. And they were. Mostly. With the exception of one recent defector of 3 years, all said they would cheer for North Korea even if the athletes played against the South. And they saw no contradiction in their desire to cheer for a country from which they defected, risking their lives, over their newfound home country. I had felt the same way. Though in my case the newfound home country was the US not South Korea. While living in DC where I first arrived, I once attended a "friendly" football match between North Korea and the US in RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. I remember myself screaming and jumping up and down when the North Koreans scored. In a sea of silence and annoyance. I sat down awkwardly realizing I was the only one in the crowd cheering. I struggle with that memory sometimes. I don't think I will ever be able to do that again. What I did then and what these defectors are likely to be doing now back in South Korea seem inconceivable for me. The same way that I find it intolerable that the North Korean Olympic participation is garnering such significant support and favorable media coverage both in South Korea and the US. These defectors wanted me to understand that their support of the athletes, musicians, and cheerleaders should not be seen as support for Kim Jong-un. I believe them. I certainly wasn’t cheering for Kim Jong-il that day in RFK stadium. 

"Escaping from North Korea is not like leaving another country. It's more like leaving another universe. I'll never truly be free of its gravity no matter how far I journey." These are words Lee Hyeonseo told Trump during a recent White House visit. Since she did not elaborate, I can't say I know exactly what she meant by "its gravity" much less what Trump may have made of the words. Did she mean the regime's reach in South Korea (and China and beyond) which is truly startling? And thus the fear of it? Or did she mean the nostalgia? The emotional pull that blinds us and blurs the lines sometimes? Regardless, it wouldn't surprise me if all the defectors who were born and raised in North Korea agreed with Hyeonseo. This is not to say that all defectors are similarly affected by the “gravity.” But there seem to be very few who manage not to fall victim to it. And I’m curious to find out what makes these few defectors (including the one I met) feel differently from their fellow defectors. Was it their experience in North Korea? Like most defectors I was no exception in that I believed and supported these opportunities for engagement. The fact that it has taken so long for me to come to my senses is perhaps a testament to the regime's enduring “gravity.” No doubt my political leanings played a role. But no matter how I dissect the issue, "gravity" was the single most dominant factor. Like the defectors that night I understand that support for visiting North Korean athletes, cheerleaders, and musicians is not necessarily the same as support for the slave masters in Pyongyang. But there is no question that these North Korean visitors in South Korea are some of the finest and most loyal slaves to have passed muster with Kim Jong-un’s regime. And we should certainly not be lulled by their choreographed cheers, songs, dances, and praises for their leader to think that they are proof for the regime's legitimacy and need for engagement.

I once visited the Charleston Museum in Charleston, SC, where their permanent exhibit about the Civil War shows the visitors that there were slaves who fought for the Confederacy, a fact that holds high symbolic value for apologists and sympathizers of the Confederacy to this day. Those smiling slaves from Pyongyang have as much symbolic value for their masters and the supporters of the regime in that they whitewash and normalize the most brutal regime on earth. Something their nukes cannot accomplish. The North Korean athletes, musicians, and cheerleaders are in Pyeongchang (at South Korean tax payers’ expense!) to serve their desperate masters by providing ammunition to their supporters and sympathizers in South Korea and elsewhere, sow discord, weaken sanctions in the short run and drive wedge between Seoul and Washington and to end the alliance in the long run. And it appears that the Moon administration in Seoul is more than willing to oblige. Instead of banning this most wretched regime from the Games the IOC and the South Korean government begged for their royal presence and are paying for their propaganda exercise on the world stage. Hey, what’s not to like for Kim Jong-un? Call me silly but I'm boycotting the Games. 

A River in Darkness by Masaji Ishikawa

Masaji Ishikawa escaped from North Korea in 1996 and wrote a book about his existence in what he calls “that hell on earth." This well-told story was originally published in Japanese in 2000. The English edition was published by AmazonCrossing in December 2017. Seventeen years seem like a long time. I hope the publisher takes a stab at another book in Japanese called "Kaikyo no Aria.” Among notable aspects about Mr. Ishikawa’s story is that it is the first book by a so-called “returnee” from Japan translated into English. But perhaps what is most remarkable about the story for me is the unusual vantage point of the author afforded by his formative experience growing up in Japan. I think that makes the book unique among the few North Korean defector memoirs in English. Even though he was a young boy, he arrived in North Korea with awareness that there was a different, better world outside—most North Koreans do not have the benefit (or, shall I say, misfortune) of that awareness—which makes the story that much more poignant. I highly recommend this book. I’ve read all the defector memoirs in English. Oddly enough no matter how many stories I read or listen to (there are good deal of defector stories available on Youtube in Korean) each new story never ceases to amaze me. You think you’ve just read or heard the worst but no.

If you want to learn about North Korea, read and listen to defector stories. There is a good number of memoirs by North Korean defectors published in South Korea. Some of those stories have been translated into English. But not nearly enough. I hope more of them are made available to English speaking audiences especially considering that (if you believe this sort of thing http://www.marketresearchworld.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=102) South Koreans spend the least amount of time reading. Not only that but many South Koreans simply do not believe defector stories. Yes, the people who have front row seats.  Some may ask why this horror show of human suffering is still allowed to continue and how could the world turn a blind eye. The fact is, as I write this, the world is not only turning a blind eye but actively engaged in normalizing North Korea. Yes, you would expect that from countries like China and Russia but South Korea? The US? Or perhaps, just perhaps, this is nothing more than South Korea’s cynical ploy to insure the games against Kim Jong-un’s deadly provocations. But I doubt it. Many Americans scorn Vice President Pence for not standing and clapping for the regime’s delegation at the Olympics. He is criticized for not showing respect. Perhaps I have no right to criticize the critics because, I’m ashamed to say, I had been until recently one of them. I had had my share of illusions. And for that I owe Mr. Ishikawa an apology.

Kim Hyon-hui

For those of you who have never heard of her, Kim Hyon-hui is a North Korean agent who planted a bomb on Korean Air Flight 858 which killed everyone on board casting a pall over the approaching 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul. She now lives in South Korea. I highly recommend her memoir The Tears of My Soul. 

When Kim Hyon-hui was arrested after the terrorist attack, I was a student abroad. We heard the news and a few of us gathered in my room. We "determined" the act could not have possibly been committed by our honorable fatherland. It was just impossible. But there was one problem. One of my classmates who was a bit older said he knew Kim Hyon-hui. They went to the same school. We fell silent. But then we "determined" that Kim Hyon-hui must have been working for the enemies. The fact that she was alive was proof enough. The attack was nothing more than our enemy's attempt to sully our Republic's good name. With a heavy heart everyone returned to their rooms. We never talked about it again.