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.
