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1
Actor Jung Woo-sung admits to being father of model Moon Ga-bi’s child
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Wealthy parents ditch Korean passports to get kids into international school
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Man convicted after binge eating to avoid military service
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4
First snow to fall in Seoul on Wednesday
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5
Final push to forge UN treaty on plastic pollution set to begin in Busan
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Industry experts predicts tough choices as NewJeans' ultimatum nears
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Nvidia CEO signals Samsung’s imminent shipment of AI chips
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Korea to hold own memorial for forced labor victims, boycotting Japan’s
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9
Job creation lowest on record among under-30s
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10
Opposition chief acquitted of instigating perjury
북한이 탈북자들의 재입북을 유도하기 위해 현금과 여러 혜택을 제시하고 있다고 탈북자들이 주장했다.
로이터 통신이 18일 탈북자 커뮤니티를 인용해 보도한 바에 따르면 최근 북한 정권은 탈북자들에게 접근해 재입북시 한국 금액으로 5천만원과 TV 출연 등을 약속하고 있다고 한다.
또한 익명을 요구한 소식통에 따르면 이들은 북한에 남아있는 탈북자들의 가족들에게 접근해, 남한에 있는 탈북자들이 재입북하게 설득하도록 종용하기도 한다.
로이터 통신은 김정은 북한 국방위원회 제1위원장이 유화책을 들고 나온 이유는 알 수 없으나 북한의 인권 문제에 대한 국제사회의 압박 및 점점 커지고 있는 탈북자 커뮤니티의 영향력으로 추정된다고 전했다.
실제로 북한으로 돌아간 탈북자들이 어떻게 되었는지는 알 수 없으나, 평양 소재의 한 외교관이 전한 바에 따르면, 지난 5월 라오스에서 송환된 탈북자들이 별다른 박해를 받지 않았으며 “실제로 꽤 대접을 잘 받았다”고 전했다.
익명을 요구한 이 외교관은 이렇게 돌아온 탈북자들은 정치선전을 위해 이용된다고 전했다.
작년 6월에는 탈북자 출신인 박정숙 씨가 북한으로 돌아가 남한 사회를 맹 비난한 바 있다. 박씨는 탈북자들이 얻을 수 있는 직업은 “가장 비천하고 어려운 일 뿐”이라며 이들이 북한으로 돌아가기를 간절히 소망하고 있다는 발언을 한 것으로 알려졌다.
또한 작년 8월에는 탈북자 출신으로 재입북한 부부가 기자회견을 갖고 “남조선에서 비참한 생활을 겪은 걸 말하자면 끝이 없다”고 전했다. 이 기자회견은 조선중앙TV를 통해 공개되었다.
일각에서는 탈북자들의 이와 같은 발언이 북한 정권의 압박으로 인한 것이라고 주장하지만, 실제로 탈북자들이 생활고를 겪는 경우가 많다는 점을 주장하는 목소리도 적지 않다.
지난 7월에는 한 20대 탈북자가 재입북을 시도하다가 경찰에 붙잡힌 적이 있다. 일용노동으로 생계를 이어가던 이 청년은 생활고에 시달리던 끝에 재입북을 마음먹은 것으로 조사되었다.
한 탈북자는 한겨레 신문과의 인터뷰에서 탈북 알선비가 최소 1000만원 이상이지만 “한국 정부에서 주는 초기정착금은 700만원뿐이고, 한국에서 제대로 된 직업을 얻기도 어렵다”면서 빚을 갚기 어렵다고 전했다.
그는 이로 인해 탈북자들이 협박을 받다가 불법행위를 하는 경우도 있다고 전했다. (코리아헤럴드)
<관련 영문 기사>
N. Korea trying to lure back defectors with reward: report
North Korea is attempting to persuade its defectors to come back to its dictatorial regime by offering them fame and fortune, British media reported Sunday.
Journalist Park Ju-min of Reuters, quoting a North Korean defectors’ community, reported that Pyongyang’s 30-year-old leader Kim Jong-un has sent his agents to families of North Koreans living in the prosperous South, urging them to talk their loved ones into returning.
Some defectors said that people posing as defectors had promised them cash reward of 50 million won ($44,600) and a chance to appear on TV.
It is yet unclear why Kim is putting down the stick and offering the carrot, but some defectors said it may be result of both pressure from the international community on Pyongyang’s human rights condition and rising influence of the “exile community in the South,” according to Park.
It is impossible to determine how many defectors have returned to their repressive home country or whether they received the reward as promised, but one diplomat in Pyongyang told Reuters that a group of nine defectors who were sent back from Laos in May “actually have been quite well treated.”
The diplomat added that these people are put on TV for propaganda purposes.
Last year, North Korean defector Park Jeong-suk returned to Pyongyang and held a press conference to bash South Korean society. She reportedly said that defectors can only get poorly paid jobs, and they all dearly wish the go back to their home country.
In September of that year, a married couple made their way back into North Korea. They said that “there is no end” to describing the miserable lives they led in South Korea.
While some suspect the former defectors have been forced to say such things by the North’s regime, others point out that escapees in fact often have difficulty adjusting to life in South Korea.
A 20-something man was caught last month by police while attempting to return to North Korea with a list of fellow defectors. Authorities suspected that the man, who had been living in poverty here, tried to show loyalty to Pyongyang by bringing the list.
“The money we pay to the brokers (who help us escape North Korea) is at least 10 million won. But the South Korean government gives us only 7 million won in settlement funds, and it is very difficult to find a job,” a 44-year-old North Korean defector surnamed Kang told the Hankyoreh newspaper.
She said the defectors unable to pay back their debt are threatened by brokers and coerced into taking part in illegal activities.
(khnews@heraldcorp.com)
N. Korea trying to lure back defectors with reward: report
North Korea is attempting to persuade its defectors to come back to its dictatorial regime by offering them fame and fortune, British media reported Sunday.
Journalist Park Ju-min of Reuters, quoting a North Korean defectors’ community, reported that Pyongyang’s 30-year-old leader Kim Jong-un has sent his agents to families of North Koreans living in the prosperous South, urging them to talk their loved ones into returning.
Some defectors said that people posing as defectors had promised them cash reward of 50 million won ($44,600) and a chance to appear on TV.
It is yet unclear why Kim is putting down the stick and offering the carrot, but some defectors said it may be result of both pressure from the international community on Pyongyang’s human rights condition and rising influence of the “exile community in the South,” according to Park.
It is impossible to determine how many defectors have returned to their repressive home country or whether they received the reward as promised, but one diplomat in Pyongyang told Reuters that a group of nine defectors who were sent back from Laos in May “actually have been quite well treated.”
The diplomat added that these people are put on TV for propaganda purposes.
Last year, North Korean defector Park Jeong-suk returned to Pyongyang and held a press conference to bash South Korean society. She reportedly said that defectors can only get poorly paid jobs, and they all dearly wish the go back to their home country.
In September of that year, a married couple made their way back into North Korea. They said that “there is no end” to describing the miserable lives they led in South Korea.
While some suspect the former defectors have been forced to say such things by the North’s regime, others point out that escapees in fact often have difficulty adjusting to life in South Korea.
A 20-something man was caught last month by police while attempting to return to North Korea with a list of fellow defectors. Authorities suspected that the man, who had been living in poverty here, tried to show loyalty to Pyongyang by bringing the list.
“The money we pay to the brokers (who help us escape North Korea) is at least 10 million won. But the South Korean government gives us only 7 million won in settlement funds, and it is very difficult to find a job,” a 44-year-old North Korean defector surnamed Kang told the Hankyoreh newspaper.
She said the defectors unable to pay back their debt are threatened by brokers and coerced into taking part in illegal activities.
(khnews@heraldcorp.com)
