State media shows video of woman tearing up a book critical of the regime she is said to have written in 2012. NK News reports

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

A North Korean defector who fled the country 16 years ago has returned to the DPRK, according to state media outlet Uriminzokkiri.

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Son Ok-soon, a human rights activist and the author of a book describing the hardships of life in the North, is said to have appeared in a 20-minute video interview expressing regret for criticising and leaving the DPRK regime.

During the video interview the woman tears up pages of her book, Longing for Light, and describes her admiration for the North Korean system. She praises its free health services and lack of taxes.



“Watching through the television, I realised that my fatherland changed remarkably in the past 10 years,” the woman in the video says.

“I became speechless to hear that the county provided luxury houses at Mirae Scientists Street. This is impossible to imagine in other countries.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The video posted on Uriminzokkiri’s YouTube channel

The woman also shares details about her life in South Korea.

“There are so many political parties [in the South], who often fought in the middle of their meetings,” she said. “The most surprising thing was [South Korea having] the number one suicide rate in the world.”



The woman also criticises anti-DPRK propaganda activities, in particular led by Christian human rights activists.

“They are involved with organisations such as [the] National Intelligence Service,” she says. “They are doing so due to money.”

In 2012, Son published Longing for Light under the name of Esther Joo, describing her experience of North Korea’s famine, her defection to China and her arrest by Chinese police.

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Since Kim Jong-un assumed leadership in late 2011, North Korea has published several videos of defectors who are said to have returned to North Korea.

South Korea’s Ministry of Unification said it was unfamiliar with Son’s case. “According to our statistics there have been 13 cases [of defectors returning],” said a staff member who requested anonymity.

Park Gwang-il, president of the defector organisation Two for One, said Son had occasionally attended prayer meetings although other Christian human rights activists said they had never heard of her.

Hardship and isolation

Kim Seung-cheol, president of NK Reform Radio, said that those who go back to North Korea often do so because of economic hardship and social isolation, as many have difficulty integrating into South Korean society.

During a press briefing last September opposition MP Shin Kyoung-min revealed that in the last decade 31 North Korean defectors had killed themselves.

One student defector, who requested anonymity, underscored the difficulties of resettling. “I once conducted research about defectors’ lives, and during the research period I heard of two suicide cases,” the student said.

“Life in South Korea left me with lots of shocking memories, such as the Sewol ferry disaster,” the defector said. “The only thing I achieved is freedom. In return for it, I lost lots of things – such as family.”

North Korea has also been increasing efforts to attract defectors back to the country.

“In the mid-2000s, North Korea used to target defectors and attract them. In those cases, Pyongyang didn’t use them for propaganda,” said Kim of NK Reform Radio.

“These days, North Korea still attracts people, but it only makes effort with certain defectors, not ordinary people,” Kim said.

As of Monday, the video claiming to show Son had only appeared on Uriminzokkiri’s YouTube channel, with nothing about the case shown on domestic TV or the flagship Korea Central News Agency service.

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“This video is coming to us via a channel that is intended for consumption by sympathetic South Koreans and North Korean escapees who may be struggling in South Korean society and open to the possibility of returning northward,” said Christopher Green, a PhD candidate at the University of Leiden.

“Were it to be shown on domestic North Korean television in some form, that would change our assessment of the audience somewhat.”

A version of this article first appeared on NK News – North Korean news





