Every week we ask a North Korean your questions, giving you the chance to learn more about the country we know so little about.

This week’s question is: What do you think about the news that the U.S. Department State is planning to fund civic groups run by North Korean defectors?

I read the news, as well. According to the news in the Korean newspaper I read, the U.S. Department of State is supposedly planning to fund civic groups run by North Korean defectors in order to help them bring an end to the North Korean regime. I’m opposed to this idea. I know some will disagree with me, but this is a very personal opinion.

There’s one thing North Korean civic groups are well-aware of: No kind of revolution will ever arise in North Korea. In some other countries, democratic movements and upheaval have arisen, eventually bringing an end to the dictatorship or authoritarianism in their countries. South Korea is one good example. South Koreans brought an end to the military dictatorship through persistent upheavals and democratic movements. After landmark civic uprisings and demonstrations, South Korea officially transitioned from military dictatorship to democracy, in which South Korean citizens vote for their own representatives.

I believe that the North Korean regime can attribute its continued existence to its State Security Department

However, civic demonstrations and uprisings such as these cannot happen in North Korea. I know this and I know that these North Korean civic groups know this as well. The international community, led by the United States, has been imposing heavy economic sanctions on North Korea. Yet the North Korean regime has yet to collapse and I presume that it will continue to survive. I believe that the North Korean regime can attribute its continued existence to its State Security Department.

SECURING THE STATE

I’m confident in telling you that North Korea has the best government intelligence system, even better than the Central Intelligence Agency in the United States. North Korea’s State Security Department is composed of the country’s elites and they are the reason why the North Korean regime continues to exist and survive. If these guys didn’t exist, democratic movements and civil upheaval would have taken place in North Korea already. As long as the State Security Department continues to exist, or until it turns its back on Kim Jong Un, civil upheaval will never arise in the North. I bet the leaders of civic groups to be funded by the U.S. Department of State are very aware of this as well.

North Korea’s State Security Department is like a spider’s web. It is carefully divided into smaller divisions at every city and county, like police stations in South Korea. It is my assumption that each State Security Department consists of approximately 100 agents in every city. Agents are assigned to every city, country and neighborhood all over North Korea. Their job is to keep an eye on the masses and public opinion. They make sure to lure some ordinary people into spying on others. Therefore, everyone in North Korea thinks that at least one out of 10 people is a spy working for the regime. These spies as well as agents of the State Security Department don’t hesitate to pay a visit to every household and family to keep an eye on them. If any rebellious movements thought to be treasonous to the regime are found in the house, they will be arrested without a warrant. They are interrogated severely by officials and if they’re thought to have views opposing the regime, they kill the accused on the spot by bludgeoning them with a hammer. If this is how they get rid of the accused immediately, you wouldn’t ever think about presenting any opposing views or criticism of the government, would you?

I can tell you all of this because my mother was an informant for the State Security Department in North Korea. My mother’s job was to put neighborhood public opinion in writing and send it to the upper division of the State Security Department. As an informant, my mother was required to send her written report every week and I delivered her report to their office. The reason why I delivered it on her behalf was because neighbors would catch on if my mom kept visiting the office too often.

But North Koreans are not too stupid to carry out a revolt, they’re too afraid of the State Security Department to initiate or take part in a democratic movement

People in the outside world don’t know about such hideous punishments. Therefore, they seem to think that democratic movements can arise in North Korea someday. But North Koreans are not too stupid to carry out a revolt, they’re too afraid of the State Security Department to initiate or take part in a democratic movement. It’s not that they don’t want to. It is true that South Korea arrested citizens and tortured them under its military dictatorship. Yet, the way North Korea’s State Security Department tortures its people is far more hideous and cruel.

NO ROOTS

Leaders of North Korean civic groups supposedly said that they would help bring about grassroots democracy in North Korea with the funds they receive from the U.S. State Department. I hope they would refrain from mouthing such lip service. In South Korea, ordinary citizens have freedom to assemble and initiate, take part in protests and demonstrations on the streets. If anything close to that happens in North Korea, they get arrested and murdered immediately. Someone in my old neighborhood in the North spoke light criticism about the regime and was arrested the next day. I never heard from him ever again. Considering such factors, it is nonsense for those civic group leaders to say that it is possible to initiate grassroots democracy in North Korea.

I’ve worked at three different North Korean human rights groups. These people didn’t seem sincere or trustworthy. I quickly became very disappointed and promised myself that I would never work for such North Korean human rights groups ever again in my life. There is one famous – or should I say infamous – North Korean group funded by the U.S. to send flyers to North Korea. Most North Korean defectors residing in South Korea are very critical of its leader. I’m sure defectors have different reasons to be critical of him. But I think defectors aren’t in favor of this guy mainly because they know sending flyers is not going to change anything in North Korea. I feel like this guy is wasting all the money he receives from the U.S. on something that will never catalyze democratization in North Korea.

Earning money would’ve been easier if I just founded a civic group and chose to receive donations

I would likely to sincerely urge the United States Department of State as well as North Korean human rights groups in the U.S.: Please, stop wasting your money on something that will never change North Korea. I would like to encourage you to spend that money on the homeless and low-income people in the United States. Please, use that money for the welfare of underprivileged people in America. There are too many North Korean civic groups in South Korea, both big and small. There are even some groups that aren’t doing anything but keep receiving funds and donations. When we heard that news about U.S. Department of State’s plan to fund North Korean civic groups, my father even made a joke by saying “Maybe I should found a North Korean civic group of my own so that I can receive some of that money.” I chose to work for a company instead of getting involved in a North Korean civic group. I work so hard day and night in order to put food on the table and pay the bills. Earning money would’ve been easier if I just founded a civic group and chose to receive donations. But I didn’t do it because I knew it was deceiving to receive donations for something that will never bring about democratization in North Korea.

I would like to urge North Korean civic groups in South Korea to dissolve their groups. They know what they’re doing will never bring about a change in North Korea. They know it just as well as I know. Of course, North Korea will change if top officials of the regime collectively decide to overthrow Kim Jong Un leadership. Or the sudden death of Kim Jong Un will bring a change in the power structure of the regime. But North Korea will not move in the direction of democratization through civil uprising.

I know it’s very hard to make money. I work very hard every day in order to make money. I’m sure Americans earned their money by working very hard like me. You wouldn’t want your hard earned money to go to waste without actually helping North Koreans.

The above is the perspective of the author, and may not be representative of all North Korean defectors.

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Editing by Rob York and translation by Elizabeth Jae

Artwork by Catherine Salkeld