N. Korean Women Find Life of Abuse Waiting in China

[sandra]

Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, March 3, 2004; Page A20

SEOUL -- On Dec. 25, 2000, a young North Korean woman and her
5-year-old daughter approached the banks of the frozen Tumen River separating
North Korea and China. The woman clutched her terrified daughter's hand
and hustled across the frozen river, ducking armed patrols until the
pair cleared the border.

Once in China, they joined a growing tide of refugees fleeing lives of
hunger and brutality in North Korea. But along with tens of thousands
of other female North Korean refugees, the 29-year-old woman quickly
discovered that some nightmares don't go away -- they merely change
dimensions.

She recounted how, with few provisions, she made her way to a safe
house described by a friend in North Korea. Rather than offering her
shelter, however, the owners of the house presented her to a middle-age
Chinese farmer for inspection. He gave her the once-over, examining her face
and slim body before going off into a corner to haggle over a price for
her as a concubine. The woman, who had already suffered years of
beatings by her husband, said she fled in panic, seeking refuge in the home
of a nearby Chinese couple. They later sold her into a humiliating and
violent life inside a hostess bar, where men pay to be entertained by
women.

"I was helpless; I had no money, I didn't speak Chinese, and I had my
daughter to support," said Young, who agreed to an interview in Seoul on
condition that only her first name be used. "If you are a North Korean
woman crossing the border, it's almost impossible to survive without
being abused or sold. It happens to almost all of us, because they know
we are vulnerable."

Running from harsh conditions under the totalitarian government in
Pyongyang, an estimated 200,000 to 300,000 North Korean refugees are now
living illegally in China, roughly half of them women, according to
missionary and other religious-oriented groups working in the area. While
many North Korean men end up finding jobs as cheap laborers, South Korean
government officials and human rights groups say the vast majority of
the North Korean women are sold into temporary or long-term service as
sexual slaves or suffer other kinds of sexual or physical abuse, often
inside entertainment clubs.

While female refugees across the world remain at high risk of abuse or
exploitation, the North Korean women are extraordinarily vulnerable,
aid groups say. The Chinese government has refused to grant the North
Koreans official status as refugees, largely based on Beijing's
traditional ties to Pyongyang, as well as fears that such a designation would
dramatically boost the already steady influx over the border.

Without organized refugee camps or access to assistance from such
international bodies as the United Nations, the North Korean women have no
safety net. Though the primary targets are single women or unaccompanied
wives, even married female refugees traveling with their husbands are
occasionally forced into sexual servitude -- either with or without
their spouse's consent, aid groups and the refugees say.

"This is an extraordinarily serious problem; the fact is that most of
the North Korean women fleeing for food or to eke out some kind of
survival for their families are falling prey to sexual traffickers," said
Tim Peters, founder of Helping Hands Korea, a Christian nonprofit
organization in Seoul that aids North Korea refugees in China without
Beijing's permission or cooperation. "What is most despicable is that this
situation is going on but is being virtually ignored."

The North Korean women in China who ultimately make it to South Korea
-- most frequently with the help of missionary groups -- represent a
fortunate but small minority. Last year, South Korea resettled only 1,281
North Koreans, although that number was up significantly from the 583
taken in during 2001. Once here, the women are offered psychological
counseling as they are processed and prepared for new lives in the South,
said Unification Minister Jeong Se Hyun.

Given that the abuses occur in China, Jeong said, doing more for them
would require Beijing first to reconsider their status. "The answer lies
in the position of the Chinese government," Jeong said. "If their
status changes, we can do more to protect their human rights."

Young was forced to work in a karaoke bar in the Chinese border region,
pouring drinks for groups of men in private rooms. "They knew I was
North Korean, so they would sometimes taunt me, holding up their cellular
phones to my face, threatening to call the authorities and report me if
I didn't do as they said," she said, her whole body shaking as she
broke down in tears. "They knew what would happen to me if I was sent back
to North Korea. They knew."

During the interview in Seoul, where she arrived in November after a
daring dash into the South Korean Consulate in Beijing, her tears rushed
unabated as she recounted her ordeal -- which hasn't ended. A family in
China is still demanding $8,000 in exchange for the release of her
daughter, who is now 9. Young left her daughter with them because if her
attempt to enter the consulate failed, Young would have been sent back to
North Korea.

Lee, 24, another North Korean refugee who agreed to speak on condition
that only her surname be used, was deported to North Korea in 1998
after being caught by Chinese authorities on the border. "I was sent to a
prison camp and raped daily," she said bluntly, her hardened face
virtually expressionless. "Every day, the same guard raped me. I still see
his face. No matter how I try, I cannot forget it. Many of the women died
of the abuse. The guards would then take their used clothes and barter
them in town."

Lee said she escaped from the camp after a year and fled back into
China. There, she said, she was caught again -- this time by Chinese
gangsters who sold her into a brutal life of prostitution. She escaped with
the help of Christian missionaries who helped bring her to South Korea
in December.

Young said that she would try to resist men's advances, which typically
resulted in violence. "They grabbed me and turned me upside down by my
ankles. They threw beer bottles at me and hit me. I would run away. But
I would always end up caught and brought to another bar."

She fled North Korea, she said, because her husband, a coal miner,
severely beat her and her daughter as their family life deteriorated under
the isolated country's hardened poverty. Their meal rations from the
government grew steadily scarcer. "I did it for my daughter," Young said
of her flight, "and now she is not here with me."

Last year, Young said, she began planning for her dash to the South
Korean Consulate in Beijing. In September, she forced her way into the
back entrance of the compound. Young is in phone contact with her
daughter, though the family she trusted to safeguard her -- aware that the
South Korean government provides cash payments to resettling refugees -- is
now demanding $8,000 for her release.

The Chinese family, she said, doesn't understand that the stipends are
paid in monthly installments, and Young, still in the process of being
resettled, has yet to find a job. "My daughter is all I can think
about," she said. "I will save her from a life like mine. That's why I left
North Korea in the first place."

Special correspondent Joohee Cho contributed to this report.

[Napoleon Chynamite]

I'm not one to judge people cause I understand that given a different type of upbringing and circumstances, I could easily be in that same position, but I never understood how these fucking low-life men who freely abuse or do shit to women somehow find it okay or justifiable. If it were up to me I'd at least have their arms and legs broken and suffer temporary castration (if that were possible) without anesthetic. Anyways, useless substance-free response...but...yeah =(

[Irezumi Kiss]

I'm with you, Gumby.

It's amazing how humans find the need to hurt each other...good article even though it depresses me...

[sandra]

as asian-american women, do any of you feel an obligation or at least a desire to do something to help these overseas women who have nowhere else to turn? if so - how do you try to help? where can one start?

[mr. x]

theres very little you can do for n. koreans in general, unless your on the front lines down there.

[Napoleon Chynamite]

What further pisses me off is these people who give these women "refuge", only to sell them off to human scum the next day whom they know are gonna force her into a hellish life of prostitution or submissiveness. Maybe I'm just too "well-off" and naive for my own good, but I don't understand this type of psychology, even amid desperation for money. "Yea, we'll give you a place to stay. You'll be safe here, we're nice people. Oh sorry, but if you get to the embassy, we won't give your daughter back until someone pays us $8,000." What the fuck is that shit?

Originally Posted by Irezumi Kiss

I'm with you, Gumby.

It's amazing how humans find the need to hurt each other...good article even though it depresses me...

It's not so much that people feel some sort of desire or innate need to hurt or inflict pain, it's that they are perfectly okay with seeking to fulfill their own selfish needs and desires at the expense and complete neglect of the safety (much less the interests) and livelihood of others.

[mr. x]

Originally Posted by Gumby

It's not so much that people feel some sort of desire or innate need to hurt or inflict pain, it's that they are perfectly okay with seeking to fulfill their own selfish needs and desires at the expense and complete neglect of the safety (much less the interests) and livelihood of others.

and a lot of people in asia not to generalize or anything but a lot of the small minded set hate on other asians. u know chinese hate this and that and vice versa so obviously theres no sympathy from them towards the other as a human they're just hans

[Irezumi Kiss]

What's really sad is that this won't really become an issue until someone makes a movie about it...and even then it's still a stretch if it's a documentary...

[golden_buns]

Originally Posted by kasia

as asian-american women, do any of you feel an obligation or at least a desire to do something to help these overseas women who have nowhere else to turn? if so - how do you try to help? where can one start?

Quite difficult, the best way would be making donations to missionary groups.

[applehead]

these missionary groups... they need to do more
for media attention.
even if i wanted to donate, i wouldn't know where
to start.

[golden_buns]

Originally Posted by applehead

these missionary groups... they need to do more
for media attention.

They've tried but it's pretty hard if you have the Chinese and S Korean govts wanting to keep those issues away from the public