Defectors adjust to life in South

SEOUL — For the 468 North Korean defectors who arrived in the South last week, the transition from the world’s most rigid communist state to one of its most competitive capitalist economies will be a challenge.

“Their biggest problem is finding employment,” said An Hyo-deok of the quasi-governmental Association of Supporters for Defecting North Korean Residents.

“They have learned about South Korea in China or Southeast Asia” — where popular Korean soap operas and films paint a glamorous picture of life — “and so have unrealistic expectations. They want to be professionals, but most end up working in manufacturing,” he said.

The defectors — the largest number ever to arrive at one time — came via Vietnam. Upon their arrival in South Korea, they were whisked away to what a government source called “a state-run education and training facility” in Gyeonggi province, outside Seoul.

Under tight security, their debriefing process began immediately with officials of the National Intelligence Service and the Unification and Defense Ministries.

The intelligence service will be looking for spies among them, but a more prosaic reason for the interrogations is that a number of Chinese-Koreans may be masquerading as North Koreans in order to get a passport from the South.

Once the monthlong debriefing is complete, the defectors will be sent to “Hanawon,” a government-run halfway house, where they will undergo two months of “capitalism education.” Classes include language, etiquette, driving and computer skills.

About 4,000 defectors have passed through the program. After its completion, they are granted South Korean citizenship and are free to settle anywhere in the country, under police and local government protection.

The need for protection is lessening, however.

“Many defectors do feel insecure here, but as most come from the working class, they have no need to,” Mr. An said. “The only ones who really need protection are military and party-level defectors.”

For example, “Lee Han-yong, Kim Jong-il’s brother-in-law who defected to the South, was killed by North Korean agents about seven years ago,” he said.

High-level defectors are a minority. According to Mr. An’s association, of the 3,615 defectors who have come to the South since 2001, 1,471 are from the working class, 105 are party or managerial level and 28 are from the military.

Many defectors find that life in the South is no bed of roses. Their previous life experience is largely invalidated. Some, such as Kim Yong, enjoy success. He defected in 1991 and now runs a franchise of North Korean-style noodle restaurants, complete with branches in the United States.

But many defectors never make it. Some remain unemployed, others become criminals, and at least one tried to return North.

“They have no capital and no credit. They have to start at the bottom of the ladder, and they feel bitter,” said Kongdan Oh, of Washington’s Institute of Defense Analysis.

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