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The following article is the content of the North Korean woman's adaptation to Korea at the 'Gunpo City Family Homecoming Day' held on November 5th. Ms. Lee Yu-ri, as a single mother, she is struggling to adjust to her life in Korea, but she still has hope. And we introduce it to you.
Hello. This is Yuri. I am currently attending the last semester of my 4th year of university. My hometown is North Korea, where I can only go in my dreams. After living in North Korea for 26 years, I went to China, where I lived for 4 years and gave birth to my current son.
While I was holding my breath every day because I did not have an ID (illegal stay), the public security (police) came to arrest me, but luckily I was able to save my life by hiding in a grassy mountain.
When I came down from the mountain, my skin was scratched and red blood was flowing. If the police come to catch me one more time, I can't run away to the mountains with my baby in my arms this time, so I decided to go to Korea with my 5-month-old son.
I have to learn, I have to learn
I arrived in Korea with my toddler son in 2017 and rode the subway, and that alone gave me the confidence that I could do it myself for the first time. After that, with the help of a friend close by, I got a job at a distribution center in Korea.
It was a box packing job, but I had to carry the heaviest boxes weighing 50 kg because I was not fluent in the language and a new at the job. I just did my best with a grateful heart.
On a very hot summer day, I worked in a place where there was no air conditioning and my clothes got wet, and when I entered the office, it was so cool that I didn't want to go outside. At that time, I saw a woman sitting comfortably in a chair and asking the advisor, “How can I be able to do something like that?”
The advisor said that I must have an accounting qualification. I realized then. If you learn, you can work in a cool place, and if you don't learn, you have to do only what you are told to do.
Based on my part-time job experience, I knew that learning was desperately needed. Without hesitation, I enrolled in a private nursing assistant academy at my own expense, studying in the morning, working part-time in the afternoon, and practicing on the weekend, and in 9 months I obtained a nursing assistant license.
Discrimination against North Korean defectors
After that, I entered university. My son was 4 when I was in first grade. When I was the first to knock on the door of the daycare center with a baby who couldn't open its eyes in the morning and the last to pick it up, as a mother, I felt really sorry and didn't want my son to see me tired.
I pretended to be okay and often acted like a strong woman. After classes at school, I attended volunteer work, part-time jobs, group assignments, and various programs held by the school.
The reason I ran so hard was because of discrimination and prejudice. When I was practicing as a nursing assistant, even if I misplaced just one instrument, the dentists said, “That person defected from North Korea. That's why I don't know what to do,” he kept whispering behind my back. While living in Korea, I experienced how painful discrimination is and what an invisible person is.
Having a hard time just because I was from North Korea, the bathroom was the most comfortable place for me. While receiving counseling, I realized that I was not the only one who was discriminated against, and that Koreans also had such experiences when they first entered the company.
Intense life...Where am I going
Since I came from North Korea during my college life, I honestly said I don’t know when I didn't know, and there were more professors and friends who were willing to help. I did not stop learning and used flex semester to acquire computer and accounting licenses necessary for social welfare.
As this life continued, I had no free time. I came to the free Republic of Korea, but there was no comfortable day as if I was spinning on a treadmill. When I was in my third year, I started thinking, “Why do I really live like this... Where am I trying to reach by run like this?”
The reason why I decided to study social worker was because I was fascinated by the warmth of social worker teachers after I arrived in Korea. I hadn't even heard of a welfare worker in North Korea, but I was really moved by the teachers who explained everything in an easy-to-understand way.
I feel anxious but I have strength
North Korean defectors are full of will and passion to do anything if they are entrusted with it. There are many people who have more potential than you think. I have worked hard to come this far, but I feel anxious because I will have to find a job after I graduate next year.
I have to earn enough to raise my son and have a stable life. Temporary support is very helpful when you are in a really difficult situation, but I think a stable job is the priority.
I want to become a counselor that North Korean defectors can talk to comfortably. In order to do that, I think you have to be more humble and have professional skills. Furthermore, I want to spread counseling to North Koreans who have never even heard of the word welfare after reunification, and heal each and every one of them.
And I want to say this to everyone I meet. “I can do anything if I have the will and desire to do it. Even if there is discrimination, I have the strength to overcome that discrimination.” Thank you.
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