North Korea’s Double Defectors

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North Koreas Double Defectors

(Links to these essays and some of my other writing can be found onmy

SinoNK.com page).

Double Defectors: Signifiers of Pyongyangs Strategic

Shift

ByBrian Gleason| December 06, 2012 |2 Comments

Re-defectors to the DPRK, Kim Kwang-hyok and Koh Jong-nam, at a Pyongyang press conference on

Nov. 8, 2012 | Image via NKNews.org

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December 2012 is set to drag a veritable cornucopia of events kicking and screaming into the

limelight, each and every one literally begging to be analyzed as it happens. However, before anyone

starts talking about rockets, the tear-drenched commemoration of the death of a Kim, the New Years

Joint Editorial or even, looming on the horizon like a virtual colossus, the January 8 birthday of
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respected comrade Kim Jong-un, one needs to look back at an issue that hit the headlines earlier

this year: the mysterious world of double defectors. Are these people mostly spies, returning to North

Korea at the instruction of the KWP to offer the international media a false endorsement of the societybeing built by the new Kim before our very eyes? Or are they genuine defectors, heading back to the

bosom of the motherland to escape the poverty and discrimination that is said to beset a surprising

number of North Koreans attempting to settle in South Korea? In the first of a SinoNK triple-header,

Brian Gleason investigates.Christopher Green, Assistant Editor

Double Defectors: Signifiers of Pyongyangs Strategic Shift

by Brian Gleason

In the aftermath of Kim Jong-ilsdeath, Kim Jong-un made it clear that deterring and punishing North

Korean defectors was high on his list of priorities. Almost immediately, his regime is said to have

dispatched 20,000 additional soldiers along the borderto tighten security, transferred full border

control authority to the National Security Agency (which had previously shared it with the Ministry of

the Peoples Armed Forces),reinforced the guilt-by-association systemthat endeavors to flip the cost-

benefit analysis of treason by incarcerating three generations of a criminals family, and may even

have ordered would-be defectors to be shot on site. Although the South Korean Ministry of Unificationstill expects the total number of North Korean refugees to exceed 25,000 by the end of the year, these

efforts have thus far paid off; from January-October 2012, only 1,202 North Korean refugees arrived in

South Korea, representing a sharp decrease from the previous five-year average of 2,678 annually.

On another front in the battle for control, the Supreme Leader and his propaganda team are striving to

bring back North Korean refugees from the South to utilize them in highly publicized double

defections. These serve as valuable anti-South propaganda tools and cautionary tales for any North

Korean foolish enough to think about defecting. Until this year, the only highly publicized double

defection had been that of Yoo Tae-joon back in 2000, although theMinistry of Unification hasacknowledged that other North Korean defectors have also returned.Thus, the sudden and very public

return of four double defectors in 2012 grandmother Pak Jong-suk on June 28 and Kim Kwang-hyok,

his wife and child on November 8signifies a strategic shift in how Pyongyang deals with the

defector problem and its legitimacy battle with the South. Instead of trying to hide the defector issuefrom the North Korean public and vowing to severely punish anyone who defects to the South, the Kim

Jong-un regime is now actively pursuing double defectors, purportedly welcoming them back with

open arms while simultaneously using them to criticize the South and discourage other would-be

refugees from crossing the Tumen River.
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The number of North Korean refugees in the South has fallen dramatically in 2012, although not quite

as dramatically as the graphic claims. | Image via Daily Kos

Stop the Bus: Catalysts for Pyongyangs Strategic Shift | In 2012, several defections from the North

Korean security-defense apparatus, including two separate murder-defection incidents, became sources

of serious concern for the regime. The first notable defections followedApril 23 murders in Hyesan,

which sparked a manhunt leading members of North Koreas 10th

Corps, which is responsible for

security in the Yangkang Province region, across the border into China.[1] After a North Koreansoldier defected in August, two more followed in separate incidents in October, including the double

murder-defection of a 17-year-old elite conscript on October 17. The young man reportedlysaw no

hope in the Northafter learning of the huge gap between the two Koreas while working as a frontline

guard near the Kaesong Industrial Complex.

In the wake of this defection, news of which reportedly traveled north to Pyongyang in a proverbialheartbeat, it is important to note the date of the most recent re-defection and the timing of the press

conference. Even though KCNA reported that Kim Kwang-hyok and his wife Koh Jong-nam returned

to North Korea on September 12, the press conference did not occur until November 8. Evidently,

Pyongyang was waiting for a politically perspicacious moment to roll out the couple and their child.

The murder-defection in mid-October may have been the catalyst, leading Pyongyang to counter withthe press conference in early November.

Although many North Korean soldiers have defected down the years, the defections in 2012 have

further elevated concerns about decaying morale within the North Korean ranks, and highlighted the

risks of unwanted information spreading among the people.

In this regard, another driver of Pyongyangs strategic decision to heavily publicize double defections

is the Norths increasing permeability to outside information. A May 2012 report by InterMedia

confirmed what many already knew; that significant shifts in North Koreas media landscape are
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happening, as growing access toa range of media and communication technologies is undermining

the states monopoly on what its citizens see, hear, know and think. Pyongyang thus faces the

daunting task of attempting to prevent, refute, criticize or manipulate a burgeoning array of informationand other media spreading throughout the North Korean populace that can potentially inspire

defections or delegitimize the regime. Some communications technologies, like cell phones, are even

being officially encouraged. At the same time, a variety of troubling developments in 2012 an

upsurge in food prices and unemployment, chronic shortages of fuel, electricity and raw materials, thediffusion of popular South Korean dramas and pop music, the increasing publicity of North Korean

defectors in the South,[2] the aforementioned murders and defections, the April 2012 rocket launchfailure[3] and the overall dismal state of the North Korean economy have all been sources of great

concern for the new regime.

Pyongyang is a masterful manipulator of hearts and minds, and is attempting multiple solutions to

these mounting challenges. One is in the form of double defector press conferences; their goal being toemphasize that no matter how bad it gets in the North, or how appealing life in the South may seem,

the life of a North Korean defector in the South will not resemble a glamorous South Korean drama;

North Koreans will be cleaning dirty toilets, washing dishes [and] serving the elderly which south

Korean people never do,according to double defector Pak Jong-suks testimony.I didnt have any

specific jobs, doing only volunteer work or manual labor, paid with lower sa laries, she said. Notice

the latest shift in Pyongyangs portrayal of life in the South. Instead of attempting to refute the opulentlifestyles depicted in South Korean dramas (which North Koreans may increasingly believe as they

watch more and more of them), part of the Norths new strategy is to utilize double defectors like Pak

to accentuate class division between wealthier South Koreans (who may be capable of living such

lives) and the underclass of North Korean defectors (who are not). Thus, even though the South may be

relatively wealthier, they admit, the North Koreans living there are relatively poorer (and moremiserable) than they were in the motherland.
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According to the re-defector press conference pictured above, Kim Jong-un and Ri Sol-jus(left)

beneficient appearance at a Pyongyang familys home in early September was the psychological

catalyst for their return. | Photo via CCTV

Treachery and Luring: Motives for the Double Defections |In each of the highly publicized re-defection press conferences this year, the returning North Koreans conveyed very similar scenarios for

their defections to the South and their decisions to subsequently return to the North: treacherous South

Korean intelligence agents lured them to defect via subterfuge and manipulation (Pak Jong-suk claimed

she was actually drugged), they endured a miserable life within the Souths capitalist system, they

longed to return to life in the North, and ultimately the Supreme Leader generously welcomed them

back home despite their betrayal.

Conversely, several reports have alleged that the double defectors were either coerced to return to the

North via threats or lured back by North Korean agents. After conducting interviews with South

Korean government officials and Pak Jong-suks friends living in the South,the Washington Post

reportedthat Paks statements during her redefection press conference in the North were largely false

and probably state-fed, and it exposes North Koreas willingness to manipulate a citizen who returned

not because she yearned for her homeland but because she feared for the safety of the son she leftbehind. North Koreas National Security Agency seems to be at the coal face of a policy of luring
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defectors back to the North. Quoting a confidential source, Daily NK reported that Kim Kwang-hyok

and Koh Jong-nam were lured back to the North by Musan NSA.The source explained that the NSAs

strategy is to target defection brokers,since they often relay information between North Koreanrefugees in the South and their friends and acquaintances inside the North. The NSA utilizes the

information to pinpoint the location of the North Koreans in the South, and then attempts to use a

mixture of conciliatory words and threats of violence to get the family to try and lure the defectors

back.
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DPRK comics glorify the undercover agentwho just might also be a grandmother. | Image fromcollection of Adam Cathcart

In addition to the NSAs apparent strategy, it is widely believed that some of these double defectorsmay have been North Korean spies. Indeed, a source from Hoiryeong in North Hamkyungtold Daily
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NK that double defector Koh Jong-nam was actually a National Security Agency operativewho

entered South Korea in 2008 on the orders of the organization, married her husband Kim in 2009, then

returned with him in 2012. Allegedly, NSA operatives similar to Koh work with ethnic Koreans inChina to obtain information about North Korean refugees and attempt to lure them back. Successful,

and thus demonstrably loyal, ones are then sent to South Korea for further espionage activities. A

second source in the same article corroborated Koh Jong-nams status as an NSA operative, stating that

she had little choice but to comply with the NSAs demands and that she was recalled by the NSAthis year because she had lost her value as an agent due to her pregnancy.

It Aint Like the Movies: North Koreans are Struggling in the South | There is some truth to the

portrayal of the hard life for North Koreans in the South. Despite efforts by the South Korean

government to help North Koreans succeed in schoolincluding scholarships, stipends, government

paid housing and free university tuitionNorth Koreansuniversity dropout rates are

disproportionately high, and other North Korean students struggle withbullying,an education gap withSouth Korean students and emotional problems caused by depression, anger and other symptoms of

post-traumatic stress.

The South Korean government also endeavors to help North Koreans attain employment by offering

job training and providing subsidies to companies that hire North Koreans, but many North Koreanrefugees have difficulty finding employment beyond low-level, low-paying jobs, and they can also

experience prejudice in the workplace.Furthermore, some North Koreans endure economic hardship in

the South after they are tricked or scammed financially, and according to the Korean Institute of

Criminology,the crime rate for North Korean refugees in the South between 1998-2007 was over 10%,

more than double the 4.3% national average. Various NGOs, charities, church groups and other

organizations continue to support North Koreans in a variety of ways, but defectors still need more

assistance to overcome the wide array of challenges they face.

ThinlyConcealed Disgust: Conclusion | Although the North Korean government has ramped up its

efforts to portray a life of hardship for North Koreans in the South, theres ample evidence that life

has not improved since Kim Jong-un. Four North Koreans on government-sanctioned stays in

Dandong told theNew York Timesthat their lives have gotten harder, despite Mr. Kims tantalizing

pronouncements about boosting peoples livelihoods. The interviewees underscored a growing senseof disillusionment and cynicism within the North Korean populace, and most notably, a th inly

concealed disgust over inequality that has risen in recent years. They went on to describe a situation in

which Emaciated beggars haunt train stations, while well-connected businessmen continue to grow

rich from trading with China and government officials flourish by collecting fines and bribes.

Accordingly, it appears that the North Korean regime is attempting to counter this growing sense of

inequality within the disenchanted underclass of its purportedly socialist system by emphasizing how

North Koreans suffer from inequality and class division in the South. The effectiveness of this strategy

remains to be seen, but as more and more information seeps into North Korea, Kim Jong-uns regime

will have to continue developing new ways of convincing thepeople of the Norths supremacy over theSouth.

[1] The two men responsible for the murders were border security agents working for the Hyesan CityDefense Security Command. Although they attempted to escape, they were caught in China and

repatriated on April 27.

[2] For example, a South Korean variety show called Now on My Way to Meet You featured

numerous female North Korean refugees living in the South. Overall, an increasing number of North

Korean refugees are being featured in books, newspaper articles, documentaries, radio and television

shows, which all have the potential to impact the North Korean people by demonstrating that life

outside of North Korea is quite different from the way it is portrayed by the Norths propagandists.

[3] The North Korean governments decision to publicly admit the failure to the North Korean people

reinforces the notion that the regime is increasingly unable to prevent the truth from reaching the

populace.

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Overwhelmed by Guilt: Pyongyangs Evolving

Double Defector Propaganda

ByBrian Gleason| May 25, 2013 |No Comments

Double defectors atoning for their sins. | Image: Rodong Sinmun, May 18, 2013

At a recent conference hosted by the Seoul-basedNorth Korea Strategy Center()

entitled North Koreans Contact with Outside Information and Changes in Human Rights

Consciousness [], a panel of defectors and

North Korean specialists spoke on the effects that the increase in flow of outside information is having

on North Korean society. All panelists agreed that an increasing number of North Koreans are able tolearn more about the world through foreign media sources, including TV shows, dramas, radio

broadcasts, and DVDs. They also agreed that the influx of outside information into the country is

significant impacting daily life: everything from fashion styles to perceptions of South Korea is

changing. Others agree.

The InterMedia report published last year on the changing media environment in North Korea came to

similar conclusions. The report found that the North Korean government no longer maintains a totalmonopoly over the information available to the population and, as a result, North Koreans

understanding of the world is changing. Not covered in the report or at the conference though is that

theNorth Korean regimes propaganda strategy is also changing.Instances of double defectionsare

being slyly used by the regime for propagandistic effect. Brian Gleason, writing from Seoul, tells of

PyongyangsEvolving Double Defector Propaganda in part one of a two part series. Steven

Denney, Managing Editor
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Overwhelmed by Guilt: Pyongyangs Evolving Double Defector Propaganda

by Brian Gleason

In the past year, the sharp increase in the number of double defector press conferences is clearly an

indication of Pyongyangs strategy tothwart nefarious outside influencesand create a defector

deterrent via an evolving narrative about the horrible life in the South for a North Korean refugee.

After analyzing the 2012 redefections of Pak Jong-suk on June 28 and Kim Kwang-hyok, his wife and

child on November 8,I wrote about North Koreas strategic shiftin attempting to stem the tide of

North Korean refugees escaping to South Korea. In addition to Kim Jong-uns orders to beef up border

security and intensify the punishments inflicted on those trying to escape, Pyongyangs propagandists

also began to utilize highly publicized double defections to warn North Koreans that they would

merely become part of a North Korean refugee underclass in the South, doinghumble work,

cleaning dirty toilets, washing dishes, serving the elderlywhich Southern people never do,

according to Pak Jong-suks testimony.

This kind of anti-South propaganda represented a significant shift in Pyongyangs strategy; in the past,

the regime always told its people that the centrally planned North Korean economy was superior to theSouth Korean economic system, which was actually true (in terms of GNP) until 1976, when the South

surpassed the North for good. Pyongyang continued to leverage friendship prices and other a id from

its Soviet and Chinese alliesas well as its iron grip on people and information flowing into or out of

the countryin order to maintain the myth of North Koreas superiority.

However, since the North Koreans growing access to a range of media and communication

technologies is undermining the states monopoly on what its citizens see, hear, know and think, the

regime can no longer perpetuate the myth of Northern superiority. Experts like Andrei Lankov havealso highlighted Pyongyangs need for a new line of propaganda, stating,[T]hanks to Choco Pies,

DVDs and large-scale labour migration to China, people dont buy the old story [that the South is even

poorer] and the government does not sell it any more.Thus, in the Kim Jong-un era, Pyongyang has

not only developed new forms of propaganda[1]like the double defector press conferencesit has

also crafted new messages and themes to persuade an increasingly skeptical populace and warn againstmeddlesome outside influences.

Echoes of the 2012 Redefection Press Conferences |In 2013, several additional redefections have

reaffirmed Pyongyangs commitment to its new strategy. In late January at the Peoples Palace, Kim

Kwang-ho, Ko Kyung-hee and other redefectors gave testimonials that reinforced some familiar

themes emphasized in the 2012 press conferences: Kim Kwang-ho alleged that he and his wife wereforcibly taken to the South, while Ko Kyung-hee described South Korean society as deceptive (even

Machiavellian) and claimed that due to her status as a North Korean defector, she was unable to find

employment. Not long after their regrettable decision to defect to the South, they longed to return to the

North and were fortunately welcomed back due to the generosity of the Supreme Leader.[2]

In each press conference, the North not only welcomes back the defectors with open arms (thanks tothe generosity of Kim Jong-un), it also provides other North Korean refugees in the South with

concrete reassurances of why the North will not punish them. North Korean defectors are portrayed not

only as victims of South Korean deception, but also as mere mortals who can understandably make

stupid mistakes from time to time.Kim Kwang-ho and Kim Ok-shil merely had a silly/stupid

() idea about becoming rich in the South,which of course ended in utter failure. Similarly,

Pak Jong-suk was simply pursuing an ill-fated andfoolish idea to meet with my father in the South

and ask him for money.Thus, according to the Norths sympathetic interpretation, theseNorth Korean

defectors werent inherently treacherous; they merely had a foolish lapse in judgment that led them

to fall into the Souths treacherous trap.[3]

In this context, the regime is not only warning its people against making any similarly foolish or sillydecisions, it is also extending an olive branch to other North Korean refugees who may be

contemplating a return to North Korea by literally offering them rationalizations for defecting that can

subsequently be forgiven by the Supreme Leader.[4]With conspicuous parallels to the biblical story of
http://sinonk.com/2012/08/14/north-korean-claims-of-terrorism-from-inside-chinese-territory-an-annotated-analysis/http://sinonk.com/2012/08/14/north-korean-claims-of-terrorism-from-inside-chinese-territory-an-annotated-analysis/http://sinonk.com/2012/08/14/north-korean-claims-of-terrorism-from-inside-chinese-territory-an-annotated-analysis/http://sinonk.com/2012/12/06/double-defectors-signifiers-of-pyongyangs-strategic-shift/http://sinonk.com/2012/12/06/double-defectors-signifiers-of-pyongyangs-strategic-shift/http://sinonk.com/2012/12/06/double-defectors-signifiers-of-pyongyangs-strategic-shift/http://koreajoongangdaily.joinsmsn.com/news/article/article.aspx?aid=2955825&cloc=joongangdaily%7Chome%7Cnewslist1http://koreajoongangdaily.joinsmsn.com/news/article/article.aspx?aid=2955825&cloc=joongangdaily%7Chome%7Cnewslist1http://koreajoongangdaily.joinsmsn.com/news/article/article.aspx?aid=2955825&cloc=joongangdaily%7Chome%7Cnewslist1http://koreajoongangdaily.joinsmsn.com/news/article/article.aspx?aid=2955825&cloc=joongangdaily%7Chome%7Cnewslist1http://koreajoongangdaily.joinsmsn.com/news/article/article.aspx?aid=2955825&cloc=joongangdaily%7Chome%7Cnewslist1http://koreajoongangdaily.joinsmsn.com/news/article/article.aspx?aid=2955825&cloc=joongangdaily%7Chome%7Cnewslist1http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/may/01/choco-pies-north-koreanshttp://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/may/01/choco-pies-north-koreanshttp://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/may/01/choco-pies-north-koreanshttp://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/may/01/choco-pies-north-koreanshttp://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/may/01/choco-pies-north-koreanshttp://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/may/01/choco-pies-north-koreanshttp://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/may/01/choco-pies-north-koreanshttp://sinonk.com/2013/05/25/overwhelmed-by-guilt-pyongyangs-evolving-double-defector-propaganda/#_ftn1http://sinonk.com/2013/05/25/overwhelmed-by-guilt-pyongyangs-evolving-double-defector-propaganda/#_ftn1http://sinonk.com/2013/05/25/overwhelmed-by-guilt-pyongyangs-evolving-double-defector-propaganda/#_ftn2http://sinonk.com/2013/05/25/overwhelmed-by-guilt-pyongyangs-evolving-double-defector-propaganda/#_ftn2http://sinonk.com/2013/05/25/overwhelmed-by-guilt-pyongyangs-evolving-double-defector-propaganda/#_ftn2http://news.nate.com/view/20130124n34551http://news.nate.com/view/20130124n34551http://news.nate.com/view/20130124n34551http://news.nate.com/view/20130124n34551http://news.nate.com/view/20130124n34551http://news.nate.com/view/20130124n34551http://news.nate.com/view/20130124n34551http://koreajoongangdaily.joinsmsn.com/news/article/article.aspx?aid=2955825&cloc=joongangdaily%7Chome%7Cnewslist1http://koreajoongangdaily.joinsmsn.com/news/article/article.aspx?aid=2955825&cloc=joongangdaily%7Chome%7Cnewslist1http://koreajoongangdaily.joinsmsn.com/news/article/article.aspx?aid=2955825&cloc=joongangdaily%7Chome%7Cnewslist1http://koreajoongangdaily.joinsmsn.com/news/article/article.aspx?aid=2955825&cloc=joongangdaily%7Chome%7Cnewslist1http://sinonk.com/2013/05/25/overwhelmed-by-guilt-pyongyangs-evolving-double-defector-propaganda/#_ftn3http://sinonk.com/2013/05/25/overwhelmed-by-guilt-pyongyangs-evolving-double-defector-propaganda/#_ftn3http://sinonk.com/2013/05/25/overwhelmed-by-guilt-pyongyangs-evolving-double-defector-propaganda/#_ftn3http://sinonk.com/2013/05/25/overwhelmed-by-guilt-pyongyangs-evolving-double-defector-propaganda/#_ftn4http://sinonk.com/2013/05/25/overwhelmed-by-guilt-pyongyangs-evolving-double-defector-propaganda/#_ftn4http://sinonk.com/2013/05/25/overwhelmed-by-guilt-pyongyangs-evolving-double-defector-propaganda/#_ftn4http://sinonk.com/2013/05/25/overwhelmed-by-guilt-pyongyangs-evolving-double-defector-propaganda/#_ftn4http://sinonk.com/2013/05/25/overwhelmed-by-guilt-pyongyangs-evolving-double-defector-propaganda/#_ftn3http://koreajoongangdaily.joinsmsn.com/news/article/article.aspx?aid=2955825&cloc=joongangdaily%7Chome%7Cnewslist1http://koreajoongangdaily.joinsmsn.com/news/article/article.aspx?aid=2955825&cloc=joongangdaily%7Chome%7Cnewslist1http://news.nate.com/view/20130124n34551http://news.nate.com/view/20130124n34551http://sinonk.com/2013/05/25/overwhelmed-by-guilt-pyongyangs-evolving-double-defector-propaganda/#_ftn2http://sinonk.com/2013/05/25/overwhelmed-by-guilt-pyongyangs-evolving-double-defector-propaganda/#_ftn1http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/may/01/choco-pies-north-koreanshttp://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/may/01/choco-pies-north-koreanshttp://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/may/01/choco-pies-north-koreanshttp://koreajoongangdaily.joinsmsn.com/news/article/article.aspx?aid=2955825&cloc=joongangdaily%7Chome%7Cnewslist1http://koreajoongangdaily.joinsmsn.com/news/article/article.aspx?aid=2955825&cloc=joongangdaily%7Chome%7Cnewslist1http://sinonk.com/2012/12/06/double-defectors-signifiers-of-pyongyangs-strategic-shift/http://sinonk.com/2012/08/14/north-korean-claims-of-terrorism-from-inside-chinese-territory-an-annotated-analysis/


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[2]In the highly publicized re-defection press conferences in 2012, the returning North Koreans

conveyed very similar scenarios for their defections to the South and their decisions to subsequently

return to the North.

[3]Another important part of her testimony was that her father didnt even leave her a will, so her plan

in South Korea was not only portrayed as foolish, but also as an utter failure. This can also be

interpreted as a terrible example of a father tainted by the capitalist South could be so greedy as to notleave his daughter a will.

[4] Many North Korean refugees have said that they can never trust the North Korean authorities

again, but a few have stated in private conversations that due to the emotional turmoil of being

separated from their family and friends, they might eventually be willing to take the risk of returning.

They figure that they can sneak back in undetected or lie to the authorities by claiming that they only

went to China to earn money, wherein they believe the authorities will grant them leniency.

[5]This kind of guilt is sometimes manifested by the large remittances sent by North Korean refugees

to their families. Although most North Korean refugees have a low to medium level of income in the

South, some have acknowledged that they send a disproportionate amount of their savings to family

members in the North, mostly for financial support, but sometimes to assuage their own guilt.

[6]In 2012, Kim Jong-un alsoreinforced the guilt-by-association systemthat endeavors to flip the

cost-benefit analysis of treason by incarcerating three generations of a defectors family.

[7]Kyung-Ae Park, Peoples Exit, Regime Stability and North Korean Foreign Policy, Kyung-Ae

Park, ed.,New Challenges of North Korean Foreign Policy(New York: McMillan, 2010), 46.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Press Conference as Discursive Battleground:

Pyongyangs Evolving Double Defector

Propaganda

ByBrian Gleason| June 09, 2013 |No Comments
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The spacious living room where all is revealed as per the script. | Image: Korean Central Televisionscreen capture

With the recentrepatriation of nine young North Koreans from Laos,the defector issue is once againhighly politicized. Human rights groups go on the legal (and discursive) offensive to have defectors in

Chinarecognized as refugeesrather than economic migrants. In California, it seemed likely that

Chinese leader Xi Jinpingwas pressured by the US to revisit Chinas policy on refoulement of North

Korean refugees.Refugee policy is bound to be a key agenda item on South Korean President Park

Geun-hyes trip to Beijing on June 27-30.Against this encirclement, Pyongyang has mounted its own

counter-offensive in an effort to redefine the defector narrative completely. By using press conferencesby redefectors to the DPRK as domestic propaganda, the North portrays life in the capitalist South

as Thomas Hobbes would the state of nature: solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short. In the first

installmentof Pyongyangs Evolving Double Defector Propaganda,Brian Gleason outlined the

emergence of the double defector propaganda trope. In this second and final installment, Gleasondeconstructs the motivations, symbolism, and significance of double defector press conferences.

Steven Denney, Managing Editor

Press Conference as Discursive Battleground: Pyongyangs Evolving Double Defector

Propaganda

by Brian Gleason

Double Defectors and Press Conferences: Pyongyangs Evolving Strategy| In addition to the

consistent themes emphasized in each successive redefection, Pyongyangs propaganda department has

recently expanded the scope of its press conference strategy to incorporate other nefarious influences

and threats. The most recent double defector press conference (North Korean television coveragehere
http://www.latimes.com/news/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-laos-defectors-north-korea-20130602,0,7718252.storyhttp://www.latimes.com/news/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-laos-defectors-north-korea-20130602,0,7718252.storyhttp://www.latimes.com/news/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-laos-defectors-north-korea-20130602,0,7718252.storyhttp://hrbrief.org/2010/10/migrant-workers-or-refugees-china%E2%80%99s-obligations-to-north-korean-defectors/http://hrbrief.org/2010/10/migrant-workers-or-refugees-china%E2%80%99s-obligations-to-north-korean-defectors/http://hrbrief.org/2010/10/migrant-workers-or-refugees-china%E2%80%99s-obligations-to-north-korean-defectors/http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/news/2013/06/02/0200000000AEN20130602002100315.HTMLhttp://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/news/2013/06/02/0200000000AEN20130602002100315.HTMLhttp://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/national/2013/06/03/46/0301000000AEN20130603004200315F.HTMLhttp://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/national/2013/06/03/46/0301000000AEN20130603004200315F.HTMLhttp://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/national/2013/06/03/46/0301000000AEN20130603004200315F.HTMLhttp://sinonk.com/2013/05/25/overwhelmed-by-guilt-pyongyangs-evolving-double-defector-propaganda/http://sinonk.com/2013/05/25/overwhelmed-by-guilt-pyongyangs-evolving-double-defector-propaganda/http://sinonk.com/2013/05/25/overwhelmed-by-guilt-pyongyangs-evolving-double-defector-propaganda/http://sinonk.com/2013/05/25/overwhelmed-by-guilt-pyongyangs-evolving-double-defector-propaganda/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BIxx-ybTZMhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BIxx-ybTZMhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BIxx-ybTZMhttp://sinonk.com/2013/06/09/press-conferences-pyongyangs-double-defector-propaganda-part-ii/screen-shot-2013-06-08-at-23-57-15/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BIxx-ybTZMhttp://sinonk.com/2013/05/25/overwhelmed-by-guilt-pyongyangs-evolving-double-defector-propaganda/http://sinonk.com/2013/05/25/overwhelmed-by-guilt-pyongyangs-evolving-double-defector-propaganda/http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/national/2013/06/03/46/0301000000AEN20130603004200315F.HTMLhttp://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/news/2013/06/02/0200000000AEN20130602002100315.HTMLhttp://hrbrief.org/2010/10/migrant-workers-or-refugees-china%E2%80%99s-obligations-to-north-korean-defectors/http://www.latimes.com/news/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-laos-defectors-north-korea-20130602,0,7718252.story


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) featured Kang Kyong-suk (60), Kim Kyong-ok (41), and serial redefector Lee Hyeok-chul

(26),who reportedly returned to North Korea for the fourth time on April 3 by stealing a fishing boat

on Yeonpyeong Island and somehow slipping past the Souths radar. Notwithstanding that Lee visibly

forgets his lines multiple times during the press conference, his testimony is full of symbolism.

Supposedly, Lees rich elder brother, Lee Sang-cholwho runs a car company in South Korea and

owns several cars himselfconvinced Lee to defect to the South, only to quickly betray him. The older

brother supposedly left Lee Hyeok-chul to sleep in a measly church dormitory while greedily

demanding part of his government welfare check as compensation for helping to bring him to South

Korea. Here, the elder brother, who should have put family first and look out for his younger sibling,

selfishly betrayed his brother in the Machiavellian South.

Covering All Bases: North Koreas Propaganda Strategy |The themes implicit in this tale of family

betrayal are neither unique nor new: No storyreal or contrivedor corner of Korean culture is safe

from utilization for Pyongyangs propaganda purposes. Notably, though no explicit reference is made,

Lee Hyeok-chuls story resembles the popular Chosun-era fairy tale () of two brothers,Heungbu

and Nolbu(). The younger brother, Heungbu, is kind, obedient and filially pious, never

betraying the Confucian family hierarchy. Nolbu, the older brother, is selfish and cruel; instead of

showing empathy and care for his younger brother, he abuses him. After the death of their parents,

Nolbu kicks Heungbu and his family out of the house, greedily keeping the fathers assets for himself

and ignoring the younger brothers pleas for help. However, though the younger brother struggles to

get by at first, it is the older brother who ends up begging the younger brother for forgiveness and

assistance after finally falling victim to his own greed. Heungbu, being the noble and respectful

younger brother, forgives his elder brother of his selfish and cruel behavior and takes him into his

home.

Heungbus family out in the dark and broken, like many families in a cutthroat capitalist society,

according to Pyongyang. | Screenshot from Hangul Animations retelling of Heungbu and Nolbu.

Pyongyangs evolving strategy involves vilifying North Korean refugees in the South as Heungbu -like

figures: selfish, greedy, untrustworthy, and thoroughly corrupted by South Korean society. As in the

story, though, Pyongyangs propaganda artists leave the door to redemption open: If you redefect,you

will be well received,press conference and all.
http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/national/2013/04/04/82/0301000000AEN20130404001452315F.HTMLhttp://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/national/2013/04/04/82/0301000000AEN20130404001452315F.HTMLhttp://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/national/2013/04/04/82/0301000000AEN20130404001452315F.HTMLhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heungbu_and_Nolbuhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heungbu_and_Nolbuhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heungbu_and_Nolbuhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heungbu_and_Nolbuhttps://twitter.com/LiberateLaura/status/343476671401308160https://twitter.com/LiberateLaura/status/343476671401308160https://twitter.com/LiberateLaura/status/343476671401308160https://twitter.com/LiberateLaura/status/343476671401308160http://savefrom.net/?url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QKm9IUcYrA&utm_source=firefox&utm_medium=extensions&utm_campaign=link_modifierhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QKm9IUcYrAhttp://savefrom.net/?url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BIxx-ybTZM&utm_source=firefox&utm_medium=extensions&utm_campaign=link_modifierhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QKm9IUcYrAhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QKm9IUcYrAhttps://twitter.com/LiberateLaura/status/343476671401308160https://twitter.com/LiberateLaura/status/343476671401308160http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heungbu_and_Nolbuhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heungbu_and_Nolbuhttp://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/national/2013/04/04/82/0301000000AEN20130404001452315F.HTML


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trafficker, which serves to bolster the redefectors description of South Korea as the worst tundra of

human rights.

Furthermore, although the influx of information into North Korea may cause the North Korean people

to question human rights abuses and view North Korean refugees empathetically, the recent press

conference and subsequent KCNA article aimed to convince the North Korean people that North

Korean refugees are actually criminals who fled to the South[2] and were subsequently paid toparticipate in a smear campaign against the DPRK by trumpeting about the human rights record.Both women at the press conference claimed that the South has been conducting a coordinated

campaign to bring more North Koreans to South Korea. Kang Kyong-suk quoted a man who was in

charge of her case at the Joint Center for Interrogation of Defectors from the North as saying: We are

trying to increase the ranks of defectors from the north, even spending [a lot of] money in order to win

back even a person of the north to our side.

However, just in case the North Korean people might take away the wrong message that the South

must have a lot of money in order to pay all these defectors and conduct so many anti-North

operationsKim Kyong-ok was there to clarify, quoting a South Korean agent who had questioned

her: We keep bringing people like you to the south not because money is in surplus. It is aimed to

disturb the mindset of the north and spread liberal democracy to it.

In Need of Protection and Support: Societal Divisions Exacerbated by Double Defector Press

Conferences | For decades, part of North Koreas strategy in the battle for legitimacy over the Korean

Peninsula has been to garner pro-North support among South Korean citizens, whom Pyongyang

counts on to support favorable policies in South Koreas domestic political debates. South Koreasforeign-policy towards the DPRK has long been a wedge issue in the South, but in recent years a new

debate has begun to emerge over how the South Korean government, and society as a whole, should

treat North Korean refugees.

Many North Korean refugees are acutely aware of how they are perceived in the South, and feel a

palpable tension with certain members of South Korean society, particularly in the older generations,

who may view them suspiciously, criticize them for being a drain on South Koreas budget (especially

the pension system), or treat them with ambivalence or indifference. In one (extreme) example of howthe North Korean refugee issue can divide South Korean society,South Korean politician Lim Su-

kyung reportedly told a North Korean defectorwho happened to be dining in the same restaurant as her

that he was a son of a bitch, a senseless North Korean defector, and a bastard betrayer, sparking

a heated debate among South Korean netizens about North Korea and North Korean refugee issues.

Although the South Korean media coverage of North Korean refugees is generally supportive and

sympathetic, Pyongyangs double defector strategyaims to further inflame tensions by making South

Koreans view North Korean refugees as ungrateful freeloaders or seditious spies.Many South Koreans

see through Pyongyangs double defector strategy, but the increasing amount of redefector press

conferences will certainly add to theexasperation and outrage felt by some in the South.[3] As the

North Korean refugees continue to face a variety of problems on numerous fronts, increasing

protection and support from South Koreans and concerned members of the international community is

clearly essential.

Further Readings

Brian Gleason, Overwhelmed by Guilt: Pyongyangs Evolving Double Defector Propaganda, Sino-

NK, May 25, 2013.

Brian Gleason, Double Defectors: Signifiers of Pyongyangs Strategic Shift, Sino-NK, December 6,

2012.

Gianluca Spezza, What Double-Defection Tells us About the Prospects For Korean Unification,NK

News, August 9, 2012.
http://www.koreabang.com/2012/stories/politician-tells-north-korean-defector-he-betrayed-his-country.htmlhttp://www.koreabang.com/2012/stories/politician-tells-north-korean-defector-he-betrayed-his-country.htmlhttp://www.koreabang.com/2012/stories/politician-tells-north-korean-defector-he-betrayed-his-country.htmlhttp://www.koreabang.com/2012/stories/politician-tells-north-korean-defector-he-betrayed-his-country.htmlhttp://www.koreabang.com/2012/stories/double-defectors-condemn-life-in-south-netizens-feel-betrayed.htmlhttp://www.koreabang.com/2012/stories/double-defectors-condemn-life-in-south-netizens-feel-betrayed.htmlhttp://www.koreabang.com/2012/stories/double-defectors-condemn-life-in-south-netizens-feel-betrayed.htmlhttp://www.koreabang.com/2012/stories/double-defectors-condemn-life-in-south-netizens-feel-betrayed.htmlhttp://www.koreabang.com/2013/stories/four-more-north-korean-defectors-return-to-north-korea.htmlhttp://www.koreabang.com/2013/stories/four-more-north-korean-defectors-return-to-north-korea.htmlhttp://www.koreabang.com/2013/stories/four-more-north-korean-defectors-return-to-north-korea.htmlhttp://sinonk.com/2013/05/25/double-defections-press-conference-propaganda-pyongyang/http://sinonk.com/2013/05/25/double-defections-press-conference-propaganda-pyongyang/http://sinonk.com/2013/05/25/double-defections-press-conference-propaganda-pyongyang/http://sinonk.com/2013/05/25/double-defections-press-conference-propaganda-pyongyang/http://sinonk.com/2012/12/06/double-defectors-signifiers-of-pyongyangs-strategic-shift/http://sinonk.com/2012/12/06/double-defectors-signifiers-of-pyongyangs-strategic-shift/http://sinonk.com/2012/12/06/double-defectors-signifiers-of-pyongyangs-strategic-shift/http://www.nknews.org/2012/08/what-double-defection-tells-us-about-the-prospects-for-korean-unification/http://www.nknews.org/2012/08/what-double-defection-tells-us-about-the-prospects-for-korean-unification/http://www.nknews.org/2012/08/what-double-defection-tells-us-about-the-prospects-for-korean-unification/http://www.nknews.org/2012/08/what-double-defection-tells-us-about-the-prospects-for-korean-unification/http://sinonk.com/2012/12/06/double-defectors-signifiers-of-pyongyangs-strategic-shift/http://sinonk.com/2013/05/25/double-defections-press-conference-propaganda-pyongyang/http://www.koreabang.com/2013/stories/four-more-north-korean-defectors-return-to-north-korea.htmlhttp://www.koreabang.com/2012/stories/double-defectors-condemn-life-in-south-netizens-feel-betrayed.htmlhttp://www.koreabang.com/2012/stories/double-defectors-condemn-life-in-south-netizens-feel-betrayed.htmlhttp://www.koreabang.com/2012/stories/politician-tells-north-korean-defector-he-betrayed-his-country.htmlhttp://www.koreabang.com/2012/stories/politician-tells-north-korean-defector-he-betrayed-his-country.html


17/17

[1] Nevertheless, my post also highlights the numerous efforts from South Korea and the international

community to help North Korean refugees. Some North Korean refugees are doing well and South

Korean society and many more are determined to overcome their present challenges in order to findsuccess and happiness. Furthermore, I also covered the disillusionment that many North Korean people

feel toward their leadership, as well as their desire for change.

[2] This raises very important questions about how South Korea and other countries who accept NorthKorean refugees should deal with the North Korean refugees who may have committed crimes in the

North. For example, should the young North Korean soldier who killed two fellow soldiers before

defecting to the South be charged with a crime or in any way disciplined? Do the countries that grant

asylum to North Korean refugees have a duty to screen for fleeing North Korean criminals? If so, how

should these issues be addressed?

[3] Some, if not all of the translated user comments provided by the koreaBANG articles could have

potentially been posted by North Korean agents or other subversive pro-North elements, but based on

my conversations with North Korean refugees and South Korean citizens, some are likely genuine.

Moreover, if North Korean agents are making disparaging comments about North Korean refugees on

popular South Korean websites and blogs, this only reinforces the notion that the North intends to

divide the South Korean citizenry on the North Korean refugee issue.

North Korea’s Double Defectors

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