The Start of a Mass Exodus?

It’s probably too early to compare this to the mass exodus that brought down East Germany in 1989, but it has to make the power structures in both Koreas pretty nervous.   Four hundred North Korean defectors are coming to Seoul from an undisclosed country in Southeast Asia.  South Korea apparently decided it was worth going to some effort to strike this deal. This is good news in itself. While I give the South Koreans credit for making the right decision–regardless of their motivation–the result here was clearly different than past cases, such as the tragic case of the hunger strike in the Chinese detention camps. 

What changed?  While we cannot be certain, the unaminous passage of the NKHRA in the House may well have put enough pressure on Seoul, Beijing, and the “third country” to get this result.  So if you were one of those who called, wrote, or linked, reach around and pat yourself on the back.  You may have helped to save 400 lives.

Meanwhile, along the Yalu, NKGulag reports that the North Koreans are doing everything they can to prevent that mass exodus. 

Previously, the border between North Korea and China consisted of a three-layered security force consisting of border frontier guards as the first layer, national security guards as the second, and the people’s security guards as the third. The first two lines of security remain the unchanged but the third has been substituted for by the Agricultural & Industrial Laborers Reserve Forces while the final guard posts are under the control of National Defense forces and are called No. 10 guard posts. However, regardless of tightened security, North Korean refugees continue to send leaflets and visual films to North Korea through China.

The additional security measures were implemented upon Kim Jong Il’s order to control this situation. According to reports, this additional line of security has made it significantly harder for North Koreans to cross the border because this new line of security, the Agricultural & Industrial Laborers Reserve forces, is made up of former civilian troops, typically from the lower ranks of society. Whereas it has always been easy to bribe docile national security guards and frontier guards positioned in the first and second layers, the third, new layer has been proven a formidable obstacle for North Koreans trying to escape their suffering bringing to light an old Korean adage, claiming that when a serf becomes a landowner, he becomes even harsher and stricter than his master.

The Agricultural & Industrial Laborers Reserve Forces enforce even stricter standards and control with an even tighter grip than formal national security guards in hopes that they might raise their status and reap benefits for their loyalty. They take advantage of this newfound authority, arresting as many refugees as they can, to seize their chances of being promoted. It now costs twice as much to cross the border as before but has not thwarted attempts as numbers trying to escape continue to increase regardless of heightened security.

Currently, due to the 10th memorial of Kim Il Sung’s death, border crossing activity has slowed but when the heavy rains stop and the river begins to cede, a resurgence of escapees is expected.