Korean Job Discussion Forums

Charon · Joined: 14 Dec 2010

Anyone here ever met any?

According to this recent article from yahoo, there are over 20,000 of them now on the Peninsula.

Number of NKorean defectors to SKorea tops 20,000

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101115/ap_on_re_as/as_koreas_defectors

bluelake · Joined: 01 Dec 2005

At my last university, we had several NK students. Their English was poor to non-existent, so they required a lot of extra help. They were a fairly introverted group, as a whole, as they didn't want to draw attention to themselves for fear of the safety of family members still in the north.

climber159 · Joined: 02 Sep 2007

I'm in the middle of reading Nothing to Envy. It's a pretty interesting look into some everyday lives of North Koreans in North Korea (and not in Pyeongyang) who defected to the South.

http://www.amazon.com/Nothing-Envy-Ordinary-Lives-North/dp/0385523912/ref=tmm_pap_title_0

dongjak · Joined: 30 Oct 2010

Every semester I have a couple in my classes. And every semester they tell their classmates they are from Bucheon and after the first class they come and tell me that they are from North Korea and that they can't speak English.

Junior · Joined: 18 Nov 2005 Location: the eye

Wow I'd love to teach some Norks. Make an interesting change.

AmericanBornKorean · Joined: 08 Oct 2010

seoulsucker · Posted: Thu Dec 16, 2010 10:31 pm Post subject:

I've had dinner with a group of guys a few times. A friend works for a social support group to help them get set up here in Seoul. Good guys, all around and one very, very hot girl. The most interesting thing we discussed is the perception that NK folks are all brainwashed. From their accounts everyone, and I mean EVERYONE up there knows how [Mod Edit] they have it...but they know better than to discuss it with anyone outside of their family. In addition, the concept of the border opening up and being overrun with North Koreans just didn't ring true for them. They're proud of their country and heritage and would rather work to rebuild it...most of them only fled here because of life/death circumstances. As in, if they didn't leave RIGHT THEN AND THERE they would have been ghosted for some implied transgression.

jvalmer · Joined: 06 Jun 2003