SEOUL, Southern Korea (AP) — On their 2nd date this past year, experiencing just a little drunk at a seaside restaurant, Kim Seo-yun allow slip the truth to her South Korean love interest: She had fled North Korea about ten years ago, something which sometimes made her feel ashamed in a nation where North Korean defectors can face discrimination.
Her friend, Lee Jeong-sup, jokingly asked then told her there was nothing wrong with coming from North Korea if she was a spy but.
Lee proposed in March plus in June they got married at a Seoul hotel. Kim’s family members, nevertheless in North Korea, demonstrably couldn’t go to.
“In South Korea, my hubby is my every thing. We have nobody else right right here. I was told by him he would have fun with the part of not merely my hubby but in addition my moms and dads,” Kim, 33, stated. “i’m a lot more stable now.”
It’s a scenario that is increasingly common.
A lot more than 70percent regarding the 33,000 North Koreans who’ve fled to Southern Korea are females, an expression to some extent of North Korea’s propensity to more closely monitor males.
A 2019 government-funded survey of 3,000 North Koreans living in the South suggested that 43% of married women were living with South Korean husbands, up from 19% in 2011 while there are no official numbers on how many North Korean defectors have married South Korean men.
Arriving from a nominally socialist, exceedingly repressive culture, these ladies frequently battle to adapt to fast-paced, capitalistic everyday lives in Southern Korea. In addition they face extensive discrimination, loneliness and bias.
Some stated they looked to marry South Korean men since they thought they might assist them to navigate their often bewildering brand new everyday lives. Continue reading →