South and North Korea agreed on Tuesday to repatriate 27 out of 31 North Koreans who drifted to the South last month. The agreement ended weeks of wrangling over South Korea’s announcement of the intentions of the four North Korean nationals who expressed their wishes to stay in the South. North Korea insisted on repatriating all 31 nationals, but eventually agreed on the partial return, retreating from its earlier stance. Around 11 a.m. on February 5, South Korean military authorities spotted a five-ton North Korean fishing boat approaching the Northern Limit Line, the de facto inter-Korean sea border in the West Sea near Yeonpyeong Island. According to the government investigation, the ship with 31 North Koreans on board unintentionally drifted into the South Korean waters due to engine trouble. Four of them expressed their intention to remain in South Korea, and the government informed North Korea of its plan to return the remaining 27 North Koreans. Here is Oh Il-hwan, director of the Korea Education and Research Institute for Patriots and Veterans, to give us some information about the four defectors.

Thirty-one North Koreans drifted over the Northern Limit Line on the West Sea during the lunar New Year’s holiday period. The South Korean government concluded that it was an accidental border crossing. That is, the North Korean people on board did not really intend to defect to South Korea. Later, however, four of them—two men and two women—expressed their wishes to stay in South Korea. The four defectors include the boat’s captain identified by his surname Ok, a female statistician known as Park who used to check the office hours of employees and their monthly pay, a nurse called Lee and a jobless man, Hong.

The Unification Ministry in South Korea sent a message to North Korea’s Red Cross Society on March 3, indicating that the four North Koreans decided to remain in the South of their own free will. Therefore, South Korea could not repatriate them, and Seoul never attempted to coerce them into defection. However, North Korea demanded that all the North Koreans be returned to their homeland, refusing to accept the 27 people who were heading toward the truce village of Panmunjeom. The North insisted on a face-to-face meeting between the four would-be defectors and their family members so they could directly confirm the defectors’ decision. As the South Korean government rejected the proposal, the two sides sparred over confirming the intentions of the four defectors and the method of repatriation nearly for two weeks.

North Korea demanded that the South send back the North Korean people and the boat via the same route they crossed the border, as it was an accidental entry. But the Seoul government notified North Korea of its plan to return 27 people, excluding the remaining four, through Panmunjeom. In response, North Korea proposed a meeting between the four defectors and their family members in a neutral nation. Under even the slightest threats, defectors may feel pressured and restricted from taking any action. In light of international law and humanitarianism, the South Korean government sought to protect the human rights of the defectors. That is why the government proposed holding a meeting in a South Korean region where the defectors may feel freer to express their intentions.

Meanwhile, North Korea put psychological pressure on the four defectors who decided not to return home using their family members. On March 9, North Korea posted a video clip showing the family members of the defectors on a Wet site operated by North Korea, mainly for propaganda against the South. In the video, the family members claimed that their defection was a result of South Korean coercion, calling for an immediate return of the defectors, and shedding tears. The posting of such an emotional scene is interpreted as a North Korean move to pressure Seoul by highlighting the “forced separation” between the family members. The next day, North Korea sent a letter to South Korean Unification Minister Hyun In-taek and South Korean National Red Cross President Yu Jong-ha in the name of the family members of the 31 North Korean drifters, urging the South to send all 31 people back home. Why did North Korea demand the repatriation of all its nationals, even turning to the exploitation of their family members in an unprecedented move?

The answer is the internal situation in North Korea. Pyongyang seemed to conclude that the return of the 27 North Koreans and the defection of the other four might cause psychological unrest among ordinary citizens in the North. North Korea had already been highly wary of the possible repercussions of the so-called Jasmine revolution that started in the Arab region. If all the 31 people returned to the North, citizens would think South Korea was not good enough to attract the drifters. If the four eventually remained, however, they would imagine that South Korea was so affluent that the defectors made such a decision despite the fact that their family members are still in the North. North Korean residents would then feel even stronger yearnings for South Korea. That is why North Korea insisted on the repatriation of all 31 people. For another reason, North Korea may have intended to prod pro-North Korea activists in South Korea into instigating ideological conflict within South Korean society.

As South and North Korea remained far apart regarding the repatriation of the North Koreans, some predicted that the issue might be protracted. But the North Korean Red Cross sent a message to its South Korean counterpart on March 15, demanding that the South repatriate the 27 people first in consideration of their family members waiting for the return of their loved ones. This is an about-face from North Korea’s earlier position that it would only accept the entire group. Mr. O speculates that North Korea changed its attitude in a move to elicit dialogue from Seoul.

For North Korea, easing the economic difficulties is the pressing domestic problem. The communist nation is in the process of accelerating a third-generation power transfer, with the health conditions of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il deteriorating. To secure the legitimacy of the power transition, North Korea wants to improve its economy. Without progress in inter-Korean relations, however, the impoverished North will continue to suffer from severe economic difficulties and also find it difficult to receive aid from the international community. The U.S.-China summit last January hinted at the possibility of an improvement in U.S.-North Korea relations and better interaction between North Korea and international society based on improved inter-Korean ties. So North Korea pins its hopes on mending relations with Seoul. Against this backdrop, I imagine North Korea agreed on the repatriation of 27 of its 31 nationals.

With the agreement, the two Koreas are expected to form an atmosphere for dialogue once again. We hope the solution of the repatriation issue will help jumpstart the stalled inter-Korean relations.



[Interview] Alternative School for Elementary School Students from N. Korea The teacher is explaining something and the students are reading books aloud. They are all smiling brightly. This is “Samheung School,” an alternative school for North Korean defectors that opened on February 25 in Guro District, western Seoul. There are some alternative schools for junior high school students from North Korea, but this is the first such school dedicated to elementary school students. The name “Samheung” means flourishing in three areas. According to the school’s first principal Choe Gyeong-hee, the name contains the wish that the students will successfully cultivate three values—knowledge, virtue and physical strength.

The number of North Korean defectors who have arrived in South Korea surpassed 20-thousand, with women accounting for more than 70 percent of them. Samheung School was set up with the purpose of addressing the potential problems of educating their children. Few defector women can afford to take care of their kids because they have to work, mostly doing the so-called 3D jobs- dirty, dangerous and difficult. As a result, their children are usually left unattended in empty houses, playgrounds and PC rooms. This school is for those children. It was set up on November 15 last year, and 100 days later, on February 25, we held an opening ceremony. The school is in operation now.

The educational programs offered by this school are not recognized as part of the official elementary school curriculum. So, students attend official classes at a nearby elementary school first and then take after-school classes here. Most of the students have poor Korean language skills since they were either born in China or third world countries or lived outside Korea for a long time. Taking this into consideration, the school focuses on Korean language education. The school also offers supplementary lessons, such as English and math, for those with low academic abilities, as well as special extracurricular programs like music, art, computer and taekwondo classes for children who have never received private education before. Some students in needy circumstances live in a nearby apartment with their teachers. The students pay 100-thousand won or 85 US dollars a month for boarding expenses, which include tuition fees and meals. The school is operated solely by donations, and all four teachers working at the school, including the principal, are North Korean defectors.

Four teachers and two employees are working at this school, with home room teachers in charge of each class. Currently, there are 29 students. For now, we can’t afford to receive students due to insufficient boarding facilities. As soon as this problem is resolved, we’ll admit more students. The maximum number that can be admitted to the school is between 60 and 80. The teachers came from North Korea. Teaching skills are important, of course, but it’s more important for the teachers to show interest and affection for North Korean children and better understand them. The teachers have more than ten years of teaching experience in North Korea. We’re considering accepting South Korean teachers, too.

While mingling with friends and teachers, who are just like their own family members, the North Korean students help and encourage each other here in South Korea, which they still find rather unfamiliar. The parents of the students are also very pleased with the school, since their kids grew more cheerful and healthier. Word of mouth spread quickly about this school, and the school receives lots of inquiries from multicultural or low-income families these days. Principal Chae stresses that educating the second generation of North Korean defectors is a shortcut to preparing for the future reunification of Korea.

I believe the North Korean kids should be nurtured as valuable assets of South Korea so they will work for this country as responsible members of society. In this sense, the South Korean public should show more interest in North Korean children and help them establish their identity as South Korean citizens. When the two Koreas engage in exchanges, these children can contribute to spreading dreams, freedom and love to North Korea.

We hope the school will serve as a steppingstone for North Korean children to resettle in South Korea and many more such schools will be set up across the nation.