It makes you wonder how bad things in North Korea may be getting when even workers specially selected to work at the Kaesong Industrial Complex decides to defect:
A North Korean defector who escaped from an inter-Korean industrial complex in the border city of Kaesong where she was employed remains in a third country, a South Korean activist here said Wednesday.
The 27-year-old woman, whose identity was withheld for her safety, fled Kaesong in late September and has since asked for help to travel to South Korea, according to Kim Yong-hwa, who leads a Seoul-based civic group advocating for the human rights of North Korean defectors.
The Unification Ministry and officials from South Korean firms operating in Kaesong said they had not heard about the defection and that there was no sign of abnormality at the complex around that time.
If confirmed, it would be the first known defection from the industrial complex, where about 36,000 North Koreans are employed by dozens of South Korean factories operating under the tight control of authorities from Pyongyang. [Yonhap]
7:18 am on December 15th, 2008 1
What is so significant about the fact she worked at the Kaesong Industrial Complex? Obviously, she escaped across the Yalu River – just like 99% of the other defectors – and she’s basically just another poor soul looking to get out of North Korea and find a better life.
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7:22 am on December 15th, 2008 2
[...] Ht: GI Korea [...]
5:05 pm on December 15th, 2008 3
Since Gaesong workers come into daily contact with South Koreans, they probably undergo rigorous ideological screening. Either this woman’s eyes were opened after she got to Gaesong or she was able to fool security. Moreover while most of the workers’ wages go into state coffers, they are probably better fed and cared for than ordinary North Koreans since they are representing North Korea to the South.
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7:47 pm on December 15th, 2008 4
Good for her. I hope she finds happiness in her new life. Hope she finds a good man who can provide well for her and hopefully she will never have to look back. She is a couragious woman. I wish her all the best.
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12:25 am on December 16th, 2008 5
Her strength to endure the path of escape(left alot behind) may have been one arduous trek.
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