記者來鴻：想回家的脫北者

choi

露西•威廉姆森, 記者來鴻：想回家的脫北者. BBC Chinese, Mar 12, 2014
www.bbc.co.uk/zhongwen/trad/fooc ... _want_to_home.shtml

, which is translated from

Lucy Williamson, The North Korean Defectors Who Want to Return Home. BBC, Mar 5, 2014.
www.bbc.com/news/world-26340583

Quote:

"It is illegal for South Korean citizens, including defectors, to have any direct contact with the North - no phone calls, no emails, no letters.

"South Korean government figures state that 13 defectors have returned to the North since they started arriving in the South 20 years ago, but activists say many more have re-defected unofficially.

"Finding a place in South Korean society is not easy for defectors. Unemployment among them is more than three times the national average. Some surveys suggest more than half experience depression, and that 25-30% of young defectors have considered leaving South Korea because they feel they don't fit in.

"But, for every defector returning home, many thousands more [defectors] have no intention of ever going back, saying they suffered harsh punishment and repression in their homeland.

"Both governments talk about the need for reunification, but the lesson provided by South Korea's defectors is stark - if integrating 20,000 North Koreans is so difficult, what will happen when it's time to absorb 20 million of them?