Sunshine Policy-averse NK defectors favor Park

Park Geun-hye, left, presidential candidate for the ruling Saenuri Party, talks with the late North Korea leader Kim Jong-il during a meeting in Pyongyang, in 2002. / Korea Times file

North Korean defectors are probably the most determined group of voters for the upcoming presidential election next month.

Not because they like pledges proposed by their favorite candidate, but because they are so sure of what they don’t want — a comeback of the Sunshine Policy.

Nearly 21,000 defectors have the right to vote, and some have openly shown their support for Park Geun-hye from the conservative Saenuri Party, even though she hasn’t yet disclosed detailed policies on North Korea.

Last Thursday, a defector professional boxer Choi Hyun-mi declared her endorsement for Park. One day earlier, a group of 200 defector artists, musicians and dancers visited the Saenuri Party’s headquarters in Seoul voicing their support for her. Likewise, earlier this month, people who lead North Korean defector-related organizations formed a support group for her.

With the presidential election 23 days away, The Korea Times asked seven defectors who they will vote for and what issues matter to them.

All but one answered they’d vote for Park Geun-hye without hesitation. Five interviewees are first-time voters in the presidential election. Of the seven, only one was female in her 40s, and two, each 24 and 31, were university students while the rest were men in their 40s or 50s. The respondents refused to disclose their full names for the article.

The defectors showed vehement opposition to the Sunshine Policy, an engagement policy spearheaded by the two late former liberal presidents, Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun.

For the defectors, the policy was an utter failure having only served as a cash and food giveaway for the Kim Jong-il regime, and didn’t help inter-Korean relations.

Kwon, 52, said the world missed an important chance to see the regime collapse on itself.

“In the 1990s, due to a shortage of food, the regime completely lost the control of its people. The food rationing system broke down entirely,” he said. “But, the reckless aid without any strings attached by the South helped the regime survive and even strengthen itself to oppress the people again.” Kwon came to the South five years ago.

The Sunshine Policy was an icon of the two liberal administrations between 1988 and 2008. It was based on the conviction that warmth would make the North Korean regime shift its hostile attitude toward South Korea and open up.

A countless number of trucks loaded with food and medicine crossed the inter-Korean border. An economic zone was established in Gaeseong in the North where small and medium South Korean companies started manufacturing facilities using local labors.

Both Kim and Roh met Kim Jong-il during their presidency — in 2000 and 2008, respectively — and Kim Dae-jung received the Nobel Peace Prize for it.

“But, the sun will only work with those who welcome it, and who are willing to take off their jacket,” Seo, 43, said critically. And the policy only made the regime “a spoiled gangster” constantly demanding something by threatening the South. Defectors said a priority should be the national security of South Korea, adding Park was the person to keep the country safe.

“I believe she’ll be the best candidate among the three to insure national security (against possible attacks from North Korea),” said Cho, 54, who arrived in the South five years ago. By that he meant she will maintain a policy toward North Korea based on core principles. “Giving food aid isn’t bad as long as the South can monitor the distribution, for example.”

Some defectors showed their disappointment with the current administration.

Lee, 24, a university student studying Chinese, said President Lee Myung-bak should have responded more strongly to the North’s attacks on Yeonpyeong Island and the sinking of the warship Cheonan in 2010. “As a leader who is working to keep the country and people safe, he could have dealt with a firm attitude, even waging counter-attacks.”

A torpedo attack on the Cheonan in March 2010 killed 46 young sailors, and the shelling of Yeonpyeong Island in November the same year killed four South Koreans. The Lee administration has been demanding an official apology, which the North keeps ignoring.

Moon Jae-in, the standard bearer of the Democratic United Party, will likely use the Sunshine Policy as a role model. Moon, who was the chief aide to former President Roh, has the clearest idea of what he wants to do, unlike the conservative Park. He said he’d begin with economic integration with North Korea, first creating an inter-Korean economic committee. He has also pledged to meet Kim Jong-un, the regime’s leader, to enlarge the Gaeseong economic zone, to create a few other zones to boost different joint projects, to open a direct route to Mt. Baekdu, and to open inter-Korean railways.

Park’s policy toward North Korea is summarized as “trustpolitik” and establishing “mutually binding expectations,” indicating a departure from the current administration’s hard-line policy.

In an article in Foreign Affairs magazine last year, she wrote, “If North Korea launches another military strike against Seoul, Seoul must respond immediately to ensure that Pyongyang understands the costs of provocation.

“Conversely, if North Korea takes steps toward genuine reconciliation, such as reaffirming its commitment to existing agreements, then the South should match its efforts.”

Among defectors, Park isn’t a total stranger.

“I saw her on TV when she was visiting Pyongyang,” Chun said. Park met Kim Jong-il, and her visit was widely reported on the state owned TV and the newspaper. Park visited Pyongyang in 2000. He said what he had seen on TV changed his point of view toward Park.

“Park Chung-hee is described as an enemy inside North Korea and that’s how I had perceived him. After watching his daughter being received so warmly by the leader Kim Jong-il, I couldn’t help but change my opinion of her. Her public image in North Korea transformed.” Other defectors also said they had known who she was while in North Korea.

Ji, 31, a college student studying law, said the government hasn’t been serious enough about investing in North Korean defectors, and that’s what the next president to do.

“Although newcomers don’t know very much, they have a potential to play a bridging role when unification happens, and the government should think hard about it.”

When defectors arrive, they are sent to Hanawon, a resettlement center run by the government, where they spend six months, getting adjustment training to the new environment. Graduating from it, they are offered a place to live and put on a six-month long allowance, whose amount varies from person to person.

When the allowance stops, they’re thrown into a job market which they find highly competitive. Many fail, finding themselves back at home, falling into depression, trying to kill themselves, or sometimes returning to North Korea.

Kim, 44, who arrived in the South less than one year ago, said the defector couple who had returned back to North Korea is an example of how defectors struggle to adjust.

“Not everything they had to say was correct, but they had some good points.”

During the press conference in North Korea, Kim Kwang-hyok and his wife Ko Jong-nam said they had been compelled to return to North Korea after living in the South Korea for three years. According to reports, the man was receiving treatment for tuberculosis and the woman had just received a nursing license.

Seo said the defector community wants to feel that they’re welcomed and being taken care of.

For that, Kim, a female, thinks there’s no better candidate than Park.

“Women are more tender, detail-oriented and meticulous. I think she’ll be a good president paying more attention to how defectors feel while going through a lot in a new country.” <The Korea Times/Kim Se-jeong>