Why so many women defectors?
The market for women may help explain why such a high proportion of defectors are female. “Women can sell themselves easily,” says Kim Tae-woo, president of the Korean Institute for National Unification. They sense they can hide within a forced marriage or brothel, he says, though they may not have quite imagined what they were getting into when they crossed into China.
“Men are more conspicuous, more active,” says Mr. Kim, as they move from job to job, earning very little for often onerous labor.
Kim Eun-sun offers a more elaborate explanation for the predominance of women among North Korean defectors.
“Males do not do well under starvation,” she believes, reflecting on the death of her father before she, her sister and mother fled for the first time. “Men pass away more easily.”
Then too, Kim adds, “A lot of men are serving in the North Korean military and maybe worry more about betraying the regime and changing their ideology.”
In the end, the lure of relative freedom trumps the knowledge of the ordeal women are up against if caught.
Once back in North Korea, they face beatings and humiliation at the hands of prison guards even if they’re not charged with crimes such as selling stolen goods or spying, both capital offenses.
“Typically, 60 women are held in one room,” she says. “When you first are there, you are stripped naked. They search every part of your body to look for money. If you want to go to the bathroom, you have to ask permission. You feel like the North Korean regime has stripped you of humanity.”
She predicts the numbers escaping are sure to increase. So far more than 23,000 North Koreans – some 80 percent of them women – have made it to South Korea, usually via Mongolia or Southeast Asia via Thailand or Vietnam. “The North Korean economy is not getting better,” she says. “Many more will escape.”