An unusual visit to the fortified center in South Korea where defectors from the North are being prepared for their new life

About a two-hour drive from the South Korean capital of Seoul, in a rural setting of wooded hills and paddy fields, stands a complex of buildings that seem out of place.

These multi-storey buildings rise above vast fields and are surrounded by a high fence and a guarded gate.

The complex is secluded, secure and gated.

It is part center of training, part medical facility, part re-education center.

This is where North Korean defectors are sent for three months when they arrive in South Korea.

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The name is Hanawon, or to give it its full title, Settlement Support Center for North Korean Refugees.

The number of North Koreans making the difficult and dangerous journey to South Korea risking death if caughtto escape poverty and repression has decreased significantly in recent years.

About a decade ago, nearly 3,000 came each year.

That number dropped to about 1,000 and then to about 1,000 in subsequent years fewer than 100 during the pandemic, when North Korea sealed its borders.

Despite this, South Korea has reaffirmed its commitment not only to keep Hanawon open but also to expand its facilities.

The Seoul government believes that as Covid controls are eased in North Korea, more people will flee.

When that happens, Hanawon will fill up again.

welcome newcomers

Unification Minister Kwon Young-se said South Korea should prepare to welcome these new arrivals.

“Need do not consider dropouts as foreigners, but as neighbors whose birthplace is in the north“, said.

With its well-tended hedges, flowers and trees, Hanawon looked welcoming in the summer sun on Monday, when the South Korean government allowed several journalists to visit the facility.

They showed us a training center, where there were defectors from North Korea can choose from 22 courses, in topics such as hairdressing and beauty, confectionery or clothing.

One of the rooms looks like a beauty salon, where dropouts learn the delicate manicure art.

They use mannequin hands to practice painting, polishing and filing.

a delicious smell of baking fills the air of the cooking class next door.

Other courses are designed to help North Koreans adjust to life in a country that is decades ahead of where they come from in terms of technology.

Psychological problems

Another classroom for classes is configured as one store that sells high-tech gadgets.

Tablets, smartphones and computers can be viewed.

While the floor looks like another building a modern hospital.

There is a small lounge, consultation rooms and doctors walking around in white doctor’s coats.

Not only the physical needs of North Koreans are taken care of; many come with serious psychological problems that need urgent attention.

Jeon Jin-yong is a psychiatrist who worked in Hanawon.

You heard terrible trauma stories of the North Koreans who passed through the facility.

They said they were dealing with him stress of escape and constant fear to be caught and sent back before they reach South Korea.

Many struggle to overcome guilt about leaving family behind in North Korea they may never see again.

Hide that they come from the north

Some face prejudice in South Korea and choose to hide that they are from the North.

“One of my patients was having lunch in a restaurant when there was news about it on television the launch of a missile by North KoreaJon said.

“He was very uncomfortable, so he quickly finished his meal and left the restaurant. He cared what would people think if he knew he was from the north.”

In an interview with reporters, three female defectors currently in Hanawon gave a glimpse of the difficulties they are trying to overcome.

They had afraid to reveal their names and so we told their stories as women A, B, and C. One of them spoke from behind a screen.

The three had then arrived in South Korea first escape to China, where their lives were better than in North Korea, but they still suffered fear and danger.

Woman B said she couldn’t get a Chinese ID card, what did that mean I couldn’t go to a hospitalbuy a bank card or even travel by train.

hope and fear

Woman C said she was paid half the salary of a Chinese worker because he was in no position to ask for more.

They also described a tightening of the network of Chinese surveillance that had forced them to take refuge in South Korea.

“When I first decided to defect, I was not afraid of anything I was all alonesaid woman A.

“But then I had a son in China and realized he had no legal status.”

The three women told about their hope and fear for the future.

One of them even said she was worried about how to pay taxes.

Someone who knows what they are going through Kim Sung-hui, who graduated from Hanawon a little over a decade ago and now runs his own business making a rice wine that is popular in North Korea.

Sung-hui was told in her hometown that the South Koreans would only receive her at first they would torture and kill her.

“It wasn’t until I graduated from Hanawon that I finally realized I was safe,” he said.

He added that the real education for those in Hanawon is beginning after leaving the premises.

“The first night abroad is an unforgettable experience for all defectors. I was so relieved to finally be in South Korea. I hugged my daughter and started to cry, Not because I was sad or lonely, but because we survived.“, said.

In those first weeks abroad, Sung-hui recalls the kindness of the South Korean volunteers that helped her adjust.

They were there to welcome her to her new home, show her around the local shops and even pay for her first taxi ride.

He is still in contact with some of them.

Those still in Hanawon hope something similar will happen to them.