4.5 Discussion
4.5.1 Should I stay or should I go?
For those in the upper echelons of the core class, there is rarely an economic need to de- fect as the regime provides them with material comfort and other incentives to maintain the status quo. “Some people don’t have to escape because their economic situation is fine.
Their family background is high so they don’t have to escape,” explains Jun Ho. Seung Ho says, “these people are the rich and powerful in North Korea,” adding that executives and high-ranking officials in North Korea already enjoy a stable life. Similarly, Tae Young answers that “some people have a goodsongbun and are able to live comfortably in North Korea... for them, there is no reason to escape,” emphasizing they are able to “live, earn money, and have enough food.” Eun Mi concurs, elaborating that those in the core class
“are guaranteed to live a safe life in North Korea. People in that class would stay and live there. They wouldn’t risk choosing to live a different life.” Even though they may subjected to the same restrictions with regards to freedom of speech, political thought, or consump- tion, those from families with a demonstrated generational loyalty to the Kim regime - the highest of the highestsongbunclass - for the most part have little or no material incentive to seek life elsewhere as the regime continues to coopt their loyalty through preferential treatment. In the words of Yoon Gi, “If your life is good, if yoursongbun is good, you are less likely to leave North Korea.”
For those outside of North Korea’s core class who may consider defecting but choose to stay, money plays a role as well. While having a relative abroad or being related to someone who has defected can leave a black mark on one’ssongbunstatus, there are material benefits as these relatives are able to smuggle clothes, food, money, and other comfort items to their families in North Korea via brokers and other intermediaries. As mentioned above, fami- lies of defectors, though ranking low on thesongbun totem pole, were amongst the more financially stable households in their neighborhoods thanks to remittances sent from their defecting relatives. Tae Young says these people, though socioeconomically disadvantaged, are able to better survive due to these remittances.
Seung Ho juxtaposes the differences in costs of living between North and South Korea to emphasize this point:
Everything is cheap in North Korea. When you send $1,000 from South Korea, your family can live for 3 months in North Korea with that kind of money.
Prices are cheap so with around $1,000 sustaining your life for 3 months is possible. So some families in North Korea, even though they are asked to come to South Korea, they refuse and just ask their family members [in South Korea]
to send them money.
Seung Ho estimates that more than half of the 35,000+ North Korean defectors currently living in South Korea send money to their relatives still living in North Korea every year.
By doing so, they neutralize poverty as a motivating factor to flee. In fact, financial stability acts as such an anchoring force for North Koreans that Mi Young says “If I can get money in North Korea when I work, I don’t know if I escape to South Korea or not. I’m not sure”
(sic). She also regularly sends money to her family in North Korea to support them.
The notion that stable economic livelihoods motivate people to stay is further supported by responses some gave involving a hypothetically affluent North Korea. For instance, Moon Ju says that “if North Korea was a prosperous country, I wonder if many North Koreans would have come to South Korea or leave to other countries.” In her mind, poverty is at the forefront of reasons for flight. Similarly, Su Kyoung states “if North Korea’s econ- omy operates similarly to China, and becomes a country where its citizens are able to do whatever they want, I don’t see a reason why people would leave.” Those interviewed are well aware of the political limitations in China relative to democratic nations, yet some feel as though far fewer people would flee if there were greater economic opportunities for the masses.
When asked what would motivate more people to flee, the major theme that emerged was information about the outside world. Many of those interviewed believe that exposure to the relative wealth and prosperity countries like South Korea, China, and the United States enjoy would prompt more to flee. Foreign media is tightly controlled in North Korea.
“No one knows about how about how people in other countries live or about life in South Korea because North Korea blocks the inflow of any outside information,” says Seung Ho, who fled after listening to foreign radio broadcasts for several years and learning about
the major differences in people’s economic lives under capitalism and democracy. “North Koreans are only allowed to watch North Korean TV and listen to North Korean radio. The internet is not even available in North Korea,” he adds, explaining that North Koreans are vastly unaware of how life is like in advanced and developed countries such as South Korea or the United States.
Many others echo the sentiment that information about the outside world would en- courage many to try to defect. Yong Jin, for example, says “people don’t escape because they aren’t exposed to the Western world.” Both Min Jeong and Kyoung Hee agree that exposure to foreign films and South Korean dramas would motivate people to flee not only because such multimedia reveal the degree of freedom with respect to fashion and dating unavailable in North Korea, but also because North Korean people who consume such me- dia can see for themselves the start contrast in development between North Korea and the rest of the world. Kyoung Hee is convinced even political elites would defect if they had access to foreign books.