Korean-Japanese Returnees Were Treated Worse Than They Could Ever Have Imagined Ethnic Koreans who lived in Japan were encouraged to return to what they believed was “the workers’ Paradiseâ€? in the 1950s and 1960s. When their ships entered North Korea, the returnees were directed to a JXHVW KRXVH where the authorities decided where each family would reside. Here the new arrivals were often met by family members and friends who had arrived before. To their surprise and apprehension, many of those who had arrived earlier explained that they had made a terrible mistake. They pitied the new arrivals for choosing to return, and cautioned them how to handle their QHZ GLIĂ€FXOW OLYHV LQ 1RUWK .RUHD 7KH\ ZHUH advised to use bribes when necessary, especially WR WKH RIĂ€FLDOV LQ FKDUJH RI OLYLQJ DUUDQJHPHQWV 8 They were also advised that they would have no future if they ended up in areas where they would be assigned to mines and farms. Life in Pyongyang was said to be better than in other FLWLHV EXW ZKHQ WKH UHWXUQHHV VSHFLĂ€FDOO\ UHTXHVWHG 3\RQJ\DQJ WKH DXWKRULWLHV VDLG “under President Kim Il-sung’s leadership, everywhere in the nation is equal.â€? They knew they had no choice but to accept their assignment to any location. Only a few returnees were selected to live in Pyongyang city.9 The majority of the returnees ZHUH VHQW WR GLVWDQW PLQHV Ă€HOGV PRXQWDLQV DQG IDUPV 10 Those who were in senior positions in the &KRQJU\RQ or who had highly DGYDQFHG VNLOOV ZHUH WUHDWHG ZLWK FHUWDLQ FRQVLGHUDWLRQ WKH UHVW RI WKH UHFHQW arrivals, however, were asked to submit resumes, none of which were taken very seriously by the authorities.11 For example, Chung Ki-hae tells how his family was assigned to live in Chongju (or Jongju), a county, an area with a population of 100,000, about 20,000 of whom lived in Chongju City. Residents in the area were thin and wore shabby clothes, much worse than what Chung and his family saw people wearing when they traveled through Pyongyang, Chongjin, and Hamhung by train. He noted that about 70 percent of the population were farmers and the rest were laborers. The
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The account of Chung Ki-hae is taken from the author’s translations of Chung Ki-hae, .LNRNXVHQ (Bungei Shunjyu, 1995). 9 One famous one was the grandfather of Kang Chol-hwan whose entire family ended up prison camps. Kang’s account is published in the book that was made famous when President George W. Bush read it and invited Kang to the White House on June 13, 2005. Kang Chol Hwan and Pierre Rigoulot, 7KH $TXDULXPV RI 3\RQJ\DQJ (Basic Books, New York, 2001). 10 Chung Ki-hae, .LNRNXVHQ (Bungei Shunjyu, 1995), 67. 11 Ibid. 8
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