The Last Resort
Seongyool Myung
There are a lot of North Korean defectors in
However, since he got out of there when he was very young, he barely had any memory from
This is why now I am going to talk about another refugee that my first North Korean friend knows. His surname is Tae. This one did not want his complete name to be revealed, so I will use only his last name from now on.
To interview Tae, I went my friend's house in Bucheon, a city near
Tae escaped from
"What I ate there, actually, was not food. Domestic animals should eat them, not humans." He said recalling the old time.
The interviewee was in the music band in middle school for three years, until right before he escaped from there. He played the trumpet but he said it was not fun at all.
"I had to practice every day until midnight, and I could not take rests when I wanted to. When my instrument was broken I had to fix it all by myself. When my band had performances, we needed to go there on foot. We had to walk more than 25 kilometers, carrying the instrument."
But the hardship was not the only reason for the escape. Tae's father was suffering from cancer; so as his last resort, he decided to sneak out in order to get help from his mother(she had already escaped) relatives who were living in
In April 1998, at one o'clock in the morning, Tae was lying down beside Tuman river, dodging from the eyes of the guard posts. When it was time, he crawled into the water.
"That was the first time I actually thought that I could die. April in
After crossing the river, Tae walked twelve kilometers to meet his grandfather. His grandfather helped him go to his relatives, but his father died before taking a proper treatment. Saying this, he was with no words for a few minutes.
Tae suddenly continued to talk. "I had to work from the age of 16. For the first two years I was a construction worker. Then I worked in a shoes factory, and later on, textile factory."
He also needed to learn Chinese to survive in the country. "Once a rumor that someone is from
To get to the final destination, he had to go out of
"People called it "
Tae was staying in a South Korean's church and finally got a ticket for going to
1.I like this type of interviewee because it is hard to listen to their stories in person, not from media. Also, the ending emphasizing the refugee’s reason he wanted to escape from NK, not just his life nowadays is really good.
ReplyDelete2.There was no part to understand.
3.I think the reason why the refugee decided to escape from NK is the most important part and it makes his story more moving.
Thesis statement: Tae’s father was suffering from cancer; so as his last resort, he decided to sneak out in order to get help from his mother relatives who were living in China.
4.What I ate there, actually, was not food. Domestic animals should eat them, not humans.” He said recalling the old time. It makes readers recognize how it is desperate and miserable to live in NK. I think if writer adds more aspects like this, it would be better.
5.It seems that the number of direct quotation is right, but there is few indirect quotations relatively like beginning with he answered that~.
6.I think this essay is really good. The writer’s interviewee answered with calm atmosphere, so it made readers feel how his past was hard. Also, because how he went to South Korea was described as time went by, it was easy to follow and understand. However, if there is climax that gives this refugee’s journey a tension, it will be more interesting.
by Jieun Lee
The Last Resort
ReplyDeleteSeongyool Myung
There are a lot of North Korean defectors in South Korea. The media, especially newspapers talk about the interviews with the defectors. A year ago, I made a friend from North Korea. He is my age, who escaped from there when he was seven with his mother. This brought about my curiosity toward stories of the most dangerous enemy for my nation in this world.
However, since he got out of there when he was very young, he barely had any memory in North Korea. So I asked him if I could talk to his mother. His mother, who suffered a lot under such a tyranny regime, nevertheless, did not want to bring back her horrible old memories.
This is why now I am going to talk about another defector that my first North Korean friend knows. His surname is Tae. He did not want his complete name to be revealed, so I will use only his last name from now on.
To have an interview with Tae, I went my friend's house in Bucheon, a city near Seoul. My friend's mother - although she did not let me have an interview with her - showed me, my friend and Tae a warm hospitality and served us very delicious dinner. After the meal, I had to talk to the interviewee in my friend's room with the door closed so she would not hear what we were going to talk about.
Tae escaped from North Korea when he was fourteen. He said he always starved because he had to eat grass roots, pine tree barks, sugar canes, and raw corns.
"What I ate there, actually, was not food. Domestic animals should eat them, not humans." He said recalling the old time.
The interviewee was in the music band in middle school for three years until he escaped from there. He played the trumpet but he said it was not fun at all.
"I had to practice every day until midnight, and I could not take a rest when I wanted to. When my instrument was broken I had to fix it all by myself. When my band had performances, we needed to go there on foot. We had to walk more than 25 kilometers carrying the instrument."
ReplyDeleteBut the hardship was not the only reason for his escape. Tae's father was suffering from cancer; so as his last resort, he decided to sneak out in order to get help from his mother (she had already escaped and lived in China) relatives who were living in China. He also said he wanted to achieve freedom.
In April 1998, at one o'clock in the morning, Tae was lying down beside Tuman river, cloaking himself from the eyes of the guard posts. When it was time, he crawled into the water.
"That was the first time I actually thought that I could die. April in North Korea is the time when the winter ice starts to melt down. Hardly was I able to breathe. But then I thought this was the last and only chance." He said it with a bitter smile.
After crossing the river, Tae walked twelve kilometers to meet his grandfather. His grandfather helped him meet his relatives, but his father had already died before taking a proper treatment. Saying this, he was with no words for a few minutes.
Tae suddenly continued to talk. "I had to work from the age of 16 in China. For the first two years I was a construction worker. Then I worked in a shoes factory, and later on, textile factory."
He also needed to learn Chinese to survive in the country. "Once a rumor that someone is from North Korea goes around the air, everybody gets arrested. So to survive, I put all my efforts to learn Chinese in the Northeast region, and moved to Southern cities where there are few North Koreans. When people asked me about my accent, I just told that I was Joseonjok(Koreans in China) and they did not doubt anymore."
To get to the final destination, South Korea, he had to go out of China. He took a small fisher boat to sneak into Vietnam. But since Vietnam is also a communist country, he needed to go to another country. He swam across a river where there are crocodiles to go to Cambodia.
"People called it "Crocodile River". A lot of people were killed and eaten by the crocodiles. I was a lucky one." He laughed with a proud smile.
Tae went to a South Korean's church and stayed there until he finally got a ticket for going to Republic of Korea. It has been six years since that time. Now he is working in a trade company. He said he wishes his father were alive and live together. Indeed. His last resort did not save his father. However, after all the adversities, he finally became his own savior.
Seongyool Myung Second Draft