The man aged in his 30s who had defected more than a decade ago told police that he was trying to return to North Korea after struggling to settle in the South, a report said

A North Korean defector living in South Korea was detained on Tuesday after ramming a stolen bus into a barricade on a bridge near the heavily militarized border, in an apparent attempt to get back to the North, Yonhap news agency reported.

The incident took place at around 1:30 a.m. (16:30 GMT on Monday) at the Tongil Bridge in Paju, northwest of the capital Seoul, after the man ignored warnings from soldiers guarding the bridge and attempted to drive through, Yonhap said, citing city police.

Paju police referred queries on the incident to provincial police authorities. The northern Gyeonggi police agency could not be reached for comment.

The man aged in his 30s who had defected more than a decade ago told police that he was trying to return to North Korea after struggling to settle in the South, the report said.

  • WoahWoah@lemmy.worldEnglish
    221·
    6 hours ago

    What’s going on in South Korea where someone in their 30s tried to get back to literally North Korea rather than stay? I know KPop is annoying, but cmon.

    • catloaf@lemm.eeEnglish
      81·
      4 hours ago

      In South Korea? Nothing. But when you’ve been effectively institutionalized your entire life, adapting to a significantly freer society can be difficult or impossible.

        • Jiggle_Physics@lemmy.worldEnglish
          3·
          1 hour ago

          This is a well known issue with refugees of hyper-authoritarian places. NK refugees discuss this a lot. Like the other person said, this is a well known phenomenon with freed prisoners, too. Basically you spent so much time conforming to a very, very, specific way of living, that you are stuck in that mind frame. Without a lot of therapy you are likely to be unable to adjust. Just like people who have been in abusive households their whole lives, yet return to them, because they can’t function, when they are in a freer circumstance.

          This well understood issue.

        • catloaf@lemm.eeEnglish
          121·
          4 hours ago

          Basically, yeah. Like I said, integration into society is difficult if you’ve been institutionalized. Going from a highly controlled and regimented life to one where you have to do everything yourself is difficult. I’m not surprised that some people reject it. We see the same thing when people get out of long prison terms.

    • SoJB@lemmy.mlEnglish
      24·
      2 hours ago

      South Korea famously treats defectors like shit when they are just working class people that want a better life instead of parroting ridiculous US State Dept propaganda.

      • WoahWoah@lemmy.worldEnglish
        5·
        1 hour ago

        "Once defectors make it to South Korea, often after a perilous journey across multiple countries, they go through interrogation by the government intelligence agency. Then they are sent to the main Hanawon complex in Anseong, 40 miles southeast of Seoul, to prepare for their new lives in the South.

        The facility offers medical and psychiatric care. It teaches defectors about South Korean society and gender equality, and provides occupational training and counseling for skills including cooking, baking, nail art, skin care, clothes-making and mending, and long-term caregiving.

        After completing the three-month program, defectors receive subsidies and housing benefits, as well as continued support from local centers to help them assimilate during their early years living in South Korea."

        Doesn’t sound like they treat them like shit. Sounds like they actually have a very efficient and well-funded system to welcome and integrate defectors.

        Are you yourself working for North Korea or something? “OMG yeah North Korea so great, they treat you like shit in South Korea, definitely don’t go there, the music is also bad.”