North Korea has shocked its southern neighbor with the publication of a video interview this week of a defector believed to be living in South Korea and famous for appearing on reality television programs.
Her sudden disappearance and resurfacing in state propaganda have South Korean officials suspecting Pyongyang abducted Lim Ji-hyun.
Lim, who uses the name Jeon Hye-sung in the video, had appeared on a dating series titled South Korean Men and North Korean Women, in which the titular individuals are paired romantically. She had also appeared on a number of other reality television programs and had become relatively well known in her adopted country.
In the video released on Sunday by the North Korean propaganda YouTube channel Uriminzokkiri, a woman believed to be Lim encourages other defectors to return to North Korea and discourages anyone from leaving the country. “I thought I could eat well and make a lot of money in South Korea, but every day was like hell there,” she claimed. “In a society where money determines everything, there was only physical, psychological pain for a woman like me who betrayed her fatherland and ran away.”
The video also shows Lim in happier days on South Korean television, but has edited the images to appear in a dark sepia tone, suggesting a sinister nature to them.
South Korea’s JoongAng Daily, which broke the news, adds a translation that Lim remarked that she had been forced to say everything she said on South Korean television, including harrowing descriptions of life in North Korea. “I imagined myself eating properly and making a fortune once I arrive in South Korea but after going around to different places, including pubs, I realized life was just physically and emotionally taxing,” she reportedly said. “I had no other choice but to say whatever they wrote on the script and one time I was told, ‘You think it’s easy to earn 400,000 won ($354)?’”
Lim claims in the video that she voluntarily left South Korea and now lives with her parents. Visibly sweating and sporting a shorter, North Korean-style haircut, Lim appears to be under duress.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oexVR8M3ME8
The Korean newswire service Yonhap reports that South Korean police are investigating Lim’s entry into North Korea. “The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said they are trying to find out how the woman, alias Lim Ji-hyun in the South, went back to the North and whether it was a voluntary re-entry or an abduction,” the report notes. JoongAng adds that a South Korean official told them that “many North Korean defectors travel back to China in order to smuggle family members out of the North, but end up getting caught themselves,” and that there is a probability that Lim did not return to North Korea permanently on purpose.
Among the keys to figuring out whether Lim voluntarily returned to North Korea are her phone records, any charges to her bank account, and any unusual activity witnessed by those around her. The Korea Herald cites multiple friends who say they believe Lim was abducted because none of her behavior suggested she was planning to move away. She did not close any bank accounts, break her apartment lease, or take anything out of her apartment with her. She did not tell anyone she was leaving or say goodbye, and a South Korean agency tasked with helping defectors adjust to South Korea stated she had never appeared to be in significant stress or require special attention.
Citing an Associated Press report, NBC News adds another potential wrinkle to the story: Lim may not have been abducted in South Korea—or in North Korea trying to save her family—but in China, where her husband resides. It is unclear whether her husband is Chinese or Korean, or how the fact that she is reported to have a husband affected her participation on dating TV shows.
North Korea has a long history of abducting people from neighboring South Korea and China. The Japanese government announced last year that an investigation into North Korean abductions found that Pyongyang had kidnapped 886 Japanese citizens, of which North Korea admits to only thirteen. A Japanese newspaper unveiled the discovery of a government manual for agents participating in the kidnappings in 2015 titled, “Obtaining Information Through Abduction.”
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.