On January 20, 2000, he was arrested in China after another North Korean defector living in China, supported by the same South Korean pastor, had been arrested and told the Chinese authorities about him. At that time, the younger brother, having left North Korea in 1997, was also living in China at a nearby location. The 7-year-old daughter of Son Jung Nam, who was living with her dad, ran over barefoot to the South Korean pastor’s place and told him of her father’s arrest. (She now lives safely in China.)

In April 2000, Son Jung Nam was repatriated to North Korea with a record of working as a gospel/Bible runner attached to him. Due to that record, he had a tough time during his detention, and he also witnessed many fellow North Korean Christians who had received Jesus in China persecuted for their faith.

In April 2004, with the help of many relatives who were positioned at high places in the Workers’ Party, Son was released and again, with the help of relatives, was placed at the North Korean Army’s Rocket Research Institute with a de facto pledge not to defect again. But he defected again several times, before he was arrested in January 2006.

Has the number of refugees from North Korea increased in the past five years?

I don’t have any field information, but from what I read and hear, I think the number of crossings has decreased because of the beefed up security by North Korean border patrol. But corruption in North Korea has worsened, so it’s actually easier to get to China if you have the money. In China, crackdowns on North Korean refugees and on refugee workers have increased very much because of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The Olympics may be a time of festivity for the Chinese economy, and the world that may be watching, but it definitely is a terrible menace to these people on the run.

The number of the entire North Korean refugee population in China may have actually grown because of the accumulation over the years. Many North Koreans have adapted to Chinese soil by now and are somewhat rooted their existence in China, albeit precariously. It’s been over a decade now since Exodus 21 – the 21st century-version of the biblical Exodus – has begun.

Where are refugees arriving?

They come to Thailand, Mongolia, Laos, and Vietnam, then on to South Korea – all through China first, because China is the only country that North Korea shares a land border with. The North Korean refugee population in South Korea reached the 10,000 mark around last December, and it is increasing steadily by a rate of 2,000 per year. There are virtual North Korean refugee camps – though no government, neither the United States nor South Korea, nor any host country, will call it by that name, due to political sensitivity – in Mongolia and Thailand holding far more than 1,000 and 500 North Koreans respectively.

Are most refugees fleeing mainly famine/economic failure, or human/religious rights violations?

Mostly economic failure, but more and more are fleeing for freedom in general, including very seldom the freedom of faith.

Is relief work within North Korea getting more difficult?

I think it will get easier soon, because North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong Il, is thawing up. He has only a few months/years to live, according to what I hear. The six-party talks on North Korea’s nuclear weapons program is getting a lot done these days. This is because Kim Jong Il wants to take advantage of George W. Bush’s waning popularity and gain the maximum amount of carrots for its nukes – before he’s done in. In the end, I think North Korea will open up and accept more foreign aid and aid workers. Currently they want to convert the foreign relief aid to developmental aid by being accepted into the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. For that to be done, the U.S. government must drop North Korea from its terrorist-supporting countries list.

Is relief work in China and other border areas getting more difficult?

Because of the pre-Beijing Olympic crackdowns on any potential source of negative news on China, it’s getting really tough at the border.

What is your purpose is for being in South Korea now?

I’m just working as an assistant pastor teaching a Bible class in English at a Korean church. I’m not doing much of what I used to do now.

It is said that there are between 200,000 and 400,000 Christians in North Korea, and that about 50,000-70,000 of them are in labor camps – do those estimates seem accurate to you?

I think it could be true, but you never know anything for sure with North Korea.

Copyright 2007 Compass Direct News