11-year defector in S. Korea vows to return to North Korea

“I no longer have expectations on South Korean society. I will return to North Korea and meet for the last time with my mother, 80, who is living in Pyongyang.”

This is part of what Sohn Jeong-hoon, 49, a North Korean defector and head of North Korean Defectors’ Vision Network, had to say when he met with this reporter on Monday. There have been several cases where North Korean defectors return to the North since last year, but Sohn is the first to openly announce his plan to return to the communist country.

The reason Sohn decided to leave the South 11 years after settling here is a fee to be paid to a broker who assists North Koreans’ defection from the North. Sohn’s trouble began in 2009. While working with a North Korean defectors’ organization at the time, he co-signed repayment guarantee on 8.5 million won (7,570 U.S. dollars) that was needed for a female North Korean defector to come to the South, to Kim, the broker. Facing a lawsuit seeking repayment of the debt owed by the female defector who suffers from disease, Kim said, “I will repay a portion of the debt first,” but he lost the suit and has had his household items such as refrigerator seized on July 1.

His key deposit for a public rental apartment provided by the government has also been seized. He expressed anger, saying, "The government hands over its obligation to protect North Korean defectors to individuals and even demands individuals to take responsibility for it as well.”

A source at the Unification Ministry in Seoul said, “We are checking the exact reason and details of Sohn’s claim through the Hana Protection Center, or a counseling agency for defectors, and police officers in charge of protecting them.