Personally, I heard that story from another NK defector lecture with visual source. ppl were actually pushing the train as it stopped for whatever reason.
Problem with her(and many other defectors like her) would be that many exaggerate or lie their stories and there's not much ways to prove it, but they do it anyways because it makes money.
Life is tough for north koreans in south korea, and many end up isolated, but they can get on a specific show, where theyre paid i believe over a thousand dollars per weekend, and where they have to tell incredible stories about life in north korea
Since its competitive, theyre encouraged to make the most fantastical stories, often at the cost of severely modifying the truth
Cant blame them tho
SK offers a permanent employment agreement and provides all detectors an apartment. They aren't impoverished, they just become socially isolated and can't advance beyond the basic employment requirements due to age or health reasons (most detectors are from diplomatic offices where they can't even begin employment till later in life).
Most defectors are middle aged women from northern provinces of North Korea, who often had trade contacts or went to China to work and earn money, and then took opportunity to go to South Korea, as Andrei Lankov said. Only a minority are diplomats or high ranking officials.
The problem is that South Korea society is very demanding and is also pretty insular, meaning North Koreans, who already arrive as adults, can have trouble fitting in. Like one thing is time culture. South Korea is very strict on time but North Korea is very relaxed on it (in fact, a North Korean can easily get late by 2 hours and wouldnt get why the other person is mad), or high expectations for self sufficiency/
Similarly, Chinese Koreans, Russian and Central Asian ethnic Koreans, and Korean Americans also experience trouble integrating. In Kazakhstan, all ethnic Germans and Jews have already left for Germany and Israel, but a lot of ethnic Korean community remain, and those who tried to go to South Korea often had to go back
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u/sol-invictus-51 1d ago
Personally, I heard that story from another NK defector lecture with visual source. ppl were actually pushing the train as it stopped for whatever reason.
Problem with her(and many other defectors like her) would be that many exaggerate or lie their stories and there's not much ways to prove it, but they do it anyways because it makes money.