대한민국 수도서울에서, 탈북민 엄마한성옥과 아들, 먹을것없어 굶어죽었다니-문정권 책임져라.
어렵게 김정은 독재정치하의 북한을 탈출하여 한국의 수도 서울에서 살던, 엄마 한성옥과 아들이 먹을것이 없어 굶어죽는, 마치 이북에서나 일어날수 있는, 참극이 일어나 세계적으로 문재인 정부의 실패한 정책을 비난하고 있다.
문재인 정부가 집권이후 2년반동안에 공무원 증원은 수만명에 이른다. 명색이 일자리 창출과 국민들의 일상생활을 돌본다는 이유로 그렇게 많은 공무원들이 충원 됐지만, 이 탈북민 엄마와 아들에게는 그림의 떡이었었다.
이북에 퍼다준 돈과 식량의 백만분의 일만이라도 남겨서, 어렵게 탈북하여 살아가는 탈북민들에 대한 배려에 조금만이라도 관심을 가졌었다면.... 이게 바로 좌파 빨갱이들로 형성된 현문재인 정부의 실상이다.
어쩌면, 김정은의 지령을 받고, 그렇게 굶어 죽도록 내버려 두었을지도 모르겠다는 엉뚱한 생각까지 하게된다. 지난 2년반 동안 그들이 펼쳐온 국가정책시행의 착오를 보면서, 이런생각을 해보게 되는 불행한 나라가 돼버린 것이다.
사진에서 보는것 처럼, 굶어죽은자의 장례식장에 "국회의원OOO"라는 화환의 리본에 적혀있는 이름을 보는게 엮겹다. 사후 약방문이 무슨 소용이 있단 말인가. 청와대, 통일부, 국회의원,시의원, 동직원, 통장,반장들은 다 그시간대에 어디서 무얼 하고 있었단 말인가?
분단위로 쪼개서 그들의 활동상을 낱낱히 밝혀야 세월호때 주장했던 좌파 거짖선동꾼들이 외쳐댔던것과 Balance가 맞는것 아니겠는가.
그녀는 생활비가 없어, 시장에서 500백원짜리 상추하나 사는데도 무척 신경을 썼다고 한다.
북한에서 배고픔이 지겨워, 어려운 사선을 넘어 잘산다고하는 대한민국 서울까지 왔었는데, 결국 서울한복판에서 굶어 죽다니...차라리 북한에 있었더라면 굶어죽지 않았을지도 모른다는 역설적인 생각이 가슴을 저민다.
BBC 뉴스보도의 일부를 옮겨본다.
그녀를 마지막으로 본 사람은 그녀가 사는 아파드옆의 길거리에서 야채장사를 하는 아주머니였다.
지난 봄에 그녀를 본게 마지막이었는데, 그때가 바로 경찰이 조사한 바에 따르면, 죽은 한씨가 그녀의 은행구좌에서 남아있던 잔금 3,858원을 인출 직후였었다.( 미국돈 3달러20쎈트).
"그때를 생각하면 소름이 끼친다. 처음에는 그녀가 채소를 만지작 거리기만 해서 무척 미워했었다. 그러나 지금 그녀를 생각하면 그져 미안할 따름이다. 그녀가 좀 웃으면서 얘기를 걸어왔었더라면, 그녀에게 약간의 상추를 주었을 텐데..."라고 그녀는 안타까워 했다.
"만약에..."라는 서두로 우리가 누군가에게 질문을 하게 되면, 즉 만약에 관련공무원들이 그녀의 불평을 알아차렸더라면..., 또 정부가 탈북민들에 대한 도움에 좀더 신경을 썼었더라면.... 또 만약에 거꾸로 그녀가 주위 사람들에게 도움을 청했었더라면... 등등.
어머니와 아들의 죽음에 사람들은 왜 정신적으로 더 대담하게 접근을 못했는가에 대해 분노와 원성을 높이고 있다. 자유를 찾아 북한을 탈출 한국에 온 한성옥 어머니의 긴 여정은 그녀를 색다르게 만들었지만, 인구 천만명이 살고있는 서울은 그녀를 보지 못했었던 것이다. 그녀를 아는 사람은 거의 없었고, 그녀를 본 사람들의 전언에 따르면 그녀는 말이 거의 없었고, 거리를 걸을때도 그녀는 모자를 쓰고 있어서 그녀를 알아보는 사람들은 극히 드물었었다고 한다. 그뿐만이 아니고 눈인사도 거의 없었다고 한다. 사후에야 거대한 서울은 그녀를 알게된 것이다.
탈북후 하나원에서 생활할때도, 같은 탈북자들에게도 마음의 문을 열지 않았었다고 한다.
이번의 참사는 탈북자들에 대해, 정부는 말로만 환영한다 했을뿐, 무관심으로 일관해 왔었다는 증거중 하나로 보고있다.
광화문 장례식장에는 한성옥엄마의 초상화가 전시되여 있었고, 탈북자들사이에서는 얘기가 끝도없이 이어지고 있었다.
"이런 믿기지 않을 일이 있단 말인가. 어떻게 배고픔을 탈피하고져 탈북한 사람이 서울에 와서 굶어 죽을수 있단 말인가?"
"정부는 탈북민들에 대해 어떤 도움을 주었단 말인가? 이번 참사는 정부가 탈북민들을 버렸다는 증거다"
"이들의 죽음은 모두, 특히 정부의 무관심때문에 일어난 것이다"
"탈북민들에 대한 구호의 손길은 어디에 있는가? 경찰은 무엇하는 집단인가?"
문재인 정부는 김정은 독재정권에 온 신경만 쓸뿐, 탈북민들의 정착에 대한 훈련이나, 도움을 주는것에는 아무런 관심을 보이지 못하고 있다. 오히려 내년도 총선과 사노맹의 추종자 "조국"의 법무장관 청문회에만 귀를 쫑긋이 세우고, 국민들을 친일, 친미로 구분하여, 매도하기에 여념이 없는, 귀태정부일 뿐임을 그들 스스로 증명해주고 있다.
대한민국의 국제적 망신이다. 국내 언론은 여론화 시키고 싶어도, 문재인 정부의 서슬퍼런 자갈에 물려 한마디 언급을 못하고, 그들의 대변인 노릇만 하고 있다. 이게 한국의 현실인것을....국민들이여 제발 깨어 있으라.
아래는 BBC뉴스을 옮겨논것이다.
Han Sung-ok, 42, seemed determined
to pick through nearly every lettuce on the market stand. She turned
each one over and examined it while her six-year-old son clambered on
the fence nearby.
The vegetable seller in the southern Seoul
suburb looked on, annoyed. This was one picky customer and she didn't
even buy a lot of vegetables - only one or two items for as little as
she could pay. On this occasion it was a lettuce for 500 won (about
$0.40; £0.33).
Uttering only a few words, Han handed over her money and left with her son.
Just a few weeks later, both were dead.
Having
fled food shortages in her native North Korea and dreaming of a new
life, Han and her son are believed to have starved to death in one of
the wealthiest cities in Asia. Their bodies lay undiscovered for two
months until someone came to read the water meter and noticed a bad
smell.
Mother and son were found apart on the floor. The only food
in their tiny rented apartment was a bag of red pepper chilli flakes.
'If only she'd asked...'
One
of the last people to see her alive was the vegetable vendor in the
street outside her apartment complex. She saw her in spring - around the
same time the police say Han withdrew the last 3,858 won ($3.20; £2.60)
in her bank account.
"Thinking back, it gives me shivers," she said. "At
first I hated her for being picky, but now I think about it, I am sorry
for her.
"If only she'd asked nicely, I would have just given her some lettuce."
She's
one of many we spoke to who are asking questions which begin with the
phrase "If only". If only the authorities had noticed her plight. If
only the government had done more to help defectors. If only she'd asked
for help.
Their horrific deaths have prompted outrage and anger and a great deal of soul searching.
Han's
journey to freedom as a North Korean defector should have made her
remarkable, but in this city of 10 million people, she appears to have
been invisible. Very few people knew her. Those who did, say she spoke
very little and would walk around almost disguising herself with a hat
and avoiding all eye contact.
But this city knows her now.
Her photograph has been placed among flowers and
gifts in a makeshift shrine in Gwanghwamun in the centre of Seoul.
Dozens of mourners are shouting her name through loudspeakers, though
few there knew her personally.
"It just doesn't make sense that
after going through all that hardship and challenges to come to South
and she dies of starvation. It breaks my heart," one defector mourning
at the shrine told us. "When I first heard the news, it was too absurd
to believe.
"This cannot happen in South Korea. Why did nobody know about this until they died?"
But one of the reasons no-one knew is because Han appears to have wanted to stay hidden.
A laugh with a dark side
Escaping
North Korea can feel almost impossible. More people have attempted to
scale Mount Everest this year than leave the impoverished state. Even if
you get past the soldiers and surveillance at the border, defectors
face a journey of thousands of miles through China. Their aim is to get
to a South Korean embassy in a third country. Usually in Thailand,
Cambodia or Vietnam.
But getting through China is a huge risk. If
caught, they're sent back to North Korea and could face a lifetime of
hard labour in one of its notorious gulags. Female defectors who hand
money to disreputable brokers hoping for help often find themselves
imprisoned and sold as brides or sex workers.
In Han's case, it is
difficult to verify how and when she left North Korea. Two defectors
who claim to have spoken to her believe she was sold to a Chinese man as
a bride and had a son with him. We cannot verify this account.
But she arrived in Seoul alone, 10 years ago, and certainly didn't open up to many of her classmates at the Hanawon centre.
All
defectors face a mandatory 12-week basic education at such a centre,
affiliated with Seoul's Unification Ministry, to adjust to life in the
South. Han's class was one of the largest since the centre had been set
up. It had more than 300 people in it. They all knew how hard it was to
get through China.
"I knew she went to China first. I knew
because even when she laughed and was bright, there was a dark side,"
one of her classmates told us.
"I asked her what was wrong but she brushed me off.
"I'm
the type of person not to push too much on personal matters, so I said,
'I don't know what it is, but if you go outside, as long as you work
hard you can live a good life. South Korea is a place that you get what
you work for. You're young and beautiful, you won't have a hard life.
Whatever you do don't be ashamed and live with your head up'."
Han
appeared to do well in her new life at first. The authorities help
defectors find subsidised apartments, and she along with six of her
classmates were settled in the same neighbourhood, Gwanak-gu.
"She
was so pretty and feminine," her classmate said. "I believe she was the
second person after me in our class to get a job. At first, she worked
briefly at a coffee shop in Seoul University. Even there, I heard she
made a good impression. What we remember is that she was smart, feminine
and we thought she was someone who would be able to take care of
herself.
"We didn't expect this to happen."
Image caption
Like all defectors Han had help finding a new place to live in Seoul
It is difficult to find out how, from this promising start, Han ended up destitute. She was so private.
Two
defectors in her apartment complex told us they believe she had
persuaded her Chinese husband to move to South Korea. As a family, they
relocated south to Tongyeong where he worked at a shipyard. She had a
second son who was born with learning difficulties.
Eventually it
is thought her husband went back to China without her, taking the eldest
son with him. She was left alone with no job and caring for a disabled
child.
Her neighbours say she missed her older son terribly.
She
moved back to where her South Korean life had started - the subsidised
housing apartments in Gwanak-gu in Seoul. She applied for help at the
community centre in October last year and received 100,000 won ($94)
each month in child allowance.
Getty
South Korea's support for defectors
12weeks of adaptation training
$6,000-$32,400settlement benefits (depending on size of household)
$13,300-$19,100Housing subsidy
Freeeducation in public schools and universities
Source: Ministry of Unification
It is at this time that Han and her son appear to have fallen through a gap in the welfare system.
She
could have claimed much more than the universal child benefit. A single
parent is entitled to six to seven times that amount each month. But
that would have required a divorce certificate and it is our
understanding that she didn't have one.
The community centre staff
said they visited her apartment for their annual welfare check in April
but she wasn't home. They were not aware of her son's condition. She
hadn't paid the rent of her subsidised apartment or her bills for some
time. In some other countries this would have raised a red flag to
social services. It doesn't appear to have happened in South Korea.
She was also no longer eligible for help as a North Korean defector because the protection period of five years had expired.
'This is a death by indifference'
When
they gathered at the shrine in Gwanghwamun, in front of Han's smiling
portrait, the debate among the defector community continued.
"This is absurd, how ironic a North Korean escapes hunger and comes to South to die of starvation!"
"What did the South Korean government do? This is death by abandonment."
"This is a death by indifference."
"Where is the system, where is the police?"
Image caption
Tributes are left to Han and her son from people who never knew them
However her former classmate said this is not how she wants her friend to be remembered.
"I
don't want to cause a row, pointing fingers at whose fault this is. We
should just come together as one and vow to never let this happen again.
It really hurts my heart how things are turning out, how people are
taking advantage of this for their purpose."
So what lessons can be learned?
The
last reports we received about Han from a neighbour claim she was
distracted and anxious. A far cry from the bright woman who arrived at
the Hanawon centre 10 years ago.
At no point did Han ask for help. But should help have come to her?
Mental
health care for North Korean refugees is one area that could be
improved, according to defectors and psychiatrists. Most defectors have
suffered a number of human rights violations and trauma ranging from
extreme hunger, sexual assault, being forced to witness public
executions and the fear of human traffickers in China.
The rate
of psychological trauma is higher among those who have travelled through
China, according to a study by the National Human Rights Commission of
Korea.
Media captionFour defectors talk about what life is like in North KoreaDr Jun Jin-yong from the National Centre for Mental Health
said it is common for defectors to suffer anxiety, depression and
post-traumatic stress disorder. But because there are so many stigmas
associated with mental health in the North, many aren't aware that
they're suffering or that help is available.
Anyone suffering
mental illness in North Korea is sent to a hospital in the mountains
called Number 49. Most never return. It is perhaps understandable that
North Koreans are unaware that psychiatric help is available.
"We need services that are more defector-friendly and to guide defectors to find these services," Dr Jun said.
"Defectors
have a lower approachability than South Koreans on mental health issues
because they have a prejudice against mental health. So we should
continue to advertise mental health support to defectors so that they
can receive help."
According to a settlement survey of North
Korean refugees in South Korea, about 15% admit to having suicidal
thoughts. That's about 10% higher than the South Korean average. Most
say economic hardship is the main reason they feel unable to cope.
Image copyrightGetty Images/Eric LafforgueImage caption
Joseph Park built a new life in Seoul, but many defectors struggle to make their way
There is also more of a sense of community in North
Korea. We've been told that, north of the border, Han and her son would
not have been allowed to shut themselves away in their apartment.
Joseph
Park who also escaped from North Korea 15 years ago, decided to run
coffee shops in Seoul to cultivate a community for defectors. He
believes the shocking deaths of Han and her son were not caused by a
lack of government policy, but can be partly blamed on certain aspects
of South Korean culture.
"South Korea is a society where you can
live without relationships. In North Korea you need relationships to
survive," he told us.
"I think that's the big difference. In
South Korea, you can survive without having a relationship with your
neighbour. But in North Korea, you need relations with your neighbour
and the system forces you to have relations as well.
"For
example, in North Korean schools, if someone doesn't come to class, the
teacher would send all the classmates to the missing student's house. So
naturally, there can't be anyone left out. In North Korea it would be
not possible for someone to be out of touch for a month like that."
Thousands
of North Koreans live hugely successful and fulfilling lives in the
South. But it does require them to change and to adapt to their
neighbours' ways. Defectors have told numerous studies they are made to
feel different, and face discrimination.
The results of a
post-mortem on Han and her son are expected soon, but South Korea's
Unification Ministry is already examining Han's case in the hope lessons
can be learned.
What is clear is that those from North and South often still feel separate - even when they live in the same city.
Perhaps
Han's story should give pause for thought for all in Seoul in the hope
that this society will never again have to ask itself, if only.
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