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I'm seeing that there is a big chasm in the attitudes toward NK defectors held by those within S Korea, and by those outside of it. The key missing link is how defector orgs got co-opted into S Korea's alt-right - a common knowledge in SK, virtual unknown outside.
I'm seeing that there is a big chasm in the attitudes toward NK defectors held by those within S Korea, and by those outside of it. The key missing link is how defector orgs got co-opted into S Korea's alt-right - a common knowledge in SK, virtual unknown outside.
So here's the story.
When conservatives came back to power in S Korea in 2007, among the first thing they did was astroturfing. They saw liberals wielding power by street organizations, and they wanted the same thing. So they paid civic groups to be their street fighters.
When conservatives came back to power in S Korea in 2007, among the first thing they did was astroturfing. They saw liberals wielding power by street organizations, and they wanted the same thing. So they paid civic groups to be their street fighters.
The most infamous example of this is the Parents Association 어버이연합. You might see them in downtown Seoul - they are the old people who wave US and ROK flags. The Lee Myung-bak admin paid them indirectly through the Federation of Korean Industries, the chaebol lobby group.
The FKI paid over $150k/yr to the Parents Assn, which used to money to bus old people from the countryside, feed them lunch and have them wave flags.
The conservative admins - beginning with Lee Myung-bak, and more so with Park Geun-hye - recruited NK defector groups also.
The conservative admins - beginning with Lee Myung-bak, and more so with Park Geun-hye - recruited NK defector groups also.
These defector groups were paid directly (govt subsidies) and indirectly (thru middlemen groups including Parents Assn.) Obviously, there was no meaningful audit - to a point that Parents Assn and NK Refugee Human Rights Assn sued each other for money. https://www.hankookilbo.com/News/Read/201605030424867217
For NK defectors, who are conditioned to choose survival over democratic norms, the free money was a strong lure. Virtually any defector could file some papers, set up a "civic group," and receive govt money, with pretty much no oversight. https://imnews.imbc.com/replay/2020/nwdesk/article/5919302_32524.html
And these groups did their job as the asphalt warriors for the conservatives. One of their crowning achievements was bankrolling the "Gluttony Strike", where alt-right group members gorged on fried chicken in front of the hunger-striking Sewol parents. https://www.nocutnews.co.kr/news/5024226
But at least the conservatives took care of the NK defectors, right? No - PGH admin loved using the N Korea threat as a pretext for domestic politics, and would frame NK defectors that it did not like as spies from North Korea. https://www.chosun.com/national/court_law/2020/11/12/BG7B6IHUZJA6HPLBTVIORYDB4Y/
Most of this between 2012 and 2015, and the period changed the character of the NK defector community in South Korea. They were deathly afraid of being accused as spies, and on the other hand the govt was handing out money to wave flags on the street and intimidate liberals.
It was an awful period for a liberal who cared about the defector community. US liberals are getting a taste of it too - they want to support Hong Kong protests, but a lot of their leaders are slowly turning into Trump-supporting nutcases.
That was also the time when the rank-and-file South Korean liberals started turning on the defector groups. For the millions of ordinary people who participated in the Candlelight Protests, the defector groups came across as alt-right thugs, S Korea's answer to Proud Boys.
Here, I would caution that I am not talking about every NK defector. Absolutely not. But those who are loud voices in S Korea's conservative circles? This is who they are now. I wish it weren't the case, but the conservatives poisoned the well.
Candlelight Protests prevail, and Moon Jae-in admin comes in. As a part of cleaning house, the Moon admin begins auditing the defector groups - as they are required to do, for any org receiving gov't subsidies. Everywhere, they find massive embezzlement. https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20160124069651004
With their govt money cut off, NK defector groups start screaming bloody murder. They call their Cold War era friends in DC, and wave their arms about how S Korea's liberal commies are oppressing them and subjecting them to audits (that they were legally supposed to do.)
And that's how you get all these stories in the US media that say: "ZOMG S Korean liberals are oppressing those poor poor NK defectors."
Again, common knowledge and fully verified in S Korea, not so in US.
Again, common knowledge and fully verified in S Korea, not so in US.
