N. Korea's Brides of Despair | LA Times

[Ediacara]

N. Korea's Brides of Despair
-To escape starvation, thousands of women have migrated to China illegally, 'marrying' men who feed them but often hold them in bondage.

By Barbara Demick, Times Staff Writer


YANJI, China — It was hardly the most romantic of courtships.

Kim Hye Soon, a 36-year-old divorcee, met the man she considers her fourth husband one day and agreed to marry him the next. Only there was no gown, no music, no celebratory meal — no proper wedding at all. Kim simply followed him to his one-room cottage down a dirt road flanked by rice paddies.

Li Dong Gil, 38, was admittedly not the greatest catch. He had been badly disabled in a work accident that left him hunchbacked and unable to perform physical labor. What little money he was able to earn he spent on drinks and gambling, according to Kim.

Still, she was grateful to have found him. As a North Korean refugee, Kim had lived on the run, spending sleepless nights in fields and farmhouses in fear of being caught by Chinese police and deported back to North Korea. She had just escaped from a brief liaison with a Chinese man so violent that he was later imprisoned for killing his own mother.

More at the Los Angeles Times

[phgnome]

1. And so we have the left

trying to demonize Asia.

I'm convinced that the right and the left are not fighting over whether or not to go to war or the lack of ethics involved in war -- they are merely fighting about who to go to war with. The left labor-driven movement wants to kill all of Asia because of the availability of cheap labor cutting into the unions' control over labor. The right wants to kill all of the Middle East to secure and control the oil supply.

This is not the right way to go into this century. We should work towards abolishing war...not fight with each other about who we're to go to war with first.

[Dookus]

2. as jon stewart would say...

WHAAAAAAH?!

[Rex]

3. Um...no

To suggest that the unions in this country want to goto war as a response to all this outsourcing (which the republicans LOVE) to third world countries is...idiotic.

Do you have proof that unions, who are losing jobs to overseas workers want to GO TO WAR? Mmmmmmmmm...didn't think so.

[phgnome]

15. Motive

A little defensive, are we?

It's motive, not actual proof yet. The movement is still drumming up support for a war. Is there actually any proof of anything anymore? And if I had proof, I'd likely be dead.

Look around you -- the war drums are slowly but surely starting up again but this time it's directed at Asia. The media is so transparent. It likes to paint other societies who are on different developmental points as "oppressors" and "against human rights".

The proof is there. Look at the propaganda -- it's changed direction. Take a walk in the local mall -- look at all the military-style fashion on the racks not at reduced prices (which means it's not old inventory being cleared from the corporate-driven movement to go into Iraq). THAT is the war machine talking. "Didn't think so?" -- perhaps you're not looking closely enough.

I think there are people here that are a part of the labor-driven movement. Nothing wrong with that -- we need a labor driven side to maintain a stable society and to balance out the powers of the corporation. But it would be wrong to trust the labor movement entirely, as it too is susceptible to corruption and it too wants power and control. The objective is not to hope your team wins; the objective is to achieve a stable economy and society.

It's dangerous to believe that either side of the argument is entirely right and the other side is entirely wrong in anything it does. We need to learn to start being a moderate society that can accommodate a dynamic global market and use economic means to be stable and to maintain a moderate quality of life but that's equal.

The objective is not to start a war with a different enemy -- we need to take a good long look at all the powers and question all of their motives.

[Rex]

21. Defensive? I'm just wondering why you can't back up your

strange claim that unions (maybe you meant the teamsters) would love nothing more than to see us all run off and kill Asians by the truckloads - all over outsourcing. That has to be one of the, er, wackiest things I've ever seen suggested here at DU.

"The proof is there. Look at the propaganda -- it's changed direction. Take a walk in the local mall -- look at all the military-style fashion on the racks not at reduced prices (which means it's not old inventory being cleared from the corporate-driven movement to go into Iraq). THAT is the war machine talking. "Didn't think so?" -- perhaps you're not looking closely enough."

WTF???

[phgnome]

22. What is the war with communism ever about?

It's always about labor. We hate communism because it can provide cheaper labor and because it's a better supply negotiator.

Try this:
Look at the leading stories in the papers. Boil down to one sentence what they are about. Take the images shown, take in the colors.

You can see that they all follow the same color scheme, which say certain things.

My proof of this: I do this as my work. As a comm strategy consultant, I emphasize images and colors that sell things *other* than what is written or stated. My proof is that it works and you see huge spikes in sales of the thing that was intended and not stated. It is quantifiable. In talking about a car part or a lawn mower, I can influence people's opinion on who to vote for, what is "environmentally conscious", or increase their awareness of some social movement or another without ever breathing a word of the movement or images relating directly to it. You can say all you want that it's insane and that I'm insane but I actually do this for a living. Resources are allocated to it to test that it works before a campaign is ever fully launched full-market. I've done my job successfully when the audience believes that they came to the conclusion *on their own* (the perception of "choice" and "free will" are very important). Everything but everything down to the pricing strategy, to each piece of punctuation, to how the item is displayed in the store -- all are meticulously planned and calculated. Every piece on a runway show (where independent garment manufacturers go to knock off "designer" gear) is also meticulously evaluated for its psychological impact.

Labor unions can just as easily hire people like me to go around and look for all the places you will likely be (where you shop, where you live, where you work, what papers you read, what shows you watch on TV, how many kids you have, whether you're married, divorced or separated) and start giving incentives to the opinion leaders (the guys who pay for the runway shows, produce TV programming, newspaper editors, etc.). The unions have entered the PR game right now.

Whacky? Maybe. But definitely conventional -- so conventional that there's an entire industry (Public Relations/Public Affairs/Corporate Communications) dedicated to orchestrating and executing such efforts.

What sort of "proof" are you looking for?

[study_war_no_more]

32. Teamster here

Only war i am intresested in is class war heheheh.

[Rex]

33. LOL

Well now the truth is known, it ain't about unions...it's all about communism! IMO unions always get a bad rap. If it was up to the ruling class there would be no organized labor.

[study_war_no_more]

18. what are you talking about?

Better check that soma level buddy!

[phgnome]

26. ..

Better take those blinkers off buddy!

[berry]

4. There was a Frontline documentary about this problem a year or two ago

Most of the help that these women (and men and children too) get is from Korean-American Christian groups. Sen. Brownback (KS?) was on some news program talking about this--I think he travelled there, in connection with some religious group. The RW fundies have taken up this cause with great enthusiasm. It confirms them in their hatred of N Korean and Chinese leaders.

It really IS a big mess, and a lot of people are suffering--but I find it incredible that the RWers never consider the role that the US is playing in continuing a bad situation. I don't apologize for the N Korean regime. But I do think the RW finds it convenient to expose these evils (and many of the victims are Christians"!"--so they are all the more horrified). Very little is being done by the US to help, because they just want to hold out for "regime change," and not have to negotiate and just plain deal with "the bad guys." Anyway, the horrors inside N Korea (like famine) are just as bad or worse.

There are lots of stories from Korea (and China too) from the 1920s and 30s when poverty was grinding, and girls were sold into prostitution, or dragged off with the Japanese army, and men could barely feed their families if they were lucky enough to have them. These stories are staples of early modern literature in K and C. So it's more than a little shocking to read this article, and see that it has never ended. It's all the same. (I do know that similar stories can be told the world over--recently there was another Frontline documentary on Thailand and the plight of the hill tribes' girls.)

Anyway--I'm torn. The stories are real--and these are not the worst stories I've heard. But I HATE that they are being used in Bush*'s PR war against the "axis of evil."

[Muddleoftheroad]

5. Evil

Even the * regime, like a broken clock, can be right. NK is EVIL. No, not all the people, but the government that starves its people and holds them hostage.

You can't negotiate with a nation like that. I am NOT for going to war with them. I am for cutting them off until they decide to change how they act.

[phgnome]

16. Cutting them off

Economic sanctions are not the right way to do it. Look at what happened in Iraq -- weren't they "cut off".

The change has to occur ideologically and it has to occur from within the country. There has to be economic incentive to change the ways of the culture and of government. As long as you have trade with them, you still have civil influence. Without trade, you are powerless to change things civilly and will be required to go to war.

[Muddleoftheroad]

23. Cutting them off

You are applying rational guidelines to North Korea and that is a mistake.

As for Iraq, based on some of the actions of Syria I would say only mostly cut off.

Either way, Iraq did not start a war and if we cut off North Korea, why would they?

I am all for constructive engagement when something can be gained. There is nothing to gain from working with North Korea.

[phgnome]

30. Rational Guidelines

Why are rational guidelines a mistake when dealing with NK?

[Character Assassin]

31. Please indicate exactly where NK has ever exhibited rational behavior

Perhaps you might start with the elevation of the Kims to divine status. Or, conversely, where having dealt with them rationally has ever resulted in anything?

[study_war_no_more]

19. Asian woman's defense league?

This is not just a problem in North Korea it is universal. Bangkok doesn't seem to have any brothel shortages for example a fact the Bushes can attest to.

[teryang]

6. The US is responsible in part

...for what goes in N.Korea in terms of suffering. We cut off their economic development by interfering with their nuclear power program. We promised to replace the lost energy resources and then renegged. We cut off promised fuel oil supplies and plunged the country into cold and darkness. Then we cut off their humanitarian food supplies.

We have consistently interfered with S.Korean unification policies and attempts by other nations to do business with N.Korea. Unification policies are the peaceful and humane method to achieving regime change. While natural diasters, totalitarian rule, and inept leadership have played their role in the current crisis, repeated threats of war, blockade, interference in their internal economic development, international relations and trade by the US has always had as its goal crushing the N.Korean people while at the same time, not achieving unification.

The US goal is dominance of the peninsula by any means. We have violated international law and deceived our regional allies to bring about the current crisis. Unification is the last thing we want, because we would have to leave our pleasant and strategic little colony. Chinese and Russian backing for the north guarantee that are illegal and inhuman policies will fail in their objective, regardless as to what happens to Kim Jong Il, our unethical and unpopular policies will fail.

[Muddleoftheroad]

7. South Korea

Can unify with the North any time it wants. It just can't expect one iota of help from the U.S. or one iota of protection or guaranteed trade with us.

Clearly, they want those things. They LIKE having our security umbrella there. Oh, they might gripe about it, but threaten to take it away and they freak.

As for the rest, the U.S. is under no obligation to render aid to a nation that threatens us with nuclear fire.

[teryang]

8. Your authoritarian style of argument

...is as usual sorely lacking in facts or expertise. Again I ask you what is your expertise in this area of foreign policy?

[teryang]

9. Ki da ri go issaw yo.

Weh te dap ha gi an a yo?

[berry]

25. Choh sarami te-dap halsu upsulkayo. Mohriga napunikka.

I hate romanization for hangul.

BTW, I agree totally with your assessment of the US responsibility for what is going on. Why should N Korea have built up such a huge military in the first place? They've been terrified of US for years. Fear doesn't make for the best decisions (as we in the US should be able to appreciate after 9-11).

Cho-nun Pyunghwa-Pongsa-dan uro hanguk e cassoyo (orae jon-e). Ddo, Yonsei Taehakkyo esso myot nyun carochussoyo. Drat--wish I could put that half circle above o and u. Oh well. Annyong!

[Muddleoftheroad]

10. The same as everybody here

I vote. I am involved in politics. I read both current events and history. In short, I am a citizen.

It's probably just authoritarian to those with weak opinions.

[teryang]

11. Your opinions are conclusory

...and one dimensional. You resort to the dim wit's jingo of "evil ones."

[Muddleoftheroad]

12. Evil

Just because I call something by its proper name -- evil -- doesn't mean I generally agree with moron boy.

North Korea is starving its own people while Kim Jong Il sits in a palace. They have a thugocracy based on the cult of personality. I call what he is doing to his people evil.

[FAndy9]

13. IMHO,

And having done a UN model as North Korea (and getting an award for Best Delegation) the only reason why de Kim regime is strong is because of the necessity they have for a militarist govt. because of the threat the US represents. And make no mistake; the US can't even stand the idea of unification, despite the fact that S. Korea WANTS so unify under its sunshine policy.

It's not economically feasable for the US to have a strong, unified Korea, and that's all the reason Chimp needs to up the stakes.

[Muddleoftheroad]

14. Unified Korea

Again, if South Korea really wanted to normalize things with the North, they could. We only have 37,000 troops there. South Korea has nothing to fear from the U.S. militarily.

Yes, there are economic concerns. A unified Korea might no longer be considered a strong trade partner with the U.S. because of the North Korean influence.

North Korea is more than just a militaristic state. It is a cult first for Kim's father and now for him.

I love the threat that the U.S. represents. Those 37,000 soldiers looming over the DMZ must scare the pants off the North Koreans.

[study_war_no_more]

20. Does evil exist?

Whats the differnce between a citizen and a civilian- starship troopers.

[phgnome]

17. That's right

No country could ever survive without the help of America. </sarcasm>

[Muddleoftheroad]

24. Then we agree

There is no reason for the U.S. to send aid to North Korea and they will survive.

[phgnome]

27. Depends

It depends if we define the removal of aid as the imposing of global UN economic sanctions. If so, we might start a war between North and South Korea -- if SK is forbidden to trade with the North while people there starve -- that seems cruel. If we just stopped trading with them, that won't be bad.

If it were sanctions of just one country but they can still get food in and goods out of the country, that would seem fair.

If we just stopped giving them aid but allowed other countries to supply them with a reliable energy source, that would be ok, too. It's enough of an economic loss but we don't start a famine there. Mass hunger would corner them to fight with S. Korea over food and other life-sustaining resources (medicine, clean water, etc.). They would have no other choice.

[Muddleoftheroad]

28. Trade

Any nation, including South Korea, could continue to trade with the North. But if I were in charge, I would tell them that such action would result in a trade cutoff with us and the removal of U.S. troops.

NK already has mass hunger and haven't attacked anyone. I'd rather send aid to Africa where we are not threatened by a lunatic with nukes.

[phgnome]

29. Removal of Troops

I agree that aid could be better spent in Africa. The civil wars are getting quite bad and way out of hand. I'd even say to remove the troops from SK and send them to Africa to stop some of the mass slaughters going on there. We really ought to send troops on peacekeeping missions in Africa and bring them medicine and water sanitation equipment.

The Asian countries have enough arsenal over there to take care of themselves. China doesn't want a war right now, especially not since they're in the process of political reform, the upcoming Expo in Shanghai and the upcoming Olympic Summer Games in Beijing. And we mustn't forget the launch of the Chinese space program. It's too busy now to have war start up in any part of the region and, because the potential economic gains are so huge, they will do everything in their power to keep NK's military aggression at bay.

There's enough arsenal in China alone to keep NK in check. The last thing China wants or needs is for war to break out anywhere in Asia to sabotage the attendance at the upcoming events, tarnish the public perception of their space program or to destroy international credibility in the Communist Party's reform efforts. It won't hurt for the US to withdraw from SK right now anyway (because it costs us money to keep troops there unnecessarily). For NK to maintain its political power within its own borders, it will keep in line with China's current no-war agenda for the time being. For NK to wage aggression right now would be rolling out the red carpet for war in Asia but Asia's current political and economic climate stands to gain more from diplomatic solutions.

[chenGOD]

34. So you would punish countries for seeking...

and effective peaceful solution to a war that has been continued in no small measure by the US refusal to negotiate? And before you go off on a rant about North Korea not acting rationally, I suggest you look at what North Korea was willing to give up in the 1994 Agreed Framework. Look at what the North implemented: they DID shutdown reactors, they DID allow international monitoring and abide by other terms of the Agreed Framework (until it became clear that the Agreed Framework was useless). On the other hand let's see what KEDO implemented: well the LWRs aren't completed (target date 2003), and now the US has cut off the supply of heavy-oil promised. Oh yes I know, the evil communists were restarting their reactors and developing a secret program to give themselves energy. How dare they.

The South has been trading with the North for the last 11 years (as per the South-North Basic Agreement), and this is the way to improve the situation for all North Koreans. The US administration has no interest in seeing a unified Corea, as it does not serve their purpose of spreading fear and terror.


Teryang-shi, ee mongchong-han sarameun jeoldaero tedapeul anhaeyo.

[Muddleoftheroad]

35. Not exactly

I would punish anyone who wants to deal with the tyranny in North Korea.

I am OK with a unified FREE Korea, but if Kim Jong Il still has any power then I want nothing to do with it.

[chenGOD]

36. Well there ain't much choice....

Kim Jeong Il is the man in power, and just wishing ain't gonna make him go away. Economic sanctions? They sure helped Saddam disappear didn't they? Start a war with North Korea? Yeah WW3 is just what we need now.

There is no way other than to negotiate, and trade. Bring them into the consumerist frenzy slowly but surely. Kim Jeong Il won't be in power in a free united Corea.

[Muddleoftheroad]

37. Let HIM twist in the wind

We are under no obligation to help Kim Jong Il in power any longer than circumstances require.

Trade and negotiation ARE NOT required. No matter what we do, he's gonna build some nukes. Why make life easier on him?

[chenGOD]

38. Yeah America is not...

(although actually under the terms of the Agreed Framework they were). But you're gonna punish other nations who want to do things peacefully.

And who could say he was gonna build nukes if the Agreed framework had been followed by BOTH sides. The north didn't start up their reactor until it was entirely clear that KEDO was not going to build the promised LWRs. And once again, it is much harder to get weapons-grade plutonium out of light-water reactors than out of the gas-graphite ones they have now. In fact it would be nigh on impossible for North Korea with IAEA montioring, which they had, up util shrubco decided to play the "political game".

[Muddleoftheroad]

39. Actually

I want to punish nations that starve their people to death among other things. I do NOT support having anything to do with a thugocracy like North Korea.

[chenGOD]

40. You said you would remove trade...

with any nation that deals with North Korea. So Sotuh Korea should be punished for their 11 years of dealing and investing with North Korea? Trying to provide jobs for North Koreans while showing Kim Jeong Il and the rest of the government there what capitalism can bring, yeah that's a heinous crime for sure.


Whatever, I'm not gonna try and change your mind anymore, since it's firmly set.

Since I have a much more vested interest in seeing peace and re-unification occur on the peninsula I would like to ask you to at least petition your government from launching any illegal strikes at Kim Jeong Il.