Friday, October 13, 2006

Highlights of newspaper article ‘North Korean bride in China’

Friday. As usual I called home to say hello. My mother told me … many people were taking North Korean women as brides. [Those who are] unable to acquire wives [turn to] the slave trade market.

North Korean women are very beautiful, can tolerate hardship and know how to [handle] pain. They are also very affectionate to the elderly. Within a few months, they can basically learn and speak the Chinese language. … As you all know, these women do not have any legal status in the country and so it is very dangerous for them to live as illegitimate wives. However, there is great acceptance amongst the villagers. Villagers say ‘No fuss, No control,’ (If the people don’t make a fuss, then authorities won’t take control either).

However, …some people informed public officials of my cousin’s North Korean bride and she was taken away. For a village family this is a fatal blow. My mother had thought that my cousin and his North Korean fiancé would live a very happy life. Soon, they were to celebrate an official wedding ceremony and the North Korean woman was already pregnant with my cousin’s child. The moment the North Korean woman was captured by public officials she began a hunger strike.

The majority of Chinese people do not discuss political issues but rather wager their luck on fortune by trying to go and live in developed countries like the U.S. or Europe. … The reason North Koreans come to China is because they are starving. How severe must their hunger be that they cannot endure it and risk their lives by defecting out of their mother country? Also, why is it that they detest returning to their country so badly?

[Republished from the Chinese press in The Daily NK]

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