Sanctions against N. Korea leading to increasing elite defectors

Sanctions against N. Korea leading to increasing elite defectors. April. 11, 2016 07:24. by 한기흥기자 eligius@donga.com.

North Korean elites who contribute to their country by earning foreign currency seem to be greatly agitated. Another group of North Koreans escaped to Korea; one manager and 13 staff members of a restaurant in China owned by North Korea. As the North Korean government started reducing the number of its diplomatic offices abroad due to the international sanctions against the country, North Korean government workers in foreign countries have fled to South Korea in fear of being eliminated by their government. In May last year, a high ranking North Korean diplomat and his family in an African country defected to Korea. After the UN sanctions against North Korea last month, a North Korean government worker in an Asian country expressed his intention to defect to the South. The Ministry of Unification reflected upon the situation by stating, "We think that probably more North Korean defectors will come to Korea."

North Korea is basically run by Kim Jong Un and a group of elites from the party, the government, and the military that work for him. The closed society only sends such elites and their family abroad who are from a royal family. However, those North Koreans outside their country, exposed to information on Korea at all times, are bound to have internal conflicts eventually. When North Korea finds out about the recent fugitives from the restaurant, North Korean society could be severely shocked.

Another interesting point to note is that China has changed its attitude after applying the sanctions against North Korea. The group from the restaurant called "Ryugyong" in Ningbo, Zhejiang escaped from that place on March 5, fled to another country next day, and arrived in Seoul two days later. Although they had no problem getting their tickets because they had North Korean passports, if the Chinese authorities did not help them, such a fast trip to Korea would not have been possible.

Some speculate that by letting the North Koreans go, China is sending a warning to North Korea on its fourth nuclear test and long-range missile launching that enraged China. Chosun Sinbo, the newspaper of the pro-Pyongyang federation of Korean residents in Japan, reported, "Some are critical of China's change in attitude." This indicates that after China joined the UN Sanctions on North Korea, the Pyongyang-Beijing relation has changed. If China stops sending North Korean defectors back to their country and lets them leave for Korea as they wish, it will strike a fatal blow to North Korea.

Until Kim Jong Un realizes that without giving up nuclear weapons and missiles, he cannot maintain the current structure, the international society including China should continue putting sanctions on North Korea. The recent defection case proved them right.