钱学森的名言警句大全:一位朝鲜叛逃者的自述

2011年 07月 15日 07:50
一位朝鲜叛逃者的自述

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The Wall Street Journal
李炫希最近在英国驻首尔大使馆发表讲话。
对
于生活在韩国的朝鲜叛逃者来说，生活可能会很艰辛。在这些人当中，失业率非常高，患上抑郁症和沾染恶习的例子比比皆是。在经常遭受歧视的情况下，要适应一个完全不同的社会和经济秩序本来就很困难，再加上这是一个处处靠关系和仰仗家族根基的社会，这种适应过程就变得更加困难了。
不过也有成功的例子，这其中就包括最近获任韩国统一部(Unification Ministry)高层政府职位的一位朝鲜人。
还有一位朝鲜人也为统一部工作，她叫李炫希(Lee Hyeon-seo，音译)，她还是英国驻首尔大使馆赞助的“为了将来学英语(English for the Future)”项目选中的朝鲜人之一。
我们请她写出从朝鲜叛逃出来的经历、她适应韩国生活的过程以及她现在正在做什么。
下面就是她写的文章：
生活在朝鲜半岛另一端：一个朝鲜人在韩国的生活记事
作者：李炫希
有些人注定要承受无尽的痛苦和磨难，有些人渴望做梦。是的，人人都会做梦。但是，在这个世界上，还有人比朝鲜人民更渴求美梦吗？他们的一生实际上是在一座监狱中度过的，不知道自己是否会受到镇压，甚至不知道人权为何物。
为了寻求言论和行动自由，我叛逃到韩国。长期以来，我一直渴望踏上这片土地，做梦都想。在中国停留了很长一段时间后，我终于在2008年1月抵达韩国的仁川国际机场(Incheon InternationalAirport)。当我走进机场的入境管理处时，心脏狂跳不已。我不知道千言万语该从何说起，也不知道我在他们眼里有多么奇怪，好不容易才鼓起了足够的勇气。
我对他们说，我是一个寻求避难的朝鲜人，然后很快我就被带进了另一个房间。然后突然出现了两个男人，他们似乎是级别较高的官员。他们仔细查看了我的文件，然后开始问我，我是否是中国公民。他们告诉我，我将在期限不详的一段时间内受到监禁，如果我违反了韩国法律，我将被遣返回中国。此后，如果中国政府得知我不是真正的中国公民，我将被送进监狱，遭受重罚，然后再次被遣返，这一次，将回到朝鲜。我承受住了这种压力，请这些官员打电话给韩国国家情报局(National IntelligenceService)。三个小时后，我坐着国家情报局的汽车离开了机场，来到了首尔市区。
四个月后，在初步适应了韩国的生活后，我来到了我今后的居所。这里空无一物，没有电视机，没有家具，甚至连个调羹都没有，我感到空落落的。刚开始，我觉得既害怕又兴奋，但为了在这里安顿下来所面临的挑战远远超出我的预想。我意识到，从教育背景到文化到语言，朝鲜和韩国之间都存在巨大的差异。从外貌来看，我们都是同一个种族，但从内心来看，63年的分隔使我们变得完全不同。
在我遇到的各种困难中，经济问题是最严重的。我发现经济上的拮据会限制一个人实现梦想的能力，无论你有多么热切和诚挚。我很感谢韩国政府通过各种福利计划给我提供的所有帮助，但是这些帮助是远远不够的，因为我们这些叛逃者必须一切从零开始。对朝鲜人抱有的成见和冰冷的眼光是我们难以应对的另一个障碍。有几次当我被孤立的时候，我想自己也许最终会像一个陌生人一样死在这个和我有着共同祖先的国度。我甚至还经历了一场身份危机：我是韩国人？朝鲜人？还是中国人？我不能骄傲地宣称自己是任何一个国家的人。有时候我想，返回中国比留在这里要容易得多。
在经过一年的困惑和错乱之后，我终于努力找到了新生活的意义。然后有一天，我听说我在朝鲜的母亲和哥哥被当局盯上，被迫搬到一个偏远的地区。我为这个问题痛苦了一段时间，决定回去找他们。
我从中国边境偷偷潜入朝鲜，设法帮助他们逃离。我们辗转来到老挝边境，遇到了一个蛇头，我付钱让他把我的家人带到老挝首都万象的韩国大使馆。但是，在我去机场准备返回韩国的路上，我接到一个电话，称我的家人在越境时被抓住了。听到这个消息时，我感到自己都要崩溃了。
我在进入老挝时对这个国家一无所知；我不会说英语，不知道我的家人被带到何处。面对没有人能帮助我这个事实，我再一次感到无力和沮丧。在入境管理处和国家情报局之间来回折返了近50天并支付了罚金之后，我才得以和我的家人重聚。最后我们到了韩国大使馆。
我认为自己是幸运的，因为当我在老挝的时候，我得到了来自各方面人士的许多帮助。这给了我坚持下去的力量。有一次，我问一个澳大利亚人为什么要帮我。他说他并不是在特别地帮助我，而是在帮助所有贫穷无助的朝鲜人。就是在这个时候，我的世界观发生了变化，我意识到在这个地球上还是有很多好人的。我还意识到了生命有多么地宝贵。
在韩国，为了前途，我还在继续学习英语。在这里的朝鲜人如果想要找到一份工作从而使生活安定下来，不懂英语是一大障碍。当我在中国的时候，情况也是如此。为了学习中文，我付出了大量的时间和精力。我从未想到我在韩国也会面临这么大的语言压力。
我还参加了不同机构举办的会计学习班，获得了工作所需的资格证书。所有这些学习活动，再加上兼职工作，让我感到筋疲力尽，但我知道自己必须坚持下去。到了2011年，我付出的努力有了回报，我被韩国外国语大学(Hankuk University of ForeignStudies)汉语系特批录取了。我选择汉语作为我的专业是因为我希望自己能够参与不断发展的中韩贸易活动。
我还和韩国的大学生一起在韩国统一部担任学生记者。我撰写关于朝韩关系以及统一前景的文章。朝韩统一一直是我感兴趣的问题，我简直不能相信自己有机会到统一部工作。另外，我和其他49名从朝鲜逃出来的大学生一起，被英国驻首尔大使馆赞助的“为了将来学英语”项目选中，这使我可以继续学习英语。
我还继续从事一些自愿者工作，此举的出发点是为了感谢我到韩国之后获得的所有帮助，还希望能把这种恩惠反馈给其他需要帮助的人们。
偶尔想起来，我会惊讶于自己变化得这么大这么快。我知道这种变化来之不易，我还要付出更多的努力才能实现我的梦想。这有时会让我感到害怕和压抑，但我确实相信，只要有梦想，就会有将来。在现实生活中，朝韩人民长期怀有的统一愿望看起来似乎更加遥不可及，随着朝韩经济差距越来越大，统一前景变得更加暗淡。
然而，我会尽我所能做好本职工作，准备迎接朝韩统一的这一天。我还希望，通过更加努力的工作，我能为追随梦想来到这片土地的其他人树立一个榜样。
A Defector's Tale: Lee Hyeon-seo
For North Korea defectors living in South Korea, life can be very harsh.Unemployment rates are high and stories of depression and abuse arecommon. The struggle to adjust to a totally different social andeconomic order, often in the face of discrimination, is made all theharder in a society that relies on contacts and familial roots.
Yetthere are success stories, including the recent appointment of a NorthKorean to a high-level government post under the Unification Ministry.
AnotherNorth Korean working for the Unification Ministry is Lee Hyeon-seo. Ms.Lee was also one of the North Koreans chosen for the 'English for theFuture' program sponsored by the British Embassy in Seoul.
Weasked her to write about her defection from the North, her experiencesin adjusting to life in the South and what she does now.
Here's her essay:
LIFE ON THE OTHER SIDE: A North Korean's Account of Life in South Korea
Lee Hyeon-seo
Thereare people who are destined to embrace endless pain and suffering, andthere are people who desire to dream. Everybody dreams, of course. Butdoes anybody desperately want to dream more than the people of NorthKorea? Their lives are spent inside a virtual prison, without knowingwhether they will be subject to oppression, and without even knowingwhat human rights are.
I defected to South Korea in search offreedom of speech and movement. I had longed to put my feet on thissoil, even in my dreams. After a long time in China, in January 2008 Ifinally arrived at Incheon International Airport in South Korea. Myheart was pounding violently as I went inside the immigration office atthe airport. I struggled to gather enough courage, wondering how I wouldstart my speech and how weird I would look in their eyes.
Ideclared that I was a North Korean seeking asylum and was quicklyushered into another room. Then two men suddenly appeared who seemed tobe senior officials. They closely checked my documents and began to askme if I was actually Chinese. They informed me that I would beincarcerated for an unspecified period of time and then deported back toChina if I was in violation of Korean law. Moreover, if the Chinesegovernment learned that I was not actually a Chinese citizen, I would bejailed, heavily fined and then deported again: back to North Korea. Iresisted the pressure and asked the officials to call the NationalIntelligence Service. After three hours, I left the airport in an NIScar and traveled to downtown Seoul.
Four months later, after Ihad been through my orientation for life in South Korea, I entered thehouse where I would be living. I found nothing; no TV set, no furniture,not even a spoon, I felt empty. I started out with mixed feelings offear and excitement, but settling down turned out to be far morechallenging than I had expected. I realized there was a wide gap betweenNorth and South, ranging from educational background to cultural andlinguistic differences. We are a racially homogeneous people on theoutside, but inside we have become very different as a result of the 63years of division.
Among the difficulties I encountered, economicproblems were the worst. I found that financial hardships could limitone's ability to realize one's dream, no matter how desperate andearnest you are. I am grateful for all the help the South Koreangovernment offered through various welfare programs, but it fell farshort of what was needed since we defectors have to start from scratch.Prejudice against North Koreans and icy stares were other obstacles thatwere hard to cope with. There were times when I felt alienated,thinking that I would eventually die as a stranger in a country wherepeople share the same ancestry. I even went through an identity crisis:Am I South Korean? North Korean? Or Chinese? There was no country Icould proudly call my own. Sometimes I thought it would be so mucheasier to return to China.
After a year of confusion anddisorder, I finally managed to find meaning in my new life. Then oneday, I heard that my mom and brother in North Korea had been targeted bythe authorities and were to be forcibly moved to a remote area. Iagonized over the issue for a while and decided to go back for them.
Isneaked in through the Chinese border and managed to help them escape.We traveled to the border with Laos and met a broker who I paid to takethem to the South Korean Embassy in Vientiane, the capital of thecountry. But on my way to the airport to return to South Korea Ireceived a call that my family had been caught as they crossed theborder. When I heard this, I felt shattered.
I entered Laoswithout any knowledge about the country; I spoke no English and had noclue where my family had been taken. Again, I felt powerless andfrustrated, facing the reality that there was no one to help me. Afternearly 50 days of going back and forth between the Immigration Officeand the National Police Agency and after paying fines, I was able tomeet my family again. Eventually we got to the South Korean Embassy.
Iconsider myself lucky because while I was in Laos, I received a lot ofhelp from various people. That gave me the strength to keep going. Once Iasked an Australian why he was helping me. He said he wasn'tparticularly helping me but helping North Koreans the poor and helpless.That's when my view of the world changed and I realized there were manygood people on this planet. I also realized how precious life is.
Herein South Korea, I'm continuing to learn English in order to boost myprospects. When North Korean defectors try to get a job to stabilizetheir lives, their lack of English is a handicap. It was the same storywhile I was living in China. It took an enormous amount of time andenthusiasm to learn Chinese. I never thought I would be under this muchstress about language in South Korea.
I also took accountingclasses at different institutes and obtained the certifications neededfor work. Doing all this, including working part-time jobs, exhausted mebut I knew I had to keep going. In 2011, my hard work paid off when Iwas admitted to the Chinese language department of the Hankuk Universityof Foreign Studies (by special admission). I chose the language as mymajor hoping that I would be able to take part in ever increasing tradewith China.
I've also been working at South Korea's Ministry ofUnification as a student journalist alongside South Korean collegestudents. I write articles about the relationship between North andSouth Korea as well as the possibility for reunification. The issue ofreunification of South and North Korea has always interested me and Ican't really believe I've had the opportunity to work at the ministry.Furthermore, I was chosen among 50 college students who had escaped fromNorth Korea for the 'English for the Future' program sponsored by theBritish Embassy in Seoul, which helps me keep up my English studies.
Ialso continue to do some volunteer work, which I started out ofgratitude for all the aid I have received since I came here and of hopeto return the favor to other people in need.
Occasionally, I amsurprised that I have changed so much and so quickly. I know that thisdidn't come easily and I feel that there's much more to be done torealize my dream. That makes me scared and depressed at times but I dobelieve when there's a dream, there's a future. In reality, Koreans'long-cherished desire of unification seems more distant, with theprospects getting bleaker as the economic gap between the two Koreasgets evermore wider.
Still, I will do my best in my position toprepare for the day when the two Koreas become one. And I hope, withmore hard work, I can serve as an example for others to come to thisland to follow their dream.
Alastair Gale