Tea with Jihyun Park

Jihyun Park has survived the brutality of the North Korean regime: labour camps, starvation and torture. Now she has a new life in Britain, where she will once again stand for the Conservatives as a councillor in this year’s local elections.

 

Editor: Yours is an incredible story. You arrived in the UK in 2008, after escaping from North Korea twice. Could you tell our readers a little bit about your journey?

Jihyun Park: Yes, that’s right. I escaped North Korea, the first time was in 1998. Then we went to China, but I was human trafficked and sold to a Chinese man. In 1999 my son was born, but he was a stateless child because the Chinese government never accepted him; the reason being that I was North Korean. The system is the same as North Korea, so my son was stateless. He never went to hospital or nursey school. I was also a kind of stateless person in China, because I had no passport or any legal identification. So five years later I was repatriated to North Korea, because China always finds out about North Korean refugees, and sends them back to North Korea. North Korea and China made an agreement in the 1980’s, and Russia also made a new agreement to send back North Korean refugees.

So I was sent back to North Korea in 2004. I was separated from my son, because he was alone in China. I stayed in a North Korean labour camp, but after I injured my leg I almost died inside the camp. They told me you cannot die inside the camp, you die outside. So they released me, and at that time I was almost dead, because my leg was so bad people told me I would need to amputate it, otherwise you won’t survive. But my son was waiting for me in China, so I had to survive.

Editor: That was my next question to you, how on earth did you survive? After multiple arrests, being sent to labour camps, and being tortured as well?

Jihyun Park: Yes. Not only me, it’s the same for everyone. They can be tortured anytime – if we work slowly, they just directly, immediately torture us. And also inside the camp, the hygiene is really bad. There was no water, no sanitary supplies for women who were menstruating. We just had to use towels, but we couldn’t wash them. So females were often covered in blood. My team worked on the farm, but they did not allow us to wear shoes so we worked barefoot.

In North Korea there is no pavement, just stones and glass everywhere. So when you step on them you’re bleeding, but you must continue to work. If you don’t work they just torture you. If anyone has an accident, they don’t care – you must keep working. Everyone is tortured in the camp.

Editor: And you managed not to give up because of your son, he was your strength?

Jihyun Park: Yes. I lost all my family in North Korea. So my son is my last family. When I lived in China, my son gave me hope and dreams. That’s why I survived in China too, and in North Korea it was the same. My son is my last hope, and I have responsibilities and care about him, because I am a mother.

Editor: It’s a remarkable story – you’ve been to hell. If there is a hell on earth, you’ve already experienced it.

Jihyun Park: Yes. You know, usually people say that jokingly, ‘Oh, this is hell!’, but they don’t understand the real meaning of the word.

Editor: You’re right, of course. But now you live in Britain, how is life for you now, it’s improved obviously?!

Jihyun Park: Oh Yes! I lived in hell in North Korea, and now England for me it’s heaven. It is a totally different life, I feel born again in the UK.

Editor: Are you still working as a language tutor for your fellow North Koreans?

Jihyun Park: Not to North Koreans no. My work is teaching Korean to non-Korean speakers, and I continue to help teaching English to refugees.

Editor: That’s wonderful, because obviously you know how it feels to arrive in a foreign country and not understand the language. The fact that you can directly help them must be a nice feeling?

Jihyun Park: Yes, because in 2008 when I came to the UK, I didn’t speak any English. Sometimes when I met my neighbours in the morning or afternoon, they said to us ‘How are you?’, but I didn’t answer them because I didn’t understand what it meant. I was really ashamed. That’s the first problem, language. The second problem is my children go to English school. They learn English in school, and then bring home letters and homework, but we didn’t understand any of it! So I started learning English, and also over time I have learned about English culture.

And that has really opened my eyes. My first work project was teaching English to refugees. And for refugees, when they find a new life in a different country, if they don’t know the language, they can’t truly understand happiness or freedom, and sometimes they can’t communicate with their children.

Editor: I’ve got a similar problem myself! My wife speaks English well, and my children obviously they’re mostly Korean, they go to school and I’m kind of the stupid person that doesn’t understand very well. So I’m trying to get better at that!

Jihyun Park: The same as me! My children speak English, but sometimes I don’t understand the words they say. I ask my children many times…

Editor: Yes, they have to translate right?

Jihyun Park: Yes. The children now are my teachers!

Editor: I understand you joined the conservatives in 2016. What appealed to you about the Conservative Party?

Jihyun Park: In 2015 I visited the European Parliament, because I wanted to talk about refugee issues. But the first time I went, I was shocked. There are 27 countries which sit down in parliament to discuss their own issues. But in the UK, it feels much more like our own laws come first. To me it’s like the family. We respect our family first, and the family comes first. But the EU seems totally different – first you respect the EU rules, and after that your own country’s rules. It was really confusing for me, because I have not been European for a long time, only seven years.

It reminded me of North Korea, because there we lived 30 families in one apartment (block). Every family has their own private issues, but in North Korea they never respected family rules, because everything is public – like inminbanjang (state official who monitor and control small groups of families), so I thought the European Union was similar to that. And then in 2016 the Brexit issue, I voted to leave the European Union.

Editor: Oh, so you’re a Brexiteer? Good for you, me too!

Jihyun Park: Yes. So then I joined the Conservative Party, because my values are freedom, justice and the happy family. And those are conservative values. When I voted to leave the European Union, many activists asked me, ‘You’re a human rights activist, why did you vote that way?’ Yes, I’m a human rights activist, but I also care about our future too; my children’s future. We need to respect our country first; our people first.

Editor: I understand you stood in the local elections for Moorside last year, and I know you didn’t win, but you came second – a great achievement. Is it right that you’re the first North Korean person to stand for office in Britain?

Jihyun Park: Not only me, no. There was another refugee who stood in Manchester last year, so in fact there were two.

Editor: Second is still a tremendous achievement – do you think that you will continue to pursue a political career in the future?

Jihyun Park: Yes, I will stand again in this year’s elections. Last year was a by-election, and this year is a full local election. I will stand again, this time as a candidate in Ramsbottom, in the Bury area.

Editor: I hope you win, I will tell everyone to vote for you in Ramsbottom.

Jihyun Park: Thank you. I feel like politics provides a chance to help everyone, if you save one family you can save the world. The UK saved my family, my children have a bright future in the UK. Now I want to help other families to find their happiness.  So, I will continue my political career, and hope to help local people.

Editor: Last question, I understand you start the day in true British fashion with a cup of tea, is that right?

Jihyun Park: Yes. In North Korea and China too, I have never experienced this kind of culture. But here, the first five years was really hard for us because of the language and cultural barriers. But one day, when I had come to understand the culture a little bit, we had a cup of tea with some family friends. That was a totally new experience for me, and a genuine happiness, because it was freedom. Some people like milk or sugar in their tea, but I don’t like it with anything. In North Korea, if you have tea the government decides whether you have milk or sugar – everyone has the same thing. But here, I can choose for myself. When I went to the café, I was really worried because I needed soya milk, and I didn’t know what the assistant would say. But she didn’t complain, she just added soya milk for me. I was so happy to have freedom of choice!

Editor: It’s so lovely talking with you; I could go on all day. You’re an inspiration for many people, and I wish you all the best in the local elections, and your future career.

Jihyun Park: Thank you.

 

Jihyun Park is on Twitter.

And here, for Bury Conservatives.