North Korean Defector/Refugee Commits Suicide

Last week, my good friend Mr. Joe sent me this article.

Won Kyung Seo's body was found hanging at his family's home on June 18th. His wife was found dead with stab wounds. According to the article, Seo family defected North Korea and settled in Rochester, GA a year and a half ago.

The Seos were a family of four refugees from North Korea and their journey to Rochester was all but easy. They escaped one of the most oppressive, isolated nations in the world and in doing so, they faced the threat of execution every step of the way... 

...On Saturday, June 18th, police found the body of Won Kyung Seo hanging in the upstairs apartment of his family’s home on South Clinton Avenue. His wife Young Hwa Kim, had fatal stab wounds. One of their sons found their bodies and police say it was an apparent murder-suicide.

I'm starting to get a feeling that Mr. Seo probably killed his wife, out of impulse anger while they were arguing, then took his life after he realized what he did. The article does state that Mr. Seo and his wife had marital issues and police were called because of their fights.

Only Mr. Seo and his family knows what really happened on Saturday night but those who knew the family say the couple had marital issues. Neighbors say the sons have had to call the police to their home before because of their parents’ fights.
Domestic violence happens to people in all situations and from all backgrounds. But add to that the stresses of being in a new country. It doesn’t make anything better.

 Maybe after months of having marital issue with his wife, he lashed out at the moment and took an action that he regretted.

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This wasn't the first time a North Korean defector committed a suicide. I found another case where a North Korean defector/refugee committed suicide in 2010. (This is an article from The Korea Times. Ignore the ads)

A North Korean refugee, one of the first six defectors the United States admitted in 2006, recently took his own life, the Voice of America reported.

His wife told the U.S. government-funded radio network that he was found hanging at their residence in New York, Monday. 

Joseph Shin reportedly suffered from mood swings and depression, but police said they have yet to determine the exact cause of death...

It seems to me, the case of Joseph Shin is not very similar to Mr. Seo's case. Buy, if I were to find common grounds in relation to their suicide, they both couldn't cope with the situations surrounding them.

Joseph Shin and five others who were the first six defectors who were admitted to U.S. in 2006. You can read about it here. When they first arrived in U.S., it seems to me that they were surprised by everything they have seen.

"Now that we've come here, it's hard to believe that such a world as North Korea can exist," she said... In Manhattan and in New Jersey, where they first stayed on arriving in the U.S. two weeks ago, Joseph Shin said he was struck by "people in all kinds of fashion and different colors. It hit us that we are in a different country."

 The size of the houses where they stayed in a suburb of Washington, D.C. -- a neighborhood much like Los Angeles' Hancock Park -- astonished them too, a huge contrast to the single rooms of most North Korean families. The homes are "like a palace or a castle," said his sister, Chan Mi.

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I wondered why Seo killed his wife and then took his own life, and Joseph Shin would hang himself for quite some time now. My assumption is this. The defectors come from a country where they were brainwashed all their life. They were constantly brainwashed to hate the American Imperialist and were shown anti-American propaganda everywhere they went. (Even the little kids sing songs about killing Americans.) After escaping from North Korea, through China, some go to South Korea and some go to U.S., and are given an opportunity to start a new life. I'm sure some of the defectors learn to cope with the changes and learn to leave their past behind, with help from the local church/counseling and in hope of greater future. However, I can only assume that some defectors just can't let go their past and have trouble adapting to their new environment, often suffering from depression and mood swings. Also, because some defectors leave their families behind to make their escape, they live in guilt(?). Probably in guilt of the fact that while they live in autonomy, their families are still in North Korea suffering from starvation, malnutrition, and constant fear of death and Kim Jong-il coming after them. I can't fully imagine what goes through the defectors' minds, and I can only assume what they might be going through. I may be wrong entirely, but my prayer really goes out to those defectors who are really trying to live a new life.

Some may ask, why don't you just send them to South Korea?

Well.. it seems like some North Korean defectors in South Korea are also having trouble fully adapting to their new environment.

For people who are wondering how defectors made their escape from North Korea, you can read this article from Durihana.