Laura Pohl's Proposal

Beginning in the summer of 2005, I will spend a year photographing the everyday experiences of North Koreans who have defected to South Korea

After the Headlines: The Human Dimension of North Korean Defectors

They periodically burst into the headlines: North Koreans who have trekked to China, crashed the gates or scaled the walls of a foreign embassy in Beijing and requested asylum in South Korea. This scene played out half a dozen times in the two-and-a-half years I worked as a business reporter in Seoul. I always wondered what happened to these people once they arrived in South Korea. Where did they live and work? How did they adjust to their new lives? What were their hobbies and interests in this new country?

My documentary project will help answer these questions by exploring the everyday experiences of North Koreans who have defected to South Korea. I will photograph the daily lives of two or three individuals or groups to document the lives they lead in South Korea. I want to show how they interact with each other and with the general public. I want to show their work lives, school lives and family lives. I want to show their joys and sorrows.

The number of defectors coming to South Korea increases every year and brings to the forefront important social issues such as the integration of people who are different Ð yet the same Ð into a homogeneous society. According to South Korea's Unification Ministry, 1,513 North Koreans defected to South Korea between January and September 2004. That is more than the 1,285 people who came in 2003 and the 1,140 people who came in 2002. Unification Ministry data show that South Korea is now home to a total of 5,923 defectors.

The experiences of this growing minority population are a microcosm of what could happen in the event of unification, the goal of both the South Korean and North Korean governments. Defectors arrive in South Korea often expecting to feel a kinship bond since the north and south share a history and culture that date back thousands of years before the end of World War II divided the Korean peninsula.

For many North Koreans, the reality is different and the adjustment is hard. They often face discrimination because of their 'strange' accents and their different body stature when compared with South Koreans. North Koreans must learn seemingly simple tasks such as driving a car and opening a bank account. Many have trouble coping in a society where people compete for jobs. Further complicating their adjustment is the fact that many feel a deep sadness because of the families and friends they left behind in the north Ð and may never see again. This issue is an inherently political one, but I do not intend to focus at all on politics. Through pictures, I want to contribute to the understanding of this sensitive issue.

I have already found my first photo subjects: defectors receiving help from the Citizens' Alliance for North Korean Human Rights (NKHR), a South Korean non-governmental, non-profit, non-partisan organization based in Seoul. I picked NKHR based on their commitment to helping defectors of all ages adjust to their new lives in South Korea while remaining relatively politically neutral. Woo Misun, an NKHR associate, and Benjamin Yoon, the NKHR representative, have invited me to photograph educational and social activities including a summer school and winter camp for children.

Through photographing NKHR's activities, I will be able to build personal connections and trust and I will be able to pinpoint certain people or groups for more intimate stories. Representatives at NKHR truly understand the idea that 'a picture is worth a thousand words' and want to facilitate this trust between me and the defectors helped by NKHR. Once I have found subjects, I will spend three to four months intensively photographing each person or group. Ideally, I will find people at different stages of adjustment to life in South Korea.

Beyond NKHR, several contacts have agreed to help me during my time in South Korea. Nam Sung Wook, professor of North Korean studies at Korea University, will offer me guidance and counsel. Choe Sang-hun, an Associated Press reporter in Seoul who often writes issues related to North Korea, has also agreed to be a sounding board and source. Finally, Park Hyun Ok, a New York University East Asian studies professor, has agreed to share knowledge and possibly some sources in South Korea.