Winter in North Korea is harsh. Photo: Thomas Imo/Getty
Joseph Kim was 12 years old when his father starved to death. during the devastating famine that gripped North Korea in the early 1990s.
“Then one day my sister and my mother disappeared,” he said.
Some time later, he learned that his mother had crossed the border into China and, in desperation, had sold her sister in marriage to a Chinese man. But she was caught trying to return to North Korea and sent to prison, leaving Mr. Kim alone on the streets of Undok, a town near the Chinese border in North Korea's far northeast.
Forced. To fend for himself, he became one of the “kkotjebi,” or flowering swallows, a poetic name given to the homeless in North Korea, most of whom are children abandoned by their parents or elderly abandoned by families who can no longer live. take care of them.
Secretly spread by activist networks, reports suggest that the number of homeless people in North Korea is on the rise and food shortages are back.
Mr. Kim, who fled the country in 2006 and is now an employee of George W. Bush -junior. The Dallas Institute think tank knows exactly what they're going through.
Fighting for survival
After being abandoned by his immediate family, he was taken in by his aunts and uncles, but it became clear that he was a burden to families who were already struggling to survive.
“I thought it would be better if I ended up on the street, even if it means that I am not guaranteed three meals a day,” he said. “I wanted freedom and I knew no one wanted me.”
Mr. Kim survived by his wits by begging from farmers, markets or train stations. According to him, one could often rely on the generosity of grandmothers, as well as, surprisingly, on soldiers. Mr. Kim says he suspects they took pity on him as they too were young and away from their families.
When begging didn't work, he stole. Markets and stations offered the richest booty for a pickpocket, although there was always a chance that he would be caught.
One early morning, he stole a metal grill from the street in Undok to sell for scrap metal when he saw a group of teenagers watching him .
Stealing coal from houses
“I knew I had to make a choice: run or stay,” he said. “If I ran, they would have caught me, and there were three of them, so they could have taken everything I had with them. But I had nothing, so I stayed.”
One of the boys asked if he had a lighter, and in the moonlight he recognized a childhood friend. Mr. Kim was accepted into the gang, and on the first night they broke into the house to steal coal.
Over the next months, they eked out a existence, breaking into houses and taking any food or objects. what they could sell. During the winter months (the average temperature in Undok in January is minus 11°C), they took over abandoned buildings.
This first gang did not last long, as three boys were caught and Mr. Kim never saw them again , but he made similar alliances with other homeless children.
Mr. Kim survived on the streets for three years before escaping, deciding to go in search of his sister.
Questioned If he had me able to find out anything about her, Mr. Kim answered briefly: “Nothing.”
He said: “I did not survive because I was better than other boys at begging or stealing; I survived because I knew that my parents and sister loved me. It kept me going.”
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