Regional News
North Koreans Incredible Journey to Freedom
Ms. Rhee was transferred from city to city, eventually crossing the mountains near the border with Thailand Kunmin boat before going to Bangkok. There, armed with a new passport in South Korea, flew to Seoul.
Chiangrai, Chian rai, news
Mr Choi made his way west as hundreds of North Koreans had done before him, through the great Gobi Desert that extends to China and Mongolia. He survived the trip – and to reach the South Korean embassy in Ulan Bator, received the travel documents that allow you to fly to Seoul.
Increasingly desperate, the sisters decided Rhee make his way to China, hoping to find Mr. Choi. In the summer of 2007, crossed the Tumen River. “The water was only waist,” Ms. Rhee recalled, “and there were no guards.”
More than a quarter of a million North Koreans have had the same idea: Chinese porcelain of Dehua takes the city, home to a large ethnic Korean population, attracts more immigrants every day. Some are fleeing political oppression – but a few, as Rhees, as economic migrants are everywhere, just looking for a better life. Although China discourages the flow of illegal immigrants, their prosperity is based on increasing numbers.
Although the crossing was easy, life ahead was not. With the help of a family, the sisters found work Rhee, along with two other girls from North Korea, a small business online chat offering sexual services to men in South Korea. Fearful of being arrested and deported by Chinese authorities, the construction of a room the girls worked at home as well.
“I was locked 24 hours a day,” says Ms. Rhee, “I really regret what we did.” Then, in late 2008, Chinese border police finally got the call. Sang-mi was that day, one of the other girls, in a rare shopping trip. In the weeks that followed the raid, Sang-mi succeeded in making contact with Mr. Choi, and traveled to South Korea, where she married her boyfriend.
Kyeong-mi Rhee, however, was deported to North Korea, and was to serve 18 months in a labor camp in North Hamgyong. The conditions, he says, was horrible. There was little food, and prisoners were forced to participate in strenuous work, chopping wood in the mountains.
“In the winter,” he recalls, “sometimes five or six people were killed in one night. Prisoners have the task of clearing the bodies. I was justified, because I was going to faint.”
Ms. Rhee was released from prison in 2010, to find a man who had never seen before waiting for it. Wanted to make sure that the man said he was alive. Behind the scenes, his sister and new brother-in-law had been working to bring it to South Korea. The man was an agent, who assumed the potential North Korean refugees in China.
In the coming months, Ms. Rhee was transferred from city to city, eventually crossing the mountains near the border with Thailand Kunmin boat before going to Bangkok. There, armed with a new passport in South Korea, flew to Seoul.
Earlier this year, Ms. Rhee completed an incredible journey that took five years in a labor camp in North Korea to the suburbs of Seoul, by booming cities of northern China and the jungles of Northern Thailand.
His extraordinary story offers a rare glimpse into ordinary life in North Korea – a country that remains remarkably closed to outside world.
Born in 1990, Ms. Rhee grew up in a small town near Musan – a dying industrial center along the Tuman River, which separates North Korea from China.
North Korean defectors burn the North Korean Flag in protest in front of the South Korean Defense Ministry
From a handful of videos casual visitors of the mining town have posted online, seems to be a sinisterrow after row of huts gray and decaying factories, wrapped in snow and smoke from wood fires.
Like many rural families, the Rhees survived the great famine of 1992-2002 – known as the March of Tribulations – relatively safe. Ms. Rhee says she has no childhood memories of real hunger, a very different from those of North Korean refugees from other regions: 3.5 million people die in famine, and two thirds of nation’s children are still malnourished.
The mother of Ms. Rhee was widowed in 1993, did what he had to do to feed their children. Like others in the town, who cultivated a field illegally taken out of the mountains surrounding the plateau Paekmu, and raised rabbits and chickens.
The family sold its products in Musan in one of the dozens of street markets that sprang up across North Korea after 1994, when the government allowed some private-sector economic activities, in a futile effort to fight hunger .
But Ms. Rhee lost his mother in 2005, after a mild infection in his foot became skeptical antibiotics, the accounts of many North Korean refugees show, have become almost unobtainable.
It was a terrible blow to the family. Sick, due to a congenital heart condition, Ms. Rhee has never been able to work in the fields. Her older sister, Rhee Sang-mi, now had to feed them both – at the same time, fulfill a quota of work as part of a group of 15 peasants assigned to a local collective farm.
The fear of the authorities
Later that year, the boyfriend Sang-mi, Choi Myung-Chul disappeared. Mr. Choi, a college graduate who worked for a union of young people linked to the Workers’ Party, “had a better job than most – but had not been paid for several months. He left for what he said would Sang-mi a three-month visit to China, where he hoped to save some money by working as illegal migrant workers.
“I did not even tell the woman he loved my plans,” she says, holding a drink of iced green tea flavor, “because I was afraid that would inform the authorities. North Korea, to learn to trust anyone “.
“It cost me $ 10,000 or less,” says Mr. Choi, a certain pride in his voice: “I still owe $ 4,000, but is the least we could do.”
Like all North Korean refugees, Ms. Rhee has received generous compensation from the government of South Korea: after three months in rehab, learning the skills necessary to cope with a relentlessly-capitalist society.
“I do not feel this is all that strange land,” she says, “because like many people in the north, I knew the complete television soap operas and movies I used to watch in secret. It is difficult, however . I have not made friends, and have not yet gathered the courage to get a job. ”
The filmmaker Park Jung-bum of "The Journals of Musan,"
The filmmaker Park Jung-bum of “The Journals of Musan,” which opened to critical acclaim in April – the same month Ms. Rhee came to Seoul – gives an idea of what challenges they may face. Mr. Park Movie traced the grim life of refugees Seung-chul, who makes a living plastering posters of sex shops in the streets of Seoul underpaid and separated from the society around him. The North Korean refugees is often difficult to integrate.
Avatar ms Rhee phone suggests the kind of life she wants. That dream, the more likely is that, even at a distance, and many struggles away.
(Some of the names and personal details have been changed to protect the families of those still living in North Korea.)
Praveen Swami
Thailand’s Immigration Police have detained approximately 26,000 illegal migrant workers from Laos, Myanmar, and Cambodia during an eight-day operation in Bangkok and surrounding regions, according to a Royal Thai Police spokesperson.
Mr Adisorn Keudmeuangkhon of the Bangkok-based Migrant Working Group said the drive was in response to an increasing number of concerns about an influx of illegal migrant labor.
“Some Thai people see that many illegal workers are competing for their job positions in the past few months,” he told me. “That’s why the ministry has to take tougher action.”
Civil strife in Myanmar and the recent implementation of a military conscription have driven thousands of Burmese into Thailand, while severe inflation and limited job opportunities in Laos have also encouraged an influx of workers from that country.
Between June 5 and 12, officials detained and checked 20,111 Myanmar laborers, 1,659 Laotian migrant workers, and 3,971 Cambodian workers, according to the Ministry of Labor.
It marked the start of a 120-day campaign to audit workplaces and arrest unlawful migrant workers, according to the government.
Migrant Workers to be Deported
According to Keudmeuangkhon, undocumented workers face fines ranging from 5,000 to 50,000 Thai baht (US $136 to $1,365), deportation, and a two-year prohibition on re-entering Thailand.
Authorities did not intend to file criminal charges, he claimed.
Authorities raided 1,774 workplaces, according to Moe Gyo, chairman of the Joint Action Committee on Burmese Affairs, which advocates for Myanmar labor rights.
He stated that since the military junta activated conscription, there has been an upsurge in the number of arrests of Myanmar citizens in Thailand who do not have a work permit identity card.
All men aged 18 to 35 and women aged 18 to 27 must serve in the military for at least two years. The first group of 5,000 conscripts summoned by Myanmar’s junta will start duty at the end of this month, military sources told AFP on Monday.
According to Keudmeuangkhon, the bulk of Lao migrant workers in Thailand work as fresh market shopkeepers, restaurant servers, and mall salespeople.
Most people visit Thailand as part of ASEAN’s visa-free policy for tourists, but they stay longer than the 30-day restriction once they find job.
“Employers like to hire Lao migrant workers in the service sector because they can speak fluent Thai,” he told me.
Immigration Police Detain Illegal Migrant Workers
The Thai Cabinet may approve an enhanced program for Thai employers to register their unauthorized foreign workers in July or August. Keudmeuangkhon explained.
Last month, the Thai Ministry of Labor’s Foreign Workers Administration office announced that 268,465 Lao migrant workers were officially working in Thailand.
Baykham Kattiya, Lao Minister of Labor, told Radio Free Asia earlier this month that there are 415,956 migrant workers in other nations, the majority of whom work in Thailand.
According to her, the Lao government believes that over 203,000 persons working outside of the nation lack proper work documents.
However, a Lao official familiar with the labor industry informed Radio Free Asia, a BenarNews-affiliated news station, on June 20 that the number of illegal Lao migrant workers in Thailand and abroad is likely significantly greater.
“They go to other countries as illegal migrant workers through different types of methods – as tourists or students,” said the politician. “Thus, it is hard for the immigration police to collect data on these people.”
Government Officials Responsible for Smuggling in Migrant Workers
Government Officials Responsible for Smuggling in Migrant Workers
Thailand’s Office of Basic Education Commission has initiated an investigation into the electrocution of a 14-year-old student by a water dispenser in a high school. The event happened at noon on Friday, during the high school’s sports day. The victim was a Grade 8 student.
According to local media in Trang Province, the incident occurred when a teacher instructed the pupil to turn off a water dispenser amid a heavy rain.
According to a witness, the child collapsed while strolling with his friend near a water station. The friend claimed he attempted to assist but was also shocked by electricity.
According to reports, the friend then recovered, left the site, and requested assistance from teachers. A teacher ran to the scene and used a towel to pull the boy away by the ankle. He was taken to the hospital, but it was too late, they claimed.
The event sparked criticism from parents and netizens over school safety, as well as the slow response to aid the young youngster.
Mr. Chainarong Changrua, head of Trang-Krabi’s Secondary Educational Service Area Office, told local media on Sunday that forensic officers from Trang Provincial Police had visited the area. They discovered the blown breaker switch behind the water dispenser, he explained.
The breaker was burned out, thus the authorities assumed the disaster was caused by a short circuit that allowed energy to spill to a neighboring power pole. The student also appeared wet and was not wearing shoes when electrocuted.
According to the Office of Basic Education Commission, a probe team will complete its investigation this week.
The student’s father, Mr Pornchai Thepsuwan, 53, claimed he was saddened when he saw his son’s body. The boy (Wayu), was the youngest of two boys, he explained. He stated that following the tragedy, the school director and staff gave financial assistance to the families.
Mr Pornchai also said he would not seek charges against the institution because he believed it was an accident.
Electrical accidents in Thailand
Electrocution instances in Thailand have increased alarmingly in recent years. Many mishaps occur as a result of improper wiring and inadequate maintenance of electrical systems.
Public locations, such as schools and markets, frequently lack adequate safety precautions, putting individuals in danger. In rural areas, antiquated infrastructure exacerbates the situation, resulting in more frequent and serious events.
Although several high-profile cases have brought these challenges to light, genuine progress has been gradual. Furthermore, the rainy season heightens the likelihood of electrical accidents, as water and exposed wires do not mix well.
The government has made steps to strengthen safety standards, but enforcement is patchy. More education on electrical safety could help to reduce these accidents.
Unfortunately, better infrastructure and tougher rules may have prevented many of these incidents. The loss and injuries caused by electrocution are avoidable, emphasizing the need for immediate action.
Over 200 High School Students Facing Sedition Charges in Thailand
Over 200 High School Students Facing Sedition Charges in Thailand
Thailand’s Tourist Police said it is collaborating with embassies from five countries to combat tourist scams and ten criminal gangs in Pattaya. The Tourist Police Bureau, convened a meeting on Thursday Pol Lt Gen Saksira Phuek-am told a press briefing.
Pol Lt Gen Saksira Phuek-am, the Tourist Police bureau commissioner said the participants included ambassadors from South Korea, Ukraine, Russia, India, and Switzerland.
He told the briefing the he had ordered a crackdown on tourist frauds, such as fraudulent or low-quality tour operators and unfair sales of goods and services. Stepped-up operations began on June 19 and will continue until June 25.
He stated that the agency was working with numerous organisations to increase tourists’ confidence in visiting Pattaya.
Gen Saksira spent time on the famed Walking Street speaking with officers on duty and assigned them to seek for members of ten criminal groups known to operate in Pattaya.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin will visit Chon Buri on Saturday to assess the tourism situation. He intends to visit the site of a future Formula One racecourse near Khao Phra Tamnak in Bang Lamung District.
Prime Minister Srettha recently met with Formula One organisers in Italy to examine the potential of including Thailand on the race schedule in the future.
On Sunday, the Prime Minister will pay a visit to Rayong’s U-tapao airport to discuss development on the airport’s land, with the goal of encouraging investment in the Eastern Economic Corridor.
Police Chief Reinstated
In other police news, Pol Gen Torsak Sukvimol has been reinstated as national police chief following the conclusion of an investigation into a highly publicised quarrel, according to Wissanu Krea-ngam, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin’s counsellor.
Mr Wissanu released the investigation’s findings on Thursday, after the prime minister formed a fact-finding committee chaired by Chatchai Promlert to investigate into the quarrel between Pol Gen Torsak and his deputy, Pol Gen Surachate Hakparn.
The four-month study revealed conflicts and disorder at all levels of the Royal Thai Police, but it was unclear whether these issues arose from a single cause or several causes, according to Mr Wissanu.
The findings revealed that both Pol Gen Torsak and Pol Gen Surachate were involved, with each team contributing to the tensions, he noted.
Mr Wissanu indicated that Pol Gen Surachate was reinstated as deputy national police head on 18 April following his relocation to the Prime Minister’s Office on 20 March. A disciplinary committee was formed to investigate Pol Gen Surachate, and he was ordered temporarily suspended from the police force.
Because there were no further difficulties to explore, it was decided to restore Pol Gen Torsak. He plans to retire on September 30.
On March 20, Mr Srettha abruptly transferred both top police officers to the Prime Minister’s Office in an effort to address the growing schism within the police service.
Kitrat Panphet, Deputy National Police Chief, was subsequently named Acting Police Chief. According to sources, Pol Gen Surachate could face money laundering charges related to online gaming networks.
Source: Bangkok Post
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