Why some North Korean defectors return to one of the world’s most repressive regimes

More than one month since the man crossed the demilitarized zone from South to North Korea, much of his life in both countries remains a mystery — as do his reasons for returning to the isolated nation ruled by Kim Jong Un. South Korean media reported that the defector — who hasn’t been officially named, although fellow defectors say he was called Kim Woo-jeong in South Korea — was a former gymnast who largely kept to himself. According to South Korean police, he was a construction worker in his 30s who earned money by doing manual labor. The man’s case is rare — while more than 10,000 North Korean defectors have arrived in South Korea in the past decade, just 30 have returned home, where they face the prospect of being put into forced labor camps, according to official South Korean data.But defectors and advocates say even if the man’s rationale for leaving South Korea is unclear, the fact that some North Korean defectors are willing to return to one of the world’s most politically isolated countries only highlights how challenging life can be in the South for North Koreans.Why people defectSince the But the hardest part for Kim is the separation from her family. South Korean law prevents any communication with people in North Korea and South Koreans cannot travel there. Unless Kim sneaks back into North Korea, or the two Koreas reach a peace agreement, she has little chance of seeing her family again. Kim last saw her daughter when she was 17 — now her daughter is 28. Kim is only able to communicate with her family through journalists who take letters and gifts for her to North Korea, but that hasn’t been possible since North Korea closed its borders due to the At one point, soldiers mistook him for a defector coming from the North. At another point, they went to find him. Later, they found no trace of him except a feather caught on a wire that they suspected had come from his puffer jacket. There were “no unusual movements” of the North Korean military over the incident, South Korea’s Defense Ministry spokesman Boo Seung-chan said last month at another briefing. And while North Korean state media has crowed about past defectors returning home, there has been no mention of last month’s defector in state news publications.For those in South Korea, it’s a reminder that the country’s policies to help defectors could still be improved. Last week, the South Korean government announced it was launching a new team to improve the safety of defectors, noting that despite its current efforts, some defectors were still “experiencing difficulties settling into our society.”But defector advocates were dubious about how effective those new steps would be, pointing out that support measures are in place — they just don’t work.Even defectors who appear to have successfully made their transition sometimes struggle with the pull back to North Korea.Two years after she defected, Kang Na-ra told her mother she wanted to go back. But she didn’t want to risk her life after going through so much to get to South Korea. Now Kang, 25, is a television personality and YouTuber with more than 300,000 subscribers who watch her clips about life in North Korea. Her income is unstable, but at least she’s enjoying life. “Still today, I wonder if I made the right decision,” she said. “Life here is tough.”Saeeun Park and Seoyeon Youn contributed to this story from Seoul, South Korea.