hankyoreh

By Jung Hwan-bong and Heo Jae-hyun, staff reporters

In April 2004, she succeeded in defecting from North Korea. But once she arrived in the South Korea of her dreams, it was impossible to find a good job. During her eight years in the country, her only employment was a two-year stint as a masseuse at a skin care center. As she was struggling to keep food on the table, the woman, identified by her surname Choe, heard a rumor early last year about a way she could make some serious money: false asylum.

The broker instructed Choe (now 26) to take out 42 million won (US$37,500) in loans from various commercial and savings banks and private lenders by way of a "loan brokering office." After giving the broker a commission of about 13 million won (US$11,600), she boarded a plane to France on April 13, 2012.

She then paid another 3 million won (US$2,700) as additional commission to a broker in France before taking a train to Belgium. Hiding her South Korean passport, she presented herself as a recent defector and filed for asylum with the Belgian government. But after finishing just one of three rounds of interviews, she became worried about the uncertainty of the outcome and made her way back to South Korea in February.

Having failed at her asylum application, she was booked without detention by police on charges of fraud and document forgery. According to a June 5 announcement by the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's international crimes squad, a 44-year-old broker identified by the surname Lee was arrested on the same charges. A search is now on for two other defectors, one of them a 31-year-old woman identified by the surname Hwang. One already succeeded with an asylum application, while the other is currently going through the procedures. A local broker, who is also a defector, is wanted by police.

The broker Lee is alleged to have set up four bogus companies between November 2011 and May 2012 to pretend employment and provide documentation for defectors attempting to seek false asylum. After supplying the documents to help the defectors take out loans, Lee is believed to have taken a commission of 30%.

Cash was also supplied through various credit cards in the defectors' names, which were used for fraudulent transactions. Lee is alleged to have lured defectors in with promises of easy living abroad.

The defectors are believed to have turned to false asylum because of difficulty adapting to life in South Korea and financial hardship due to the expenses of the defection process.

A 44-year-old defector surnamed Kang said, "Brokering costs for defection run over 10 million won (US$8,900), and you sign an agreement to pay it back when you get to South Korea. But the initial settlement money you get from the government is just 7 million won (US$6,200), and it's hard to find a decent job."

"Defectors end up considering the false asylum because they're being threatened over their inability to repay the brokering costs," she explained.

Another defector, a 36-year-old named Kim, said the brokers work by "playing up the good aspects" of false asylum and squeezing money from defectors who are having difficulty adapting to South Korea.

In addition to Belgium, other countries reportedly used for asylum applications include the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Australia. While basic livelihood security recipients in South Korea receive between 600,000 and 800,000 won (US$540-710) a month, refugee settlement stipends in those countries amount to US$900-1,100 a month.

"Social service benefits are something else to consider when you're choosing which country to seek asylum in," Kang said.

But even the successful applicants often have difficulty adapting. Kang explained, "A lot of people come back because they can't speak the language and they don't make as much money as they think. The ones who don't come back often end up living a life of crime, sometimes brokering other people's false asylum trips."

Police are working with Interpol to determine the whereabouts of the defectors who are currently wanted. They also plan to widen their investigation, convinced there may be more undiscovered cases.

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]