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Members of the Korea Parent Federation and other conservative groups hold a protest against the Sewol sinking victims’ families outside Yeongdeungpo Police Station in Seoul

“What would I do if I stayed at home?”

Na Yeong-sik, a North Korea defector who came to South Korea about 10 years ago, made the remark as he recalled what had happened in 2014.

During the summer of that year, Na attended a demonstration that was held in front of the KBS building in Seoul’s Yeouido neighborhood. Demonstrators were protesting what they described as “malicious coverage” of a lecture by Moon Chang-geuk, then a nominee for prime minister, in which KBS allegedly took Moon’s words out of context. (During the lecture, Moon had said that “Japan’s colonization of South Korea was the will of God.”)

After hearing from a friend of his who worked for a defector organization, Na got on a bus with others in Seoul‘s Jongno district, and headed to the site of the demonstration. About 50 of the 200 or so people in the group were defectors.

“I guess that KBS had leaked this information because they didn’t want Moon Chang-geuk to be prime minister. So we were there for about an hour making some noise and asking why they wouldn’t let such a decent guy become prime minister. We just showed up like that,” Na said.

On the day of the demonstration, Na was paid 20,000 won (US$17.37) before he went home. The same year, Na earned the same amount of pocket money by attending three or four other demonstrations, including a rally calling for the conviction of Lee Seok-ki, former lawmaker with the Unified Progressive Party, in front of the Suwon District Court, and a rally by conservative groups opposed to the Sewol victims’ families.

The evidence is piling up that conservative groups - including the Korean Parent Federation and the Korean National Police Veterans Association - paid defectors to join demonstrations organized by conservative groups. This is leading to criticism that conservative groups have been taking political advantage of these defectors, who often struggle to get by, while only giving them a pittance for their trouble.

Defectors generally live close together in government-subsidized apartments in Incheon or the Nowon and Yangcheon Districts of Seoul, and they learn about these demonstrations through a web of acquaintances. The news originates at a “local boss,” a defector with a lot of connections who becomes the contact point e demonstration. This individual starts making phone calls or sending text messages to say that a demonstration is being organized and to tell the defectors where and when they should meet.

“If they need someone to bring out the defectors, there are brokers who can make it happen, whether they need 100 or 200 people,” said a source at a defector organization.

Each time they participate in a demonstration, defectors are paid about 20,000 won. Instead of cash, they are sometimes given free meals, electronics, dried seaweed or other gifts. “The method of payment is up to whoever is organizing the demonstration,” the source said.

“As the number of defectors taking part in these demonstrations has increased, the amount of money they are paid has fallen from 40,000 or 50,000 won to 20,000 won,” said one defector.

For defectors, joining the demonstrations is little different from the “gleaning” practiced by poor people in agricultural societies - following along behind farmers at harvest to pick up the crops they miss.

“These elderly people treasure every last coin,” the source said. “The 20,000 won they receive for attending these demonstrations helps them support themselves.”

Indeed, the majority of the defectors who participate in the demonstrations are in their 60s and 70s. It is hard for older defectors to find jobs, so they have to get by on 400,000 or 500,000 won a month in Basic Livelihood Benefits provided by the government.

But since this is barely enough to cover even their basic necessities, defectors make their way to demonstrations for the 20,000 won they are paid for attending.

“The defectors who appear in the demonstrations are the poorest of the poor. They can‘t pick up cardboard since the areas they live in already have people who do that. They used to get 50,000 won for joining the demonstrations, but now it’s 20,000 won. But they would show up even if they only got 10,000,” said a defector who preferred to remain anonymous. This defector said that he took part in demonstrations against North Korea in 2012 after North Korea shelled Yeonpyeong Island and sank the Cheonan corvette.

“For these people, it doesn’t matter whether it’s the right wing or the left wing that is organizing these demonstrations,” said a source at an organization that provides welfare to defectors. “While young people could at least find some kind of part-time job, it‘s especially hard for these people who are not only defectors but also elderly to find any work at all. Attending the demonstration is a kind of part-time job that these elderly people are using to make ends meet.”

By Ko Han-sol, staff reporter

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