Fr. An Jong-Chan (Nabor),Catholic Church of Repentance and Atonement February 2021 marks one year already since I started my post at the Catholic Church of Repentance and Atonement in Paju. It is my second winter here, and I often think, “yes, it is a cold place.” The Imjin river flows right beside here and Gaepung county of North Korea is visible, so compared to the warm southern areas, the air is clearer but the weather is colder as well. Moreover, this winter there was a lot of snow so the days felt even longer. Not long ago, when the temperature reached -15°C, I discussed with the priests who I live with, “Why is this place so cold? It feels like the plains of Siberia.” Maybe he remembered those words, because a few days later one priest said that because this place is so cold it is hard to get by with regular socks and he gave me warm fleece socks. I wore those warm socks to take a walk, and as I looked across the river at the silent, dreary snow-covered shore of North Korea, I remembered meeting North Korean woodcutters in Khabarovsk, Russia many years ago. Woodcutters from North Korea ⒸBBC It was called Russia then, but the appearance of the city still strongly resembled the Soviet Union (CCCP). Big cities near Europe would be different, but far to the east, people fondly remembered socialism. In the socialist era, work on state-run farms was not flexible, but people were guaranteed a pension in their old age that didn’t make them rich, but at least they wouldn’t starve. However, suddenly the Soviet Union broke up and Russia’s measures for reform and opening-up were insufficient preparation for the free-market economy and many people held grievances for being left in poverty. Woodcutters from North Korea Ⓒ Reporter Kang Jae-hoon / Hankyoreh Newspaper Also, though I learned it much later, in 1996 North Korea was at the height of it’s “Arduous March.” Maybe that’s why it was common to see woodcutters sent from North Korea to earn foreign currency passing by on the street. I remember having the impression that they looked expressionless and seemed cautious of their surroundings. After 25 years, I still remember clearly the appearance of the North Korean woodcutters who I met in 1996, in Khabarovsk, far-east Russia, in -25°C weather: yellowed foot-wrappings made from rags on darkened feet that showed when they took off their worn-out boots, and outer coats that seemed to be stuffed roughly with cotton. My acquaintance, a Korean-Canadian who was managing a bag factory, needed workers to unload a container of fabric and had hired North Korean woodcutters because they asked only low wages. Early in the morning, a van arrived with 4 woodcutters and the security agent leading and monitoring them. The agent wore a Kim Il-Sung pin, a fur hat and boots, a heavy coat, and leather gloves, but the woodcutters had torn coats, worn-out shoes, and their hands were wrapped in rags. Moreover, I was shocked by their darkened skin, their short stature- no taller than middle-schoolers, their thin bodies, and the lack of expression in their gaze. Since I was young, I learned from anti-communist cartoons that North Koreans had horns or looked like wolves or pigs, but when I saw that these men looked just like me it caused me to change much of my thinking about them. The time came, the freight truck arrived and our work started, which was to carry fabric from the truck to the second floor of the factory. The fabric was heavier than I expected. It seemed to be a full 30 kilograms and was 2 meters long. I was a lively 20 something, but it was too much for me to lift and carry the fabric on my shoulders. Though the woodcutters were thin, they ably carried the fabric on their shoulders even while going up the stairs. They even laughed to see how I was flustered by the heaviness. As soon as the work started, the security agent lit a cigarette and sat in the van. Woodcutters from North Korea resting at their lodgings Ⓒ Korean Times During the break time I ate snacks with the woodcutters. We had onion ring snacks and cup ramen. The woodcutter next to me carefully examined the onion ring snacks like they were something special. He put one in his mouth and said, “it’s a South Korean snack” and that it was very delicious. Maybe it was because of the agent monitoring them, but they hadn't said a word since the work started. Now they began to talk. Internally I was feeling sorry and pitying them, but we talked about all kinds of things. We talked about family, and one man pulled out a photo from his coat pocket. It was a photo of his wife and daughter, who appeared to be five or six years old. The man who had been expressionless until that moment now had a big smile. It was a short conversation, but I could feel that he loved his family just like any father. It seemed like his loving family gave him hope even as he did very intense and dangerous woodcutting work. One day, a few days later, I went into town to buy bread and this is what happened. I saw two men who appeared to be North Korean woodcutters looking flustered in front of a toy store. A worker in the store looked threatening, standing with her arms crossed and yelling at them in a loud voice. So I went over to them to ask what was wrong and see if I could help. “Can I help you?” I asked, and at first they looked at me cautiously, but seeing me holding bread seemed to make them relax, and they gave me a complete account of what happened. Russian black bread, Borodinsky bread They were at the end of their woodcutting work after 2 years in Russia and they came to buy presents for their families in North Korea. One man wanted to buy a doll for his daughter, and he found one that he liked in the store, but even though he offered money, the worker wouldn’t take it and kept repeating something that he couldn’t understand, until finally she got angry. I had had a similar experience, so I immediately understood. So, I explained about how to buy things in department stores and other big stores. Now it is possible to buy things directly, but at that time it happened regularly that foreigners who didn’t know the system or the language couldn’t buy things even if they had money. When you first went into a shop or department store, you couldn’t directly buy the items on display. First you checked the item on display and found it’s name and price, then you went to the check-out counter with barred windows called ‘касса,’ and told the cashier the name, quantity, and price of what you wanted. Then you paid and received a receipt showing the item and price. When you showed the display attendant your receipt you could take the item. So, it was no surprise that this man got confused since it was his first time in a department store. After such a difficult process, he was very thankful when he finally was successful to buy the doll. He said that his daughter would love it, and that he really missed her. She was a newborn when he left home but now was walking and talking. He would soon go back to North Korea. It is a very difficult place. At that time many people chose to leave because they couldn’t overcome the extreme famine. Nonetheless, that woodcutter was joyful to go back because of his wife and daughter waiting for him; they were his hope. The desire to be happy is something that all humans have in common. Of course, every person has different standards of happiness. We all have a right to be happy, and the woodcutter who I met long ago has a right to be happy. “Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.”- Desmond Mpilo Tutu -
