Yeong-su leads the way back onto the main street leading to the town center. They approach a small single story building along the main street and promptly go in. There is a long reception desk directly facing them as they enter the lobby of the building with various people standing in line at different sections of the desk. Yeong-su peeks up at the cameras in the corners of the building before walking past a security guard to a middle-aged woman in charge of one of the sections.
"Excuse me," Yeong-su asks.
"Yes," the woman replies, "How can I help you?"
"We're high school students," Yeong-su says, "We need to do an interview for our school assignment. I was hoping you could help answer some questions for us."
"Okay," the woman says as she looks around. There are not that many people in line today. Besides, it's almost her lunch break. "What do you need to learn about?" the woman asks, accommodating them.
"We need to do a report about North Korean defectors and how they are handled," Yeong-su replies.
"Oh," the woman says, surprised. "We mostly process claims here for senior citizen benefits."
"I see, well, thank you anyway," Yeong-su says, bowing slightly before turning to leave.
"Wait though," the woman replies, looking at the school insignias on their coats. "I do have a friend who works with North Korean refugees, so I can answer some questions in general terms."
Yeong-su turns back and begins asking some questions. "Thank you," he bows again slightly, "I appreciate your time, this won't take long. We wanted to know, what is the process for handling North Koreans that enter the country?"
"Well," the woman replies, "They first go to the police and undergo a background check to determine if they are a national security risk. If they happened to be higher ranking government officials, they would go through a different level of screening than say a regular citizen would. Once they pass, they are isolated at special camps to go through a training program where they are taught basic things like how to use an ATM. They may also go through skills training for them to pick up a trade. Once they graduate, they are placed in housing and are given a monthly stipend to aid them financially."
"I see," Yeong-su replies. "Are they allowed to leave the camps?"
"No," the woman replies, "It's a required program that they need to go through."
"I see," Yeong-su replies. "To go through re-education?"
"I guess you can say so," the woman replies.
"Do they go through psychological testing?" Yeong-su asks.
"Oh, I don't think they do that there," the woman replies. "My friend actually works at such a detention center, this is for the refugees to adjust to South Korean society, which unlike the North respects the right of privacy."
"Well, if they aren't evaluated psychologically, then how can the defectors be re-educated? Wouldn't they just live the same way they did in the North?" Yeong-su asks.
Puzzled, the woman shrugs her shoulders. "That, I don't know."
"Okay," Yeong-su changes the subject, "What if the defectors are children?"
"Hmm," the woman replies. "Good question. Well, I guess they would need an adult guardian to watch over them."
"At the camps?" Yeong-su asks.
"Probably after they graduate," the woman replies, more uncertain of her answers now. "I'm guessing they would be placed with foster families."
"Would the children stay together?" Yeong-su asks.
"Hmm," the woman replies. "These are really good questions, you're bound to get a good grade on this! Well, I guess it depends. I heard from my friend that once they graduate, the refugees tend to be given housing in different parts of the country, so they don't normally stay together. I would assume it's the same for children. I don't really know for sure though."
Just then Yeong-su looks at Ha-neul, making eye contact. She can't decide and shrugs her shoulders. Yeong-su tilts his head to the side and pouts. The woman looks at them suspiciously.
"Well, thank you madam," Yeong-su replies, "We appreciate it."
"Aren't you going to ask any questions?" the woman says to Ha-neul.
"No, madam, I don't have anything to add," Ha-neul replies, bowing slightly before turning and leading a silent Hye-jin by the hand out of the building close behind Yeong-su.
The woman calls over to the security guard seated by the door and asks him, "Did you see those kids that just walked out? Notice anything odd about them?"
The security guard looks out the glass door and sees the kids walking back down the main street. "No, nothing in particular," the security guard says.
"Something felt off about them," she says. "Their uniforms, each one had a different school insignia. And the girl - I could've sworn I detected a bit of an accent. But most of all, if you saw the shoes the two girls were wearing. They were weird knockoff brands I've never seen before, and trust me I've seen more girls' shoes than I ever cared to see for my own daughters. Can you follow them? They asked a lot of questions about North Korean refugees, I can't help but think they are refugees themselves. Or worse, if they are skilled enough to sneak into the country and impersonate students, they could be spies. Find out so we can report them to the police."
The security guard nods, then walks out of the building to follow the kids down the street. They walk on for some ten minutes, the security guard trailing a good distance behind as he is unsure if these really are students - just in case he might be mistaken for a creep.
Yeong-su leads the two girls back toward the edge of town. They take a right down a block and find a secluded courtyard surrounded by buildings. The courtyard consists of red brick walls on three sides with black iron gates atop each wall and black iron benches lining each side. There are planters behind each wall with large trees providing shade for the benches.
The three kids take a seat on a bench and discuss amongst themselves. The security guard stands off to the side behind one of the trees and overhears them speaking in a North Korean accent. "Hmm," he thinks to himself, "She was right."
"Why couldn't you decide?" Yeong-su asks Ha-neul. He now seems comfortable enough to make eye contact as he talks to her.
"I couldn't tell if she was trustworthy," Ha-neul replies.
"She looked fine," Yeong-su replies. "She had an honest face."
"I thought you said to listen to the words," Ha-neul says, slightly annoyed. "She contradicted herself, she said the camps are for re-education, but then she said they don't even evaluate the defectors, so how do they know if they are adjusted or not?"
"Well," Yeong-su replies, "I don't think she was lying. Normally, when confronted with a contradiction, liars try to talk themselves out of it and make more contradictions. She just said 'I don't know.'"
"Why didn't you tell me that before?" Ha-neul asks, looking at Yeong-su. "You just said watch out for contradictions. That's why I was confused, it seemed like you trusted her for some reason."
"You didn't ask," Yeong-su replies, looking back at her as she sits next to him still in her school uniform. "Good students ask good questions."
The security guard watches as Ha-neul raises her fist over her head and tries to hit Yeong-su playfully on his arms, with Yeong-su laughing as he tries to avoid her, Hye-jin also joining in and hitting Yeong-su on his leg as he sits in between the two.
"Hey," Yeong-su says chuckling, "That's not fair. Hye-jina, fight for me!" He picks up Hye-jin and switches places with her. Hye-jin proceeds to hit Ha-neul on the leg, as Ha-neul play hits Hye-jin back on the arms, the three of them laughing.
The security guard thinks to himself that these kids are probably not spies.
The three of them on the iron bench settle down a bit as Yeong-su asks, "What should we do now? Should we go back?"
Ha-neul suddenly looks more serious. "She said for kids, they would need an adult guardian. Wouldn't that mean, they'll take Hye-jina away and send her to live with some family? She also said the refugees are sent to different parts of the country."
Yeong-su also looks more somber. "Hmm, that might happen. You're probably not old enough to be considered a parent."
"Maybe I can lie and say Hye-jina is my child?" Ha-neul asks.
Yeong-su laughs. "Are you kidding? She's what, seven? So you had her when you were ten?"
Yeong-su and Hye-jin laugh as Ha-neul looks at them, annoyed.
"Well, it's possible, isn't it?" Ha-neul replies.
Yeong-su suddenly stops laughing. "As sobering as it may sound, I guess you are right. Even so, you're still a minor."
They all fall silent for a moment, thinking it over.
Yeong-su suddenly stops laughing. "As sobering as it may sound, I guess you are right. Even so, you're still a minor."
They all fall silent for a moment, thinking it over.
"So what do we do then?" Ha-neul asks.
"Well, we can wait until we're adults," Yeong-su replies. "Then you can claim Hye-jina as your own."
"How long would that be?" Ha-neul asks.
"Hmm, for me, maybe a year or two," Yeong-su says. "For you - it might take you forever to grow up."
Just then Yeong-su and Hye-jin laugh as Ha-neul raises her fist again, this time hitting Yeong-su harder on his arms as he exclaims in pain.
The security guard turns and heads back to the office. For some reason, he feels pity for these kids and decides to let them be. Of course, he'll check up on them from time to time in case they turn out to be a national security risk.
"Ji-hun shi," the woman at the desk calls out to the security guard as he re-enters the lobby of the government office. "Did you find them?"
"Yes," Ji-hun replies.
"Well?" the woman asks. "Did you find anything?"
"No," Ji-hun replies, "They're just kids."
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