This article was originally published by Radio Free Asia and is reprinted with permission.
A North Korean escapee who served in the South Korean National Assembly has been appointed as governor of his home North Korean province.
Ji Seong-ho, 42, will have no actual authority over North Hamgyong province, in North Korea’s northeastern corner, where he grew up on the streets as a beggar child before escaping to China in 2006.
Both the North and South Korean governments claim jurisdiction over the entirety of Korea, and since 1949, Seoul has been appointing governors in what it sees as its territory occupied by the enemy.
In his largely ceremonial role, Ji will mainly help escapees who have resettled in South Korea. However, it is a vice-minister level position under the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and will be treated the same as other provincial governors in South Korea.
At the inauguration ceremony last week in Seoul, Ji blasted North Korea’s supreme leader, Kim Jong Un.
“A leader who cannot feed people until they are filled is not qualified to be a leader,” he said. “As governor, I want to create a world where residents of North Hamgyong province can eat meat soup with rice.”
Meat and rice are easy to come by in South Korea, but for North Koreans frequent food shortages mean that anything other than dried corn is considered a luxury.
Seeking unification
Ji also said he would actively support South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s North Korea policy, which aims at denuclearization and improving the human rights of residents in the North.
“As governor, I will do my best to make this a reality,” he said. “Even if North Korea’s Workers Party General Secretary Kim Jong Un does not want unification, South Korea wants unification and is prepared for it.”
After resettling in South Korea, Ji became involved in the North Korean escapee community, founding Now Action & Unity for Human rights, a non-governmental organization that advocates for escapees, in 2010.
Ten years later, he won a seat in the National Assembly, and served a term in that role until 2024.
In his address last week, Ji urged North Korean officials in charge of North Hamgyong Province to “accept liberal democracy” and encouraged North Korean residents to “wake up and stand up.”
“I will play an important role in improving the lives of North Korean people and protecting their human rights,” he said. “If unification is achieved, a world will open where we can live like human beings.”
Most North Korean escapees who settled in South Korea have come from North Hamgyong, Ji said.
An escapee going by the pseudonym Park said he found Ji’s story inspiring.
“North Korean people probably won’t believe at all that a North Korean escapee who used to be a kotjebi (child beggars) came to this country and became a member of the National Assembly and even a governor,” Park said. “I hope that all of this can be conveyed” to people in the North.
