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CHAIRPERSON

Prof Brenda Yeoh, Asia Research Institute, Department of Geography and Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences, National University of Singapore.

ABSTRACT

The proportion of woman in North Korean border-crosser is more than the half of total border-crosser, with most female border-crossers leaving home to seek food, economic benefits, and a more comfortable life. From the human rights perspective, it is certain that they are in a very vulnerable position with regard to human trafficking and any kind of sexual and physical violence due to their dangerous journey in crossing the border between North Korea and China as well as their illegal status in China. On the other hand, a few of them voluntarily and strategically use their sexuality and marriage as the arena of agency for improving their life better and to empower themselves. This paper aims to reveal the complexity of the experiences of North Korean female border-crossers which intersect with gender, sexuality, and mobility. In doing so, I hope to argue for the possibility of the agency of North Korean female border-crosser beyond from the overly simplified discourse of victim. I argue that some North Korean female border-crossers attempt to develop survival strategies throughout their mobility and their uses of gender and sexuality skillfully subvert the existing system of marriage, seemingly empowering them to settle or to keep moving to a better place. Interestingly, however, the empowerment of their agency via the strategic use of marriage often converges with helping families back in the homeland or in allowing them to bring children from their previous marriages. In other words, they are willing to adopt the role ‘wife’ temporarily in order to be a good ‘daughter’, ‘sister’, and ‘mother’ after moving to a better place. In this sense, North Korean woman and their experiences in mobility suggest ambivalent relationships among marriage, family and migration.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Kim Sung Kyung is a Humanities Korea Research Professor in the Institute for East Asian Studies at Sungkonghoe University. Her research interests are Asian popular culture; political economy of cultural industry in Asia; and mobility in Asia especially North Korean defector. Her recent publications in the fields of Asian mobility, North Korean defectors, migration studies, and cultural industry are found in North Korea Review, Development and Society, Korea Sociology and so on. She is currently working on the issue of multiculturalism, cinemagoing practices and shopping mall in South Korea as well as gender and sexuality issue of North Korean mobility.

REGISTRATION

Admission is free. We would greatly appreciate if you RSVP Mr Jonathan Lee at Tel: 6516 4224 or Email: jonathan.lee@nus.edu.sg