I Think We Are Safe Here – Interview with North Korean Worker in Kuwait

When we visited the factory, the guard led us to the main office, where an Egyptian supervisor named Markie called in `Mr. Kim` over the telephone, who is a man in his mid 30s wearing a Kim Il-sung badge on his chest. After hesitating a little, he began to answer our questions briefly.

Groups of North Korean workers, about 80 all told, usually stay here for about three years in turn, eating and sleeping together. They work from 6:30 in the morning through 3:30 in the afternoon. The manager of the factory later told us that they were hard-working well-trained laborers.

A missile launched by the Iraqi army fell some 20km north from the factory on March 21. Yet, the factory was still up and running. The following is an interview with Kim.

– Don`t you feel worried?

˝We are supposed to follow instructions.˝

Korean employees, who were earlier working for Hyundai Construction and SK Construction in the region, already left the ground zero for safer places.

- How is your life here?

˝We just live a life of Chosun people wherever we are.˝

They strictly follow the rules set for the group. Even on Friday, they go out in a group. A North Korean worker sought an asylum through South Korean Embassy in 1997. According to officials at the embassy, there have been calls seeking asylum recently, but none of them persisted through.

- Don`t you miss your family at home?

˝I can send and receive letters with my family back home every week since many people come and go.˝

North Korean workers enter Kuwait via Beijing, but the route was shut down after the war broke out.

- How much do you earn?

˝The factory pays to our company.˝

He is working for a North Korean sewage construction company. There are four North Korean firms sending their workers to Kuwait under contracts. They collect wages on behalf of their workers.

Mr. Kim is now responsible for English interpretation and safety in construction sites. “It is really hard for me to do my job as an interpreter because I learned English at my old age,” said Mr. Kim who said he learned English in his homeland, North Korea. He excused himself for a moment at the reporters’ request that they want to meet North Korean workers. We didn’t show up after almost 30 minutes passed. When reporters visited their lodging place by themselves, signs that read ‘Hurrah for the greatest 21st century leader Kim Jung-il’ drew reporters’ eyes. Beside the gate, signs instigating North Korean workers were also posted. It was a bit awkward to see North Korea’s propaganda slogans in the middle of the desert in Kuwait.

A foreman in his 50s approached the reporters. He introduced himself to the reporters his name is ‘Lee Kwang-il’. The foreman who wore sunglasses interfered reporters and said in a loud voice, “Let’s meet someday again after the reunification of the two Koreas.” And he continued, “Where should we meet, Seoul or Pyongyang? If we want to do so, we have to drive the U.S. out of the Korean Peninsular.” He said that North Korean workers there are not worried about the U.S.-led war in Iraq. When asked whether they are afraid of bombing in the middle of the desert, he said, “Missiles will not fall over our heads.”

North Korea established diplomatic ties with Kuwait in April of 2001.

Eun-Taek Hong euntack@donga.com