Tuesday, February 24, 2004
FORMER DPRK ACTRESS NOW WORKS IN A BAR IN SOUTH KOREA (thanks to Gweilo Diaries for the link).
Before she defected, Joo Sun Young was one of North Korea's rare "Class-One" actresses, hand-picked to play the coveted role of the regime leader's wife and "mother" of all North Koreans.Despite her current less than ideal circumstances, she has hope for the future:
Today, she sells beer and sings songs for drunken South Korean businessmen at a low-rent Seoul bar. The crowd knows she once performed for North Korea's inner circle, which is in part why they like hollering for her to fill their glasses.
"I sometimes feel humiliated at how my life has been downgraded. But I thank my customers for coming to my place. This is my life. I have come a long way," she says.
She's 39 now, and dreams of running a hotel and living to see the reunification of the Koreas and of her family -- parents, husband, 15-year-old son and 12-year daughter.
"I want to be a rich businesswoman," Joo says. "I concentrate on work not to think about my children, but when I see delicious food, I can't help crying. I wonder whether my children are not starving."
