Elderly North Korean Defector Couple Visiting Large Mart: "Feels Like a Palace... This Is Korea's Level," Expressing Continuous Amazement

Bitter Thoughts of North Korean Residents in Front of Rice Sacks

A review of a visit to a large domestic supermarket by a North Korean defector couple has recently become a hot topic. They continuously expressed amazement but felt bitter when they saw the tall stacks of rice sacks, recalling the starving North Korean residents.

Photo by screenshot from YouTube channel Kang Eun-jung TV

The video titled "Our mom is so happy to be able to buy the best products freely at a large supermarket! If we hadn't defected, how could we even see things like this?! There's nothing missing in Korean supermarkets," uploaded in September 2022 on the YouTube channel Kang Eun-jeong TV, has recently been circulating among netizens. The channel is run by a North Korean defector woman and shares the free life she found after defecting.

In the video, North Korean defector YouTuber Kang Eun-jeong visits a nearby large supermarket with her parents. Her father marveled, "The best place in North Korea is Pyongyang Department Store No. 1, but this place isn't even half as good." Looking at the supermarket floor, he said, "It's clean. The floor is like a mirror," and looking up at the ceiling, he exclaimed, "There must be thousands of lights. South Korea has a lot of electricity."

At the baby products section, seeing diapers, he said, "There are types for from birth to six months, and after that too," recalling, "When I raised children, we used cloth diapers, washing and drying them every day to reuse." His mother also said, "Although markets have various things, when you come to a large supermarket, the inside looks like a palace. Everything looks luxurious. It makes me truly happy to come here and buy something." His father agreed, saying, "Seeing the large supermarket, you can understand the level of South Korea. What a happy country it is."

Photo by screenshot from YouTube channel Kang Eun-jung TV

They could hardly take a step in front of the piled rice sacks. The father said bitterly, "North Korean people starve to death because there is no rice, but here there is a rice abundance," adding, "If North Korea changed its system and even a third of South Korea's living standard was achieved, people wouldn't be hungry."

72% of North Korean Defectors "Have Never Received Food Rations"

North Korea faces an annual food shortage of as much as 800,000 tons. According to a survey conducted by the Ministry of Unification (Minister Kim Young-ho) from 2016 to 2020 targeting North Korean defectors, 72.2% answered that they "have never received food rations." This is regarded as a survey result showing the poor food supply situation inside North Korea.

The "North Korean Economy and Society Status Report" released by the Ministry of Unification in the first half of this year pointed out, "If the North Korean regime had spent even a portion of the resources poured into nuclear and missile development on the livelihood of its people, the North Korean economy would have changed significantly," adding, "The North Korean regime develops nuclear weapons and missiles to protect the power and wealth monopolized by a few, while locking North Korean residents in a cage of surveillance and control."