Fallout from Refugee Espionage Case?

Needless to say, the arrest will have an impact on the defector community

The arrest of a North Korean woman for posing as a defector to the South in order to spy for Pyongyang has made defectors and officials with North Korean refugee organizations uneasy.

Many North Korean refugees are concerned that their families in the North may suffer because their activities in the South were allegedly reported to the North. Refugees who are engaged in anti-Kim Jong-il activities are also worried about their own safety. Cha Sung-joo, secretary general of the Committee for Democratization of North Korea, said, “North Korea’s Ministry of Public Security and the State Security Department control North Korean society by instigating a sense of fear. It turns one of every three North Korean residents into a spy and makes people afraid to speak even with their friends. The North Korean Public Security Ministry seems to be trying to cause fear in the North Korean refugee community in the South.”