“Settling in Seoul” is a new NK News series in which North Korean defectors share their experiences adapting to life in South Korea.

In this week’s column, Sersong Han — who lived in North Korea until he defected in 2014 — writes about his first year in South Korea and the major events and discoveries of that time. 

When I first came to South Korea, it took about five months before I was allowed to enter society. Before that, I was investigated by ROK intelligence about my true motives for defecting and whether my father and I were on Pyongyang’s