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Dagyum Ji
Dagyum Ji was a senior NK News correspondent based in Seoul. She previously worked for Reuters TV.
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News Former defector TV star reappears on North Korean outletIn video published by Uriminzokkiri Jon Hye Song says she "lived a shady life" in the South Dagyum Ji August 19, 2017 Uriminzokkiri Former North Korean defector TV star Jon Hye Song has made a second appearance on DPRK state media, this time saying she featured in adults-only programming “as a prank” when in South Korea. Jon, who is known as Lim Ji-hyun in the South, made the appearance in a video released by North Korean outlet Uriminzokkiri on Friday night. She also claimed the difficulties of a getting a job and discrimination against North Korean defectors had been the hardest part of living in the South. “There are lots of women in their 20s and 30s among North Korean defectors. And they end up living in shady lives in general,” Lim said. “I also did such a thing and lived a shady life,” she added, saying that it had given her an “animosity” towards the South. She said she had lived a “frustrating and hellish life” in the South, and denied reports from South Korean outlets that she had been forcibly repatriated. Since her first appearance in Uriminzokkiri in mid-July, South Korean outlets have reported, among other things, that she appeared in pornographic broadcasts while in the South. South Korean police have said the reports are false. “I’ll speak frankly concerning the issue… It was not pornography but broadcasting for adults where [people] were dancing with cutty clothes (skirts) and gaudy clothes,” Jon said, adding she had got involved through a friend. “But [my friend] asked me to dance, so I did it as a prank. But they fabricated it and shifted the blame on to me.” Jon also denied South Korean reports that she had decided to go back to the North after separating from a boyfriend. In response to reports that South Korean police are seeking a 10-year arrest warrant on her on charges of violating the National Security Act, she said she “didn’t think about it.” “I’ve heard it but it’s not even my country. So what does that mean [for me] even if they apply 10, 100 or 1000 year-[arrest warrant]? This is because I will never look back and return [to the South].” Jon also said allegations that she had been kidnapped by the North’s Ministry of State Security were “a downright lie and fabrication” and that she hadn’t been punished by the North Korean government. She said that she “swam across Amnok (Yalu) River” to go back to North Korea, and is now living in Munbong-dong, Anju City in South Pyongan Province. When in the South, Jon appeared on several TV shows, including one hosted by a South Korean government body, but in Friday’s interview said she had suffered from “bipolar disorder.” “I became really disillusioned and felt the futility in the South Korean society,” she said. “It was diametrical opposite from what I thought. [South Koreans] completely ignored me and made a fool of me.” “I could not earn money because there are no jobs… I cried every day while drinking alcohol.” Jon said there were disparities in pay between North Koreans and South Koreans, and that she had “become desperate” to go back to her hometown. Jon claims to have arrived in South Korea in January 2014 after defecting to China in November 2011 due to economic difficulties in the North. The video was released by Uriminzokkiri but apparently produced by Roh Kil-nam, the Glendale, California-based Korean-American editor of the pro-North Minjok Tongshin outlet. The daughter of Kim Ryon Hui, a defector in the South who has asked to return to the North after, she claims, accidentally defecting, also appeared in the broadcast. Edited by Oliver Hotham Featured Image: Uriminzokkiri Former North Korean defector TV star Jon Hye Song has made a second appearance on DPRK state media, this time saying she featured in adults-only programming “as a prank" when in South Korea. Jon, who is known as Lim Ji-hyun in the South, made the appearance in a video released by North Korean outlet Uriminzokkiri on Friday night. Become a member for less than $4 per week.
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Dagyum Ji was a senior NK News correspondent based in Seoul. She previously worked for Reuters TV.
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