N. Korean defector couples tie the knot in Seoul

N. Korean defector couples tie the knot in Seoul

Bo-Mi Lim, Associated Press, Seoul

Kim hardly slept overnight, her mind filled with grim memories of her communist homeland and excitement over her new life.

"Who would have imagined that I would get married in South Korea, and in a dress too?" said Kim.

Kim, who arrived in the South last year, was among several North Korean defectors -- five couples in all -- who tied the knot on Saturday at a Christian church in Seoul. For them, the wedding opened a new chapter in their hard-earned life in democratic South Korea.

The couples -- like most defectors from the totalitarian regime, refused to disclose more than their last names for fear of retaliation against their relatives -- have been living together but could not afford weddings. So a group ceremony was organized by the Seoul Presbyterian Church of Resurrection and Dongposarang, a civic organization helping North Korean defectors.

Kim and her groom, Park, met after they fled separately from North Korea. The hardships they experienced before reaching South Korea drew them together.

Most North Koreans in the South end up marrying each other, unable to find South Korean spouses. After five decades of separation since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, the two Koreas grew widely apart in their economic wealth, political system and even linguistic accents.

"We feel more comfortable with people like ourselves," Park said. "We share a similar past and background."

At the church, there were more empty seats than occupied. Alone in the South, the brides and grooms had few friends and relatives to invite. Most of the guests were officials affiliated with the organizers.

"You are the people with the great courage to escape even at the risk of death," said Woo Yoon-keun, head of Dongposarang, told the newlyweds lined up before the dais. "South Korea is a land of freedom and opportunity and I hope you can all start new lives with big hope."

Nearly 1,900 North Koreans defected to the South last year -- an increase of nearly 50 percent from the year before -- to escape hunger and political repression in their homeland. With the border with South Korea sealed with mine fields and wired fences, most come through China and other Asian countries such as Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam and Thailand.

Kim said a white Western-style wedding dress and a honeymoon were unthinkable in North Korea. In her hard-line communist homeland, only small gatherings of family members were allowed to gather and wish well for the bride and groom, who usually dressed in traditional Korean costumes.

Later on Saturday, the couples headed for the southern resort island of Jeju for their honeymoon.

"I just wish my parents and family were here with me today to celebrate," Kim said, fighting back tears welling up in her eyes. "It would have been so much more meaningful."