1. Meeting North Korean Migrant Mothers in the Borderland
As noted, Interviewees A, B, C, and D came to China through proper legal procedures. According to the 1998 legal agreement between China and North Korea, North Korean residents who have relatives in China (categorized Korean Chinese ethnic, joseonjok) could obtain a travel permit from both countries to visit relatives for up to 90 days (S.A. Kim et al., 2012:214–216). They obtained travel permits to stay in China, but all eventually decided to extend their stay for economic purposes despite their illegal status. In fact, their existing relative networks, previous experiences of visiting China, and moderate language ability helped them to find shelter as well as work. [103]
2. Motherhood and Global Migration
Parreñas discusses “transnational mothering,” which she defines as “the organizational reconstitution of motherhood that accommodates the temporal and spatial separations forced by migration” (2010:1827). Her research indicates that duties of care in mothering cannot simply be replaced by breadwinning Rather, the scope of mothering for migrant mothers appears to be expanding “to embrace breadwinning” in order to adjust themselves to the condition of long-term separation (Hondagneu-Sotelo and Avila, 1997:562). Breadwinning implies regular remittances to children for their livelihood and future education. [105]
In particular, Contreras and Griffith (2012) introduce moral aspects to the analysis of transnational mothering. Migrant mothers, physically apart from their children, are easily exposed to, and are affected by, the feeling of shame. Within the strong ideology of the “good” mother in patriarchy, migrant mothers experience a sense of failure with regard to presence and caring for children, but at the same time justify their position by valuing the economic benefits and educational opportunities they provide for children. They tend to believe that their mobile life is a sacrifice made on behalf of their children, and see remittances and gifts as signs of love and affection. [105]
3. Juggling Illegality and Motherhood in the Sino-North Korea Borderland
At the time of the Arduous March, the black markets, Jangmadang, began to f lourish in North Korea. Recent reports suggest that at least 436 Jangmadang exist across the nation (Cha and Collins, 2018). As most men are employed in basic industries, where the government exerts a high level of control, it was North Korean women, working as secondary labor in light industry, who initiated the rise of the black market during the famine. In its formative stages, North Korean women sold whatever they could in local markets, but later they began to move from one place to another to trade and gain increased profit. [110]
The exact number of North Korean women who crossed the border to migrate to China for economic purposes remains unclear. Some are legal and hold travel permits, but most are illegal and originally crossed in the late 1990s. Their mobility, especially in its legal form, often amounts to a temporary migration, as a travel permit allows them to stay legally in China for only three months. However, given the tendency of the regime to overlook instances of over-staying, North Korean women often extend their stay in China for as long as they can earn money to support their family. It has to be mentioned that the desperate North Korean authority implicitly allows the overstaying of short-term travel permit holders through bribery as they send remittances and to bring cash to the country. A few have decided to go from China to South Korea. Even though the journey is extremely dangerous and long from China through South Asia to South Korea, the pressure of illegal status in China and the ubiquitous danger of repatriation to North Korea makes them search for a better place to settle down. [110]
Once North Koreans in South Korea obtain legal status, national security laws, cultural stereotypes of North Koreans, and constant (often invisible) confrontation between the two Koreas keep them from freely connecting with their family back home. In addition, their defection to South Korea may be used to punish and to control their left behind family [111]
4. North Korean Transnational Mothers’ Ambivalent Understanding of Family
Another example would be Interviewee G, who ended up the mistress of a rich employer. Her employer is the owner of a mid-size construction company that builds apartments. She started work as a cleaner in the company canteen, but her charm and abilities were soon recognized by her employer. He has offered her a nice apartment for herself, and protected her from Chinese police. She seems to be well settled in the borderland, and enjoys a comfortable life. Her partner visits her apartment only occasionally; she has a great deal of time and space for herself. “I won’t go to South Korea. No reason to start from the ground once again. I am sending money to my sons in North Korea, so they are now very well off. My boss also treats me very well.” Her partner provides her with security and helps her with her mothering responsibilities. As long as she can continue to live like this, it will not be necessary to consider another migration. She knows that her life may not be perfect, but it guarantees what she values: being a good mother from a distance. [115-116]
Motherhood remains a central part of their identity—in many ways it is what gives meaning to their lives. [117]
Ontheotherhand,they strategically make use of new family structures in the course of their migration trajectory. The new family provides shelter, economic resources, and everyday well-being for illegal North Korean migrant mothers in the borderland. However, the new family includes features of the workplace as well as less intimate attachments than the family back home; subsequently a hierarchy of emotional involvement with families becomes noticeable. Migrant mothers interact with different families in different ways. In this context, North Korean mothers instrumentally “use” families in the borderland in order to support their families back home. Their understanding of family can thus be rather complex and ambivalent. [117]
5. Conclusion
However, North Korean transnational mothers refuse to be merely frustrated with their condition. Rather, as active agents, they create new family networks in order to support the children they have left behind, as well as to secure their own safety. Live-in care work often includes an intense relationship with the employer, and migrant workers tend to accommodate themselves to such situations in the interest of mothering and survival. Stable relationships with employers often develop into partnerships, which can provide a certain level of security and economic benefits. In some respects, their understanding of family is ambivalent: they maintain an intense attachment to their family in North Korea, while approaching their new family in China rather instrumentally. [118]