Soo-jin Character Analysis

A young North Korean defector living in Shenyang, China, with her South Korean boyfriend. Hyeonseo befriends Soo-jin while working in the Shenyang restaurant, and even shares her defector status with her. One day, Soo-jin disappears and her phone is disconnected—Hyeonseo fears she has been arrested and repatriated back to North Korea. One day, six months later, Hyeonseo sees Soo-jin on a street in Koreatown. Soo-jin claims to have been detained for six months in a Bowibu holding camp and released, and she suspects that a mutual friend informed on her. Hyeonseo never sees Soo-jin again, and within days of meeting her in the street, Hyeonseo is arrested by the Chinese police and interrogated as a suspected North Korean. It is highly unusual that Soo-jin is released from the Bowibu camp and not immediately repatriated back to North Korea. While it is never confirmed, Soo-jin’s identity is suspicious, as is her story, and it is possible that she informed on Hyeonseo herself and is potentially working for the Bowibu. Soo-jin represents the dangers of Hyeonseo’s existence as a North Korean defector living in China, as trusting others is nearly impossible, and one never knows who might be working for the North Korean secret police.