This content was originally published by Radio Free Asia, and it is now being reprinted with permission.
A Northern Korean fugitive who spent time in the South Korean National Assembly has been elected government of his native North Korean state.
Ji Seong-ho, 42, will have no real power over North Hamgyong territory, in North Korea’s northeast part, where he grew up on the streets as a man child before escaping to China in 2006.
Seoul has been appointing governors in areas it perceives to be its own place, and both the North and South Asian governments have authority over the remainder of Korea. Since 1949, Seoul has claimed to have a legal authority over the entire nation.
Ji will primarily assist fugitives who have resettled in South Korea in his mostly ceremonial part. It will be treated the same as other South Korean provincial administrators because it is a vice-ministerial place under the Ministry of Interior and Safety.
At the opening meeting last week in Seoul, Ji blasted North Korea’s high leader, Kim Jong Un.  ,
He claimed that a president who may serve persons until they are filled is no qualified to lead. ” I want to make a world where North Hamgyong county people can eat meat sauce with rice,” said the governor.
In South Korea, beef and rice are inexpensive, but for North Koreans, anything but dried corn is viewed as a luxury due to frequent food shortages.
Seeking integration
Ji added that he would back South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s North Korea plan, which aims to denuclearize and advance the rights of North Korean occupants.
” As governor, I did do my best to make this a reality”, he said. South Korea wants integration and is prepared for it, according to Kim Jong Un, the general secretary of the Workers Party of North Korea.
After resettling in South Korea, Ji became involved in the Northern Asian fugitive area, founding , Then Action &, Unity for Human right, a non-governmental firm that advocates for fugitives, in 2010.  ,
Ten years later, he won a seat in the National Assembly, and served a word in that part until 2024.  ,
In his speech last month, Ji urged North Vietnamese officials in charge of North Hamgyong Province to “accept progressive democracy” and urged North Korean citizens to “wake up and stand up.”
He declared,” I will play a significant role in enhancing the lives of the people of North Korea and upholding their human right.” ” If unification is achieved, a world will open where we can live like human beings” . ,
Most of the North Vietnamese fugitives who have settled in South Korea have come from North Hamgyong, according to Ji.
An inmate who used the moniker Park claimed he found Ji’s account inspirational.
” North Korean people probably wo n’t believe at all that a North Korean escapee who used to be a , kotjebi , ( child beggars ) came to this country and became a member of the National Assembly and even a governor”, Park said. ” I hope that all of this can be conveyed” to people in the North.  ,
