Crocodiles of Pyongyang

By Casey Lartigue Jr.

If your mother says she loves you, check it out. That's an old adage in journalism advising reporters to be skeptical. But should you "check it out" if a broker rescuing you from the crocodiles of the North Korean regime warns there are alligators or crocodiles in a river you are about to cross?

Okay, so most people in this world are never in that kind of situation. Many North Korean refugees, however, are warned about crocodiles in the last leg of their escape to freedom across Thailand's Mekong River. North Korean refugees talk about the terror they felt as they got closer to freedom knowing they could end up in the mouth of a crocodile.

But is it true? Are there crocodiles in the Mekong River?

I have never been to Thailand, so I don't know. I don't recall ever being near a crocodile or alligator, although I did enjoy eating a plate of alligator during a trip to Florida years ago (the alligator tasted like chicken). Looking through the internet, there seems to be a tiny population of Siamese crocodiles throughout Southeast Asia, including Thailand. Whatever the reality may be, the refugee-eating crocodiles don't seem to be swarming in the Mekong River as North Koreans escaping Kim Jong-un's country have been warned.

A few years ago, a reporter asked me if it was true that there were alligators or crocodiles in the Mekong River. I dismissed the question at the time as the usual probing at the margins by an always skeptical reporter seeking a fresh news angle. I guessed that a North Korean refugee speaker would eventually address the topic with more expertise and interest than I have.

That has now happened. At the 13th English Speech Contest, hosted by Freedom Speakers International on March 20, North Korean refugee Pak Yu-seong questioned if there were alligators or crocodiles in the Mekong River. And he did it the old journalistic way: He checked it out.

Pak has been a public speaker, in Korean, talking about his escape from North Korea. When he talked about alligators or crocodiles in the Mekong River, he was challenged by two South Korean women. Tired of them mocking him, he challenged them to go to Thailand to retrace the last leg of his escape from North Korea through Thailand. The trio interviewed locals who said there were no alligators or crocodiles there.

When I tell North Korean refugees that some say there aren't crocodiles in the Mekong River, they are incredulous. If the crocodile story isn't true as Pak and others have said, how has it come to be believed by so many North Korean refugees?

Pak blamed unscrupulous brokers for spreading the story about crocodiles to drive up their fees and to make themselves look like heroes.

I would like to add the context. Imagine what it would be like if you had to travel 1,000 miles across different countries or states, relying on others who may not have your best interest at heart, while you are on the run from agents and police. Many people born in freedom, if they couldn't use an app, get lost if they get dropped off a few blocks from their homes.

North Korean escapees are understandably on edge after typically enduring many life-and-death situations escaping from the crocodiles of North Korea and accomplices in China, getting hounded by North Korean agents and Chinese police, evading kidnappers, human traffickers and government agents across multiple countries, typically not showering or eating much through the escape, and knowing that one wrong move or a baby crying out could get them all sent back to North Korea. There are reportedly many fights among refugees during that time and some of them escaping together end up hating each other after they make it to freedom.

They have come out of the darkness of North Korea, having escaped the crocodiles of Pyongyang, and are being warned by rescuers about actual crocodiles at the end of their perilous journeys. It might seem appropriate and ironic to many that there would be real crocodiles waiting for them as a final threat.

After hearing conflicting views, I still don't know if there are crocodiles in the Mekong River, I won't be checking it out, and I am not sure how important it is.

Chasing every fallen sparrow that may interest reporters or researchers gets us away from the issue of the human crocodiles of the Kim dictatorship feasting on North Koreans. When North Koreans are granted or seize freedom, they will be able to travel like most normal people in the world during normal times by booking flights and do not need to check out if there are crocodiles in a river in a foreign country. As tourists, they may even be able to eat a plate of crocodile or alligator to see if either tastes like chicken.

Casey Lartigue, Jr., (CJL@alumni.harvard.edu), co-founder along with Eunkoo Lee of Freedom Speakers International (FSI), is the 2017 winner of the "Social Contribution" prize from the Hansarang Rural Cultural Foundation and the 2019 winner of the "Challenge Maker" award from Challenge Korea.