Hyekyung Jo, a North Korean defector living in Toronto with her husband and sons for seven years, had hoped to remain in Canada as a permanent resident.Instead, she and as many as 50 other North Korean families residing across the GTA recently received letters from the federal Immigration Department informing them that their requests for permanent residency are poised to be revoked. They face deportation to South Korea — a place that Jo said is hostile to North Korean nationals.Part of the issue identified in the Oct. 30 letter that Jo and her husband, Myungchul Kang, received is this: the South Korean government automatically grants North Koreans citizenship. Canada recognizes South Korea as a safe haven for refugees. Another issue: Jo admitted at a Saturday news conference with other affected families that she and her husband weren’t truthful when they arrived in Toronto as asylum seekers in 2010. They told refugee board officials they’d travelled directly from China when, in fact, they’d lived for several years in South Korea.Jo said if she had a chance to speak directly to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, she would ask for a second chance for the sake of her children: Daniel, 9; Alex, 6; and 9-month-old Jayden — the two youngest born here.“If I go back (to South Korea), the adults, me and my husband, will survive somehow,” Jo said through a translator and weeping.“But the kids who were born here and the oldest, it’s not their fault that they ended up as my kids. I’m really sorry that we’ve told false stories (in 2010) but it was only for our survival and I hope the Canadian government gives us an opportunity to stay.”Jo added that while in South Korea, her husband was under investigation for espionage, a distressing situation that makes returning to the peninsula even bleaker, she said. Kang, 36, currently supports his family as a sushi chef.Rocky Kim is president of the Canada Federation ...
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