How do North Korean defectors feel about the Trump-Kim summit?

How do North Korean defectors feel about the Trump-Kim summit?
Copyright REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
By Tesa ArcillaPascale Davies
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Following historic talks between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un, Euronews spoke to one North Korean defector who said he was split about the meeting.

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Kim Hyo Chom left North Korea when he was just six years old after his father was killed and fled to South Korea. He spoke to Euronews following historic talks between North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump.

Speaking from Manila, Kim Hyo Chom said he was "neither happy nor sad" about the summit, saying he was "split" about the result of the meeting "because the agreements, the promises, the dialogues" were not respected. He added that North Korea's past regime "was managed in permanent lies."

Kim left North Korea on an American boat to South Korean island Geojedo. But the majority of his life has been spent in South Korea. While he is hopeful for reunification between the two Koreas, he realises it will be difficult.

"For 70 years we (South Korea) have been separated from North Koreas regime... Each has its own ideology."

"North Koreans will be heart-broken by seeing the reality of the South, its development, so, in my opinion, the North’s government will gradually open its borders."

For human rights activist Park Yeonmi, who fled North Korea when she was 13, she remains suspicious about Kim Jong Un's pledges to toss out the country's nuclear ambitions.

In a YouTube video she posted just before the summit, she said the talks need to include more demands for human rights: "All [Trump's] going to be talking about with the North Korean leader is about nuclear talks."

"This guy (Kim Jong Un) is a murderer to me. I don't get how this guy can be romanticised ... he is so oppressing."

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