SEOUL – Before fleeing authoritarian North Korea in 2009, Kang Mi-Jin was regularly mobilized by the state for military-like productivity campaigns that were a source of both pride and pain.
She was happy to be chosen to give a speech pledging loyalty to the ruling Kim family; less so when a tunneling construction project left her with a head injury.Now living in rival South Korea, she has watched with deep interest the news of North Korea's 80-day productivity campaign that began last month. “When they pushed us to work so hard, I wonder if they should have also paid us something,” Kang, 52, said in an interview with The Associated Press. “North Korean people have gotten used to providing such (free labor) for so long.