As time went by, the leaders of the country changed, but there was no warming in relations between the two countries. Soon after Gorbachev came to power, the Sakhalin people were allowed to move freely around the Sakhalin Island. Prior to coming a new leader to travel across the Island a permit was required from a Visa department. Along with this, finally, the long-awaited day came, which had been expected for so long. While waiting for this day, many have grown old, and some are no longer alive. Before the new leader came to power in the country, life had been very harsh on Koreans. Because of the refusal to accept citizenship, it had been difficult for my parents to move around. This problem extended to us, we inherited this problem from our parents.
. Although we lived in Soviet Union and studied in a Soviet school, we were deprived of many rights to be used. Many of the benefits did not apply to us and we could not do what other people could have done it. In a word, we lived like foreign guests. Without the permission of the passport department, it was strictly forbidden for ethnic Koreans to freely move from one place to another, it was possible only within the territory we were registered. Even when I went to the summer camp, I had to take permission of the passport department whereas other children could freely do it without it.
The law had been very harsh in relation to Koreans who did not take citizenship. And in case of violation of the passport regime, illegals were expected to be punished very severely, up to imprisonment for serving in labor camps. Because of these problems, we ethnic Koreans have had difficulty living there. There have been such cases when we moved without the permission of the passport department, hoping that everything would be ok.
Due to the strict passport regulation, we had to avoid the law enforcement agencies. I remember I was traveling by train to another place, suddenly a passport control procedures began, out of fear that I would be caught, I hid in the toilet and sat there holding my breath until the passport control procedures was over. And sometimes out of fear, because of the sudden appearance of the police on the train, I had a desire to jump off the train on the move. That’s what the matter is all about. In fact, I know many people who have served their sentences in labor camps because of the passport regime violations. To make a long story short, it is impossible to describe everything in detail what we had been through because we were regarded to be foreigners. .