We escaped together

The Korea Times

The Korea Times

Opinion

Fri, December 8, 2023 | 14:21

We escaped together

Posted : 2022-04-02 11:27

Updated : 2022-05-11 14:26

Park Eun-mi escaped to South Korea in 2014. After remaining silent for eight years, she launched a YouTube channel on March 14. ― Ed.

By Park Eun-mi

In 2007, I decided to escape from North Korea because it was getting more difficult for my family to survive.

I knew about two ways to escape from North Korea.

One, with the help of a broker. That way is safer.

Two, secretly crossing the Yalu River by myself.

I made up my mind to escape with the help of a broker because I could not speak Chinese. But finding a broker was a big challenge. They are breaking the law by helping North Koreans escape to China, so they must hide their identities.

My friend's sister, I will call her Su-jin, introduced me to a broker and together we escaped from North Korea.

It was not easy to escape from North Korea.

I tried six times. Finally, Su-jin and I did it. We arrived in the countryside of China.

On the first day in China, a young Chinese couple came to the house where we were staying. They explained something in Chinese that I could NOT understand.

That morning, they took Su-jin somewhere. When she came back in the evening, she told me the shocking story of what had happened to her.

The Chinese broker had Su-jin put on makeup and dressed her in pretty clothes. He took her to a house. When she entered, many people were there waiting for her.

They started to speak in Chinese to her, one of them asked her how old she was, if she had a husband and a child in North Korea.

Su-jin was then only 15 years old. She was so ashamed that she could not answer their questions.

Then things got even worse. One Korean Chinese woman began to touch her body, trying to figure out if she was a virgin.

Su-jin was only 15 years old, she didn't know about the outside world or about men

The woman touched her body because she thought Su-jin looked like a married woman rather than a virgin.

They thought the human trafficker was trying to deceive them.

After that, the broker took her to three or four more houses to try to sell her.

Even now, I cannot forget Su-jin's face as she explained about those terrible experiences.

This situation did not happen only to Su-jin. It happens to so many North Korean girls who go to China.

Su-jin now lives in South Korea.

I sincerely hope that one day she will be able to share her heartbreaking story without fear and can join me in helping North Korean defector women still living in China.

Human trafficking is still taking place in China. So many North Korean defector women have terrible experiences in China.

Those painful memories have left deep wounds in our hearts.

I hope that North Korean defector women can overcome this pain as soon as possible, find happiness, and enjoy living in freedom.

With my small voice, I will also try to give them strength.

Casey Lartigue Jr., co-founder of Freedom Speakers International, edited this text for publication. Lee Eun-koo, co-founder of FSI, translated it from Korean to English.

CJL@alumni.harvard.edu