KoreaToday Defector Conquers Womens Boxing for Family’s Sake
By Kang Seung-woo
Staff Reporter
In South Korea’s trite, tear-jerking soap operas, rich parents go bankrupt, and their docile-turned-dogged children labor through adversities, eventually bringing their family back to a happy ending.
The story of Choi Hyun-mi, who stepped into the boxing ring to support her once-affluent North Korean refugee family, is almost a real-life version of a classic soap opera story line.
``I was desperate,’’ said Choi, 19, of her decision to lace up her gloves again after her family had escaped from North Korea to Seoul.
``Since my family came to Korea (in 2004), my parents had a lot of difficulty finding jobs here,’’ the World Boxing Association (WBA) women’s featherweight championship said in an interview with The Korea Times at her gym in Seoul. ``Boxing was the only thing I did well at that time because I boxed in the North.’’
``My parents made a tough decision to give us a chance to enjoy a better standard of living than in North Korea, and I wanted to box well to make up for their decision.’’
The native of Pyongyang began her career in the ring at age 13, when the 1.7-meter girl was scouted by a boxing coach at her school.
``When I visited the gym for the first time, I fell in love with boxing and I started doing it without telling my parents,’’ said Choi, who was also approached by instructors of other sports, such as water polo, synchronized swimming and football, because of her size, equivalent to that of men in North Korea.
In addition, her potential was detected by the head coach of the prestigious Kim Chul-joo Educational University a few months later and she joined a team that trained female fighters in anticipation of women’s boxing being added to the 2008 Beijing Olympics as an official event.
While she may have believed at the time that she was on a path toward the Olympics, that all changed in February 2004, when her father, Choi Chul-soo, a wealthy businessman, planned a high-risk escape from North Korea disguised as a family trip to China.
The father went to China first, then paid guides to help his wife, son and daughter, Hyun-mi, cross the border.
The family then traveled to Vietnam and hid inside a cramped hotel until they were granted asylum by the South Korean government. They came to Seoul five months later along with 460 other refugees, the largest group of northern defectors ever to land in South Korea.
``When I heard that we would not return to North Korea, I was not scared because I was with my parents,’’ Choi said.
Although they arrived in the South with rosy expectations of a better life, it did not turn out as they’d hoped. Her father, who worked for a trading company which exported minerals, such as zinc and copper in the North, was unable to get a job upon arriving in the South, and the family lived solely on government assistance, which helped them eke out only a meager living.
Desperately wanting to help her needy family, Choi did the only thing she could _ she started boxing again.
For the talented young female boxer, who was getting paid to box in North Korea, the amateur stage was not lucrative, despite her dominance.
She burst onto the boxing scene in the South, claiming five titles and going 16-1 _ 14 of which were stopped by the referee.
``Frankly speaking, it was easy, because I had trained so much as an Olympic hopeful in the North. I never hit the wall as an amateur,’’ she said.
Despite enjoying her stellar amateur career, Choi, then a high school sophomore, had to turn pro in September 2007 because the scant prize money of amateur boxing was not enough to support her family.
``I liked boxing and I was very confident, so I never felt pressure,’’ she said.
However, breaking into the professional ranks proved to have just as many difficulties as landing in South Korea.
Choi was involved in a contract dispute with her former manager, who had forced her into a 12-year ``slave agreement.’’ It kept her out of the ring for about 10 months.
``He cheated Hyum-mi into the contract,’’ her father said. ``As she was under age and needed her parents’ consent, I was finally able to settle the problem legally,’’ said her father, who has since become her manager himself.
With the dispute resolved, Choi picked up where she left off in the amateur ranks, prevailing in her professional debut with a third-round technical knockout (TKO) in June 2008.
Just four months later, in just her second pro bout, she earned the chance to challenge for the world title and became the fifth South Korean female world champion in a bruising fight with Xu Chunyan of China.
The win made Choi, age 17, the youngest world champion ever _ man or woman _ in the history of the South Korean boxing.
``I could not believe that I won the world title. The road to get there was difficult enough to make me think about quitting the sport several times,’’ she said.
``But boxing was my last resort, so I could not give it up.’’
Along with being gifted with exceptional boxing skills, her unusual background saw her attract worldwide attention, and she has been regarded as a new hope for declining South Korean boxing, which once bred world-class boxers.
And of course, she is thrilled to have come so far.
``It would be great if South Korean boxing could regain its past glory with me as a stepping stone,’’ she said.
``At the same time, I hope younger female boxers will establish themselves, which will be helpful to me.’’
A lack of female boxers here has meant that she has never sparred with another female boxer, and has always trained in the ring with male fighters.
She wants to be recognized by what she has accomplished, not by where she was born.
``I do not mind being known as a North Korean defector female boxer because that description has drawn plenty of interest in me,’’ she said.
``But it is a pity that the world title is being dwarfed by my birthplace. I want to be remembered as the world champion, not a North Korean-born boxer.’’
Since capturing the belt, Choi has defended her title twice _ a draw with compatriot Kim Hyo-min in May 2009 and a win against Tenku Tsubasa of Japan via a unanimous decision two months ago.
According to the WBA rules, Choi has to meet another opponent within three months of her last title defense, but her recent appendectomy is likely to cause it to be postponed
This year, Choi will split her time between the canvas and campus. She starts university in March and hopes that she will find a career for her life after boxing.
``I never thought I would attend university. I wanted to go to college when I was finished high school last year. But the entrance examination and title match both took place in October 2008. I put school aside because I didn’t know if I’d ever get another chance to challenge for the championship again,’’ she said.
But she admitted that despite being the world champion, she still felt there was a void in her life: a university education.
``I cannot box my whole life. After stepping away from it, I will have to find a career and I want to find it at university.’’
Choi has been dubbed ``South Korea’s Million Dollar Baby’’ after the Oscar-winning movie which portrayed a determined woman in her attempt to establish herself as a boxer.
``I like the nickname, but not the movie because it does not have a happy ending, as the main actress dies,’’ she said.
But the Korean version refuses to follow the plot of the original.
``If possible, I want to unify the titles this year, and to defend my world title 10 times or more,’’ she said.
``And I will go down as the most successful female boxer in history.’’