Escape from North Korea: My dreams as a woman came true in South

North Korean refugee Park Eun-hee was a featured speaker at the 2020 Oslo Freedom Forum held online Sept. 24-25. She granted permission to "Voices from the North" to share the text and video of her speech.―ED

by Park Eun-hee

Have you ever risked your life to achieve your dream? My dream was to walk the streets of my hometown freely wearing a pretty dress and earrings, and to express my own voice against injustice. For this dream of freedom, I risked my life at a young age and escaped from North Korea to start my new life.

When people think of North Korea, one might think of a dictator obsessed with food while people die in the streets due to hunger. One might also think of North Korea's nuclear weapons causing tension in the Korean peninsula. But I'd like everyone to know that there is so much more to my former homeland, North Korea. There is another aspect of my former homeland.

I was born in Wonsan on the east coast of North Korea. I grew up in a broken family. My parents divorced when I was five and my mother suffered from mental health issues. Both my parents died when I was young but, fortunately, my loving grandparents raised me. Thanks to them, I became a storyteller who embraces the pains of the past and lives for the future.

There are three main reasons why North Koreans defect. First, in search of food, second, political asylum, third, for freedom. In the 1990s, many people escaped from hunger and fled for food. However, in recent years, many young people are escaping for freedom so they may express themselves and freely fight against oppression.

When I was in the North, I was punished many times due to the clothes and accessories I wore. I was forced to stand in the police office all day and write apologies for wearing such things. Wearing earrings and having long hair is completely forbidden in North Korea. So, there are police everywhere on the streets, almost every 200 meters, in groups to check what you wear and how your hair looks. For example, I remember one day I went out wearing bootcut pants. The police approached me and started cutting my bootcut pants and my long hair in the middle of the street. It was a terrible experience that I will never forget.

That was when I started asking myself, "Why can't I have control over my own body and express my beauty as a woman?" As long as I was in North Korea, I would never have the most fundamental human rights, and I would never have control over my dignity. I remembered the saying, "I would rather die trying to live my dreams than to live a longer life filled with regrets."

Therefore, at the age of 17, I decided to leave the country for freedom.

On Sept. 24, 2012, I stood before the Yalu River near the border of China. It was 3 a.m. and the freezing wind pierced my face. It was the day that I escaped from dictatorship to South Korea in search of Freedom.

But my challenges did not stop there. For me, and many North Korean defectors, the settlement in South Korea is many times harder than escaping from the North. I started my new life in Seoul, South Korea, in an empty apartment with nothing but only the clothes I wore and a debt of over $6,000 to the broker of my escape. I had to study and work harder than anyone else to pay off my debts and survive in this new society. I did not know the basics of how to live everyday life in a modern city. I still vividly remember that I was fired after one month of working at a bakery. There were many items I never heard of such as egg tart, apple pie, and even pizza bread. I accidently sold the expensive breads as cheaper ones. North Korea did not have these problems. I made a vow to never again work at a bakery.

After that, I had several interviews to find a job. These interviews were the first time I faced implicit discrimination. Interviewers noticed my accent and said they did not hire foreigners. If I interviewed for a job for foreigners, they told me that they did not hire Koreans. This is a common occurrence for North Korean defectors in South Korea. And though I am now a South Korean citizen, I faced a dilemma about my identity, and I asked many questions about who I am.

Currently, there are 25 million people living in North Korea and about 33,000 have escaped to the South. The media seems to focus mainly on negative issues related to the North Korean regime, not on the people of North Korea. Because of that, people's views of North Koreans are now that of someone who always needs help, not as a colleague to work with. I was faced with these obstacles but there was a time during my escape which gave me the means and motivated me to overcome any challenge in front of me.

While on the run, I ended up in Thailand where I met a fellow defector who I will never forget. She was the one who showed me the infinite possibilities of human potential and strong mentality. I asked her why she decided to escape.

She said, "I starved for 10 days because I had nothing to eat. I didn't even have enough energy to open my eyes. At that time, I thought I had to survive rather than wait for death. So, I crossed the Yalu River in China to survive."

It's not only her anecdote but also many North Korean defectors' stories.

What is one of the most beautiful aspects about North Korea is its people ― ordinary people like her. Just like the fellow defector told me ― we must survive rather than wait for death. This goes for the lives of 33,000 North Korean defectors who work harder than anyone else for a better life.

I used to be ashamed to tell people that I am from North Korea but now I can confidently say that I am a North Korean defector. Because even though there were many difficulties, I never gave up on my dream.

Now, I am a YouTube creator with my own channel called Liberty21, and here, at the Oslo Freedom Forum, as a speaker, in English.

We are survivors. We are fighters.

In a capitalistic society, there are plentiful things you can buy. However, the mental strength of North Koreans cannot be bought anywhere. We should recognize the resilience of North Koreans, instead of only seeing them as victims of oppression.

Like how investors decide to invest in a company driven by the company's potential, we should all begin to see the potential of the North Korean people. If North Koreans are provided opportunities, especially for defectors, we can all take the initiative and lead our society and our country to a bright and free future.

Casey Lartigue Jr., is editor of "Voices from the North." He is co-founder of the Teach North Korean Refugees Global Education Center along with Eunkoo Lee, was the 2017 winner of the "Social Contribution" Prize from the Hansarang Rural Cultural Foundation, and the 2019 winner of the "Challenge Maker" Award from Challenge Korea.