My name's Anthony Padilla. Today, I'll be spending a day
with North Korean defectors to learn the truth
about being born in a country with a severe and isolated dictatorship, the lengths they went to escape, and the struggles of adapting to an entirely new world
and concept of freedom. By the end of this video, we'll find out if these escapees have been able
to approach life outside of North Korea with a sense of hope or if living
through the torturous nightmare that was once their reality has proven far too traumatic for them
to ever find a true sense of peace. Hello, Lucy. Hi. -Cherie.
-Hi, Anthony. Do you feel
like you're risking your safety by coming on here
and speaking about your escape story knowing that authority in North Korea
could potentially see this video? I would be very scared, but right now
I am a citizen of South Korea so I'm very protected
over this government. My father got tortured
in North Korean prison and he suffered all his life. My mom's sister, recently she was sent to prison
and she got tortured cruelly and now she's in a serious condition. Now, my mom and my sister support me
to speak up against the regime. This is meaningful work
for our people in North Korea. I feel like most people watching have
no idea what North Korea is really like. Can you explain the extent
of the strict rules and repression -that North Korean citizens face?
-North Korea has countless ridiculous rules
that North Koreans must obey, a lot of security enforcement regulation. One of them is electricity inspection. Often, security officers come
into your house without notice to check
if you are using electricity or not. If you don't have money to bribe them, then you were sent to forced labor camps. Security officers come into your house
in the middle of the night, of course without any notice, to check if any strangers
are sleeping in your house. North Korea is the no freedom of movement. Even inside North Korea, we cannot travel freely
within the country. The government has to know
where you are at all times -Exactly.
and you have to be in the place -where you're supposed to be.
-If you ask anybody from North Korea the thing
that you have to have in your home, you'd have to have
the portrait of Kim Jong-il, Kim Il-sung and right now Kim Jong-Un. I remember growing up, really bowing down to the picture
as if it's God. At the time, I really thought he was God. I thought he wasn't human. It is the duty of the family
to keep the portraits clean at all times. Often, security officers
come into your house to check if any dust on the portraits. The punishment of having dirty portraits
is to send you to forced labor camp It sounds like that's the punishment for -everything.
-Yes. Everything we do in North Korea is all about worshiping the Kim family
and loyal to the Kim family. Did you find any of these things
strange at the time or was it just a normal part of life
for you? At the time,
I thought it was completely normal because, if I look at my right or left,
everybody was doing the same thing. There was nothing for me to compare with. North Korean people are systematically
brainwashed from a young age. I thought the Kim family was God. When he was born,
the whole world was so happy that two rainbows appeared in the sky
to celebrate his birth. -He formed a double rainbow at his birth.
-Yes. The regime has started working
on idolizing Kim Jong-un, so Kim Jong-un was able to drive a tank
at the age of six. North Korean people,
they don't [crosstalk][00:04:28.00] Yes, I mean, when you're taught
something forever, it doesn't seem silly at all. Yes. Everyone actually believes it. What was your extent of knowledge
of the outside world? I didn't know
the outside world even existed. I thought the only country
that exists in this entire world was only North Korea. At times,
I would listen to adult conversations. Some people in our family, they escaped this country
and they went to South Korea. They created these rumors
like if you go to South Korea, you have to sell your blood to survive. You're so poor,
you have to sell your physicalness. It's better to stay here than leave. The media
is strictly controlled by the regime, so we don't know about
how it looks like outside North Korea. The only way we can learn
is through foreign films. When we have electricity,
we watch it secretly foreign films. Your family would sneak
movies and TV shows, -and you guys would watch it in secret?
-Yes, in secret. In North Korea,
there is only one TV channel. The content broadcasts all about history and like where's the Kim family so we just turned off right away. Even North Korean movies are
all about the loyalty to the Kim regime A certain time, like it was four o'clock,
they will show us cartoons. This character of squirrel wearing this army uniform
and killing American characters, and we would always win. They were showing the kids
North Koreans killing Americans. Even in kindergarten, if you encounter American person
with big nose, blue eyes, they are not human, you have to kill them. Oh my god.
Literally, you just have to kill them. Wow. Did you ever discuss any of your negative thoughts
that you had about the regime -with anyone else?
-Never. The regime encourages people
to spy on each other. It's the duty as a citizen to report it. We don't usually share
negative thoughts towards the regime with anyone except the family members. Three of us,
we were talking about it, right? If she doesn't report me,
then another one will report it. Then both of us will be punished. One person could be punished
merely for hearing and not reporting. Exactly. How old were you
when you eventually escaped? I was 10. I escaped when I was 17 years old. Were you aware of any of the consequences
of escaping the country? We are totally aware
of what's consequences of escaping. North Korean defectors,
if they are caught during their escaping, we will be sent to prison
and we will be tortured cruelly, and once you get in there, you cannot get out of prison
until you die. When I lived in China with my sister,
each of us, we carried a razor, and we planned on using those razors commit suicide by cutting our wrists in case we were captured. I wasn't aware until I escaped and my mom told me
that we will be all executed and she showed me in her pocket,
she had this little black thing, and that was if we were to get caught, she would feed us this little things
and we would just kill ourselves. Your mom knew
that the punishment would be so harsh, that you could face imprisonment, torture, and she would be better off serving you
something that would kill you instantly instead of having you
potentially face all those horrors? Yes. What were the events that led up to that?
How did you eventually escape? My mom, I was playing with my friends. She came to pick me up at night time. Right next to her there was this guy
who I've never met before who eventually turned out to be a broker. The broker did all the things. We crossed the [?] river,
and we got there safely. There was a taxi waiting for us. We hop onto the taxi.
We didn't say anything. I was sitting by the window seat and I would just look around
and I will see these huge buildings. I had a million questions to my mom
like, "Where are we?" We left North Korea completely.
We're in China. We moved around a lot
because for safety reasons. One day, the broker was like, "I'm taking you
to a like a private restaurant." We went into this private room and the next thing you know,
five, six, tall, huge guys comes in, burst open the door, and started screaming at us,
"Get out. Just get out." As we went outside,
there was two big vans waiting for us so we had to go in. It was really funny
because at that time, that short time, the amount of things
that went into my head was, "What are we going to do?
Are they going to kill us?" We arrived in a destination, and they started to take off
their clothes, and they were wearing clothes
that looked like a police officers. They came towards us,
and was like, "Are you guys hungry?" You were treated like hostages
or like you were being held for ransom, and then all of a sudden
they're treating you with respect? We're sitting here completely confused. They feed us food. The next day
we met with our previous broker and he was smiling to us like, "Everything's going to be okay.
I paid them the money." Basically
they wanted us just to get the money. At what cost though?
That must have been traumatizing for you. I remember that moment clearly. I started to have nightmares right after escaping
and living in South Korea When I turned to 16 years old
I got selected to the pleasure squad, The pleasure squad is like, the regime selects girls
all over the country, pretty and young
and there's a certain standard. The girls who got selected
have to go through a strict examination, plus it's a virgin test as well. After you pass then you go to Pyongyang,
only serve only for the Kim dictator. For the Kim Jong Un or Kim Jong Il,
there is a lot of resort for them. You can be like a nurse or you can be
a dancer in front of Kim Jong Un -or you can be a massager.
-Little did you know that you might have had to put
your hands all over Kim Jong Un. It's so disgusting. [laughter]
-Sounds a little uncomfortable. I didn't know. The only thing we know is honorable thing
to serve the Kim dictator. Your family members or people
just looked up to you. While through process to go to Pyongyang, I was working
in the mayor's villa in my hometown. At the time I couldn't see
my family, relatives and friends. I just soon felt like I was in prison
so I decided to escape. The only option for me
was climbing over the wall. I noticed that there's some rocks
scattered all around the wall. Another thing I've noticed that people in the villa, they fell asleep deeply
between 2:00 AM and 3:00 AM. Every day that time, I came out of the room and I scatter the rocks and piled it. I piled it until I make it. I just spread the rocks again
and then piled again. You were training yourself
to stack these rocks up and see how quickly you could get it done
and have enough time to escape. For 15 days finally I was able to escape. When I escaped the villa, actually I didn't really know
that I made a serious crime. I arrived in the city
and I bumped into my friend at her yard. I told her I'm going to see my family
and she said, "You know what?
You cannot go to see your family." So why not? She said, "400 soldiers are chasing you
and looking for you on the border." -400 soldiers?
-Yes. Did you have any idea that
that many soldiers will be chasing you? I didn't have any idea. She helped me to hide
in friend's friend's house. I hid in their house for three months. You thought that
they would just stop searching for you -after a certain amount of months.
-Exactly. The people who helped me to hide, they are afraid
that they will be punished too. That's why they said,
"We cannot help you anymore." Finally I hid in the kimchi cellar.
No windows. It's underground. I actually hid there for one month. My skin was getting to yellow
because I couldn't see the light. That's why I got really sick. Did you think that you might die there? I heard the people
talking outside the kimchi cellar. They said, "She's going to die soon." I was so hopeless. The only way I could leave
was cross the border. Once I decided to escape from North Korea, we borrowed a military general car
and I hid in the trunk. How did you get in contact
with this high ranking general to get into the car? My friends contact him
because they know each other. He was in the car so it was so safe for me
to pass the guard's post. I cannot imagine the feeling
of being trapped in a trunk, crossing the border,
knowing that I could be captured, -never see my family again.
-I was so scared. Once we arrived and there were another soldiers
who work on the border. They helped me
to cross the border to China. How did that feel
knowing that you had made it? Relief. When I crossed the border
until I make it to Chinese border, I actually cried. I can imagine. How has your life changed most
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in the app Store. Now, back to the world
of North Korean defectors. How has your life changed most
since you escaped? I don't need to watch on my tongue.
[laughs] You don't need to watch what you say? In this country, even if I criticize
the President of the United States, I'm totally fine. I don't need to worry
about being arrested or killed. How does it feel knowing that you can now talk
about these things freely, even here on a platform that could be seen
by potentially millions of people, knowing that you won't face
a life in prison or torture -just for speaking out?
-I'm speechless. Just it's an amazing thing
for North Korean people to think about. We never think
of this kind of freedom exists. What is your dream?
What do you want to do with your life? What do you want to become in the future? In North Korea there's no such question. Instead of in North Korea, they would ask us
how would you make our leader happy? How did it feel
to have that kind of empowerment? To feel like you had
some control, some choice in your life? At first
it was a little bit of feeling of burden. Like having too many choices
of places to eat or too many choices
of things to watch on Netflix? [laughs]
Too much choices like really is hard. I have my own choice. I have my life
and it is my responsibility to become who I want to be. -Do the things that I want.
-What's your favorite part about your new daily life? Not having to worry
about if someone is watching me, if I say these wrong things,
that my life will be in danger. We would always talk
about if we didn't escape, that we wouldn't be eating this food
today. We wouldn't be able to do
the things that we are doing right now. Everything really makes us
to really appreciate the things that is given to us
at this moment. What were som of the most shocking
discoveries or experiences that you had outside of North Korea? Growing up, I got to see the plane
in a textbook with a drawing of a plane. I've actually never seen a plane
in my real life. People can't fly. Objects can't fly. That was my thoughts,
like they are lying to us. How can they fly? You didn't even think
that people could fly? Do you remember the feeling of lifting up
off the ground for the first time? I just didn't want to believe
that was happening to me. Did you get a chance
to look out the window? "Why is everything--
why is these people looking like an ant?" I was making these comments to myself and my brother ended up
smacking on my back and say, "Act normal, like this is just--
Don't say anything." He was embarrassed about the fact that you were seeing a million new things
all at once, experiencing something that you had only
barely heard of even existing whatsoever? When I landed in South Korea
and I see these sparkling, shiny things. The time that we landed,
the season was spring and I thought it was winter because I saw ice
that ended up being a marble floor. A marble floor looked like ice. Right in front of me, you would see
National Intelligence Service people waiting to pick us up and he would say, "This is completely normal,
you see them doing this all the time." Do you miss anything
about your lifestyle in North Korea? There is no memorable lifestyle
other than people. I miss relatives and friends, and I miss the times
my family spent together in North Korea. How much of a connection do you still have with your friends and family
that are still in North Korea? North Korea is not a country where I can make phone calls
whenever I want. I can only contact them when they call me. I only contact our relatives once a year. We cannot have deep conversations because North Korean regime
tries to track the phone signal. So you have to talk really quickly
and try to get as much as you can. How much time do you get per conversation? We have very limited time,
like 10 minutes. If there's anyone in North Korea
that somehow sees this video, is there anything
that you want to say to them? I escaped from North Korea and I am very privileged
to live and have this freedom to live. I just want you guys to be safe. I just want you guys to be healthy,
and I hope to see you one day. North Koreans are like birds
trapped in a cage built by the dictator. We don't know
that we live as slaves to the dictator, so I hope if they can see this video, learn the truth and find the freedom by tearing down
the cage built by the dictator. Josh Dove wants to know, what are some facts or ideas
the outside world has about North Korea that are totally wrong? When people think about North Korea,
they think of nuclear weapons, but North Korea is the world's
number one human rights violator. Countless people are executed
and sent to political prison camp for unknown charges and are treated worse than an animal. Instead of just thinking about the North Korean threat to the world
with nuclear weapons, you want people to realize that the North Koreans themselves
are separate from the government. They don't want to experience this oppression
that they are experiencing. They are human beings like us,
are suffering. What do you think
the biggest misconception is -about North Korean defectors?
-People should know that North Korean defectors,
we didn't gain the freedom easily, and even at this moment, Kim Jong-un tries really hard
to catch defectors. If we are being kidnapped
and being sent back to North Korea, then there is no chance to survive. You got 5 seconds of shout out
to promote anything you want directly in the camera. -Go.
-I have YouTube. Please subscribe my channel to support me
to bring the plight of North Koreans. I just want to say thank you Anthony
for having me and shout out to you. -Me?
-Yes. Thank you. I'll shout you out. Lucy has a YouTube channel, you need to go check it out immediately. She talks a lot
about this kind of stuff on there. There you have it. I spent a day with North Korean defectors and I feel like I understand what living in North Korea and escaping
is like a little bit more. I commend these guests for their courage in re-living these heavy experiences
with me today so we can all better understand
the conditions that millions of people are living in
at this very moment. Living in South Korea, the most common question
that you get asked is, "What's your favorite food?" The first food that I
was most shocked was definitely the fast food, the hamburgers. Hamburgers were life-changing food. Do you remember
your first time biting into one? If you look at Ratatouille,
that's how I felt, like I bite into my-- [laughs] I went through all of this escape progress
just to eat this hamburger and that was worth it.
