- I knew that if I was
caught, I'll be killed. I was born to a Chinese father
and North Korean mother. But when I was five,
my father abandoned us and left to China and never returned. I lost my mother six years
later from starvation. So I ended up living with my aunt until my father sent my
step-brother to take me to China. So I ended up in my father's
place in China in 2008. Life in China was so much better. I was so happy because I was
living my life in freedom. But the happiness that I felt
in China was only temporary because Chinese government
didn't recognize North Koreans as refugees and they deported back us to North Korea. The North Korean government
wanted me to confess that I was trying to
defect to South Korea, but the truth was I went
to China to find my father. I had no desire to defect and
begged them to understand. I didn't confess, and
after being for weeks, they sent me to labor camp. I was only 15. In the labor camp, I
was only allowed to eat 150 kernels of corn a day. One morning, we were marching
in our rows, our work site, and I saw a dry vomit on the road. I was so hungry that I
got on my hands and knees and began picking the rice
out of the vomited rice. I didn't stop eating the vomited rice until the beating from the
guards were too unbearable. Eight months later, I was finally released because I couldn't even
stand up or even lift my arm. After spending months trying
to regain my strength, I needed to find a job. I began working in a coal mine where I was paid only in rice. Cave-ins were common, and I saw other boys lose their arms and legs
or else they were smashed into the rocks. And I watched my friend die when the coal cart fell off
the track and crushed him. I worked in the mine about a year and I realized it was my time to try to escape North Korea again. I knew how hard escaping
North Korea would be without any money or food. And I knew that if I was
caught, I will be killed. But those risks overweighted
working in the dark coal mine every day until it was my
turn to lose a limb or die. One morning, instead of entering the mine, I walked up the path and began running. I spent the next three
months hiding from the police and waiting for an opportunity to travel to the border town. On a humid day in August, I
was lying down on a hillside, and in the distance, I
saw a train come to stop and I realized the train was
going to the border town, and as the passengers boarded
again, I joined the line. And the guard would ask
for my papers and documents and I lied that my mother had them and that she was already on the train. He nodded and I headed straight for the train bathroom to hide. I spent the next two days
hiding from the police. I was almost at the border town when the hands of a guard
grabbed the back of my neck and dragged me to a
holding cell on the train. I thought about how terrible
the labor camp had been, the long days of manual labor, sleepless nights that
spent memorizing the rules, and the constant feelings of hunger. I refused to let that happen again. Once the train began to
slow down for the next stop, I saw a window was unlocked
so I pushed it open and squeezed out of the small opening. I jumped off the moving
train and rolled into a ditch and began sprinting for some nearby trees. I ran for hours, illegally
boarded a second train, and two days later, I finally
made it to the border town. I walked into the river that
divides North Korea and China and I hid in the tall
grass for eight hours waiting for the darkness. When I finally thought it was safe, I quietly waded into the water. In the middle of the
river, I slipped on a rock and let out a scream. Immediately, a floodlight was on my back and I heard a guard screaming at me. He said that he would shoot
me if I didn't turn back. I knew that I was dead either way. Either he would shoot me or I would obey and return to shore, only to
be shipped off to labor camp. I decided not to turn back. Each step took me further
away from North Korea and closer to my dream of freedom. And five minutes later,
I was dripping wet, but finally back in China. I walked in China for three days until somebody found me collapsed
in the middle of a road. I was hungry and I was
dehydrated and I was exhausted. When the man that found me realized that I was from North Korea, he helped me to make a
contact with the people who helped me to come to Southeast Asia where I was processed to
come to the United States. I remember looking out the window once the plane began
to land in California. I've never dreamed of being on a plane or even coming to America. And as I step off the plane,
I felt this strange feeling that I've never known before. Safety. I was finally safe and I
didn't need to hide anymore. And I came to America five years ago, and in that time, I have learned English, graduate from high school,
worked as a sushi chef. My life in America has not been easy, but this is land of opportunity, and I know that if I work
hard, I can achieve my dreams. And today, I stand here as the exception. For every story about a
North Korean like mine, thousands of others end in tragedy. And sometimes, I wonder why it was me. Why was I the one that
survived in the labor camp and my cellmates starved to death? And why did the coal cart fall off the other side of the rails, crushing my friend instead of me? And why did I get a chance
to jump off the train and those two other boys didn't? I struggled with this
questions for a long time. And the small gift that I can give to those that are not here
today is to share my story. Thank you.
Some cold shit...thanks you
Sounds horrible. Impossible to imagine. But i'd watch if that was made into a movie.