“I escaped North Korea and went to China, where my broker turned out to be a human trafficker. I was sold to a Chinese man, forcibly married, had a child, and then underwent a forced abortion without anesthesia.”
Kim Myung-hee, 44, defected from North Korea in 1998. Originally from Chongjin in North Hamgyong Province, she grew disillusioned with North Korea after her father was murdered while collecting rations during the North Korean Famine in the 1990s. However, escaping North Korea did not lead to freedom. After being sold, Kim was captured by Chinese police while farming in 2000 and repatriated. She endured three to four months in a labor camp, where she was forced to kneel and raise her hands all day and, at night, slept on a floor made of stone and sand.
Kim recalls the harsh conditions, saying, “I was subjected to more inhumane treatment than I can count. There were no showers, and in the middle of winter, several of us had to bathe in a tank of water with ice floating on top.” She tried to escape multiple times, finally reaching South Korea in 2007.
At the departure gate at Incheon International Airport on Apr. 11, Kim announced her plans to speak at Harvard University about human rights realities in North Korea. The event, a North Korean defector English speaking contest, is set for Apr. 13 and is organized by Freedom Speakers International (FSI). This marks the first time FSI, co-led by Casey Lartigue, a Harvard alumnus, has held such a contest in the U.S..
“We organized the event to raise international awareness of North Korean human rights issues through the voices of defectors and to engage Harvard students with the ongoing issues,” Lartigue said. The theme of the event is “I am from North Korea,” and seven defectors will speak.
North Korean defector Maeng Hyo-sim, 23, will discuss ‘Human Rights of North Koreans with Disabilities.’ Her presentation will highlight her mother, who became disabled from polio in childhood. “I still remember how my disabled mother was beaten by a neighbor with an iron stick, breaking her arm,” Maeng said. “Seeing officials ignore the incident after being bribed, I lost all faith in North Korea’s corrupt society and decided to defect.”
“I felt compelled to expose the reality of North Korea, where the concept of human rights for the disabled does not exist, using English, the global language. I’m thrilled at the opportunity to educate students from top global universities about these issues,” Maeng has been enhancing her English skills online with native speakers for two hours daily since February.
Kim Ji-eun, 20, will share her experiences with identity confusion as a defector. Born in North Korea in 2004, she was taken to China by her mother at two. Growing up, she believed she was Chinese. “It wasn’t until my mother moved us to South Korea in 2016 for her education that I realized I was from North Korea,” Kim said. “I was born in North Korea, but I wasn’t North Korean. I lived in China, but I wasn’t Chinese.”
Kim, a theater and film student at Kookmin University, has also created a documentary titled ‘Mom’s Strange Land’ based on her experiences, which she has shared on YouTube.
