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