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[Music]
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minyang is
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17 she lives in haasan a small town in
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North Korea it's located right at the
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yalu river the natural border to
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China across the ice Minong can see the
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other side freedom is so close yet so
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far North Korean soldiers are nearby
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patrolling the area
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M young takes a deep breath of cold
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air then she makes her first step onto
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the
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ice not knowing that this will be the
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beginning of an
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incredible 7-year
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Journey
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F North Korea is notorious for the
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oppression of its people and its poor
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human rights
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record under Kim Jong-un it became even
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harder for citizens to escape there are
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more fences more guards and since a few
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years there is a new order to shoot on
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site yet every year hundreds of North
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Koreans risk their lives to flee their
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country weeks of grueling desert tracks
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months in detention camps and years in
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hiding all in the pursuit of
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Freedom geographically North Korea
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shares borders with Russia China and
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South Korea most North Korean refugees
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want to get to South Korea there is the
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shared language and cultural heritage
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most importantly South Korea actively
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welcomes defectors on the North with a
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citizenship if you look at the map the
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direct route to South Korea might seem
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the easiest but in reality very few
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manag to escape through this path in
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between the countries lies a
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demilitarized zone and it is one of the
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most dangerous borders in the
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[Music]
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world oong s is one of the ones who
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managed to get through in 2017 he made a
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daring Escape through the DMZ created
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after the Korean War the DMZ is only
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demilitarized by name it is heavily
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fortified with armed guards constantly
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observing each other on a quiet Monday
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afternoon the tense Silence of the DMZ
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is suddenly
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Disturbed someone is trying to escape
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driving a military Jeep at high speed
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oong s races towards the
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Border surveillance footage by the south
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Korean military captures the intense
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Pursuit he abandons his car and
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continues on Foot North Korean soldiers
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fire multiple shots hitting him several
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times but oang song manages to cross the
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demarcation line collapsing behind a
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wall on the South Korean side he endures
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for hours until South Korean soldiers
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rescue him escaping through the DMZ is
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extremely rare survival chances are near
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zero another rare extremely dangerous
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Escape Route to the South is by sea
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somewhere along the southeast coast a
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North Korean man enters the ocean the
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man is in his mid-20s and equipped with
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fins and a diving suit swimming for over
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6 hours and covering more than 3 km he
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reaches the South Korean Shore near the
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town of
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goang despite being caught on
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surveillance cameras South Korean forces
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only find him later resting under a tree
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he turns out to be a North Korean
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fisherman seeking Asylum the tides had
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worked in his favor presumably the man
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had prior knowledge of the sea
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conditions without he probably would
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have out defecting this way too is near
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impossible only a handful of people have
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succeeded through this
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route similarly it is extremely rare
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that North Koreans defect to Russia the
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border is heavily guarded and the river
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is too deep to cross the few people
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publicly known for defecting to Russia
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are privileged or high-ranking citizens
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who manag to cross with the help of
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their
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[Music]
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connections creating 3D animations like
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this requires a solid understanding of
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physics and Mathematics a great place to
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develop these skills is brilliant
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visually teaches you how to interpret
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and visualize data just like the
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channel the most promising path for
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North Korean defectors is through China
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the two countries are divided by two
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rivers the yalu and the tumin some
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sections are shallow and waste deep in
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Winter these Rivers offer a rare
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opportunity
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the water freezes solid for those
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desperate enough crossing over the ice
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might seem deceptively
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simple Crossing is just the beginning
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the real danger lies on the Chinese side
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where defectors face constant threats of
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capture and
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repatriation Min young grew up in a
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modest home overlooking the yalu River
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from her backyard she can see the hazy
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outline of Chinese Villages her family
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is relatively privileged they don't
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starve her father a traveling salesman
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frequently crosses into China for
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business while her mother works for the
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government in her free time the mother
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makes extra cash by trading smuggled
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goods from China this is a common
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practice for North Koreans that live
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near the border the poor economic
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conditions increasingly drive them to
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find additional
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Income Life Changes dramatically when
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miny young is 14 it's the year
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1994 one day she returns from school to
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find her father missing he has been
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arrested on his way back from China
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accused of bribery and
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Corruption the family suspects he was
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tortured during his interrogation months
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later he dies in a
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hospital mang her mother and her little
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brother are left
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alone
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devastated disillusioned M young begins
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questioning the contradiction she saw
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around her at an early
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age the suffering during the famine the
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lies in state propaganda
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and the harsh realities of
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survival all build up to a pivotal
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point at the age of 17 she makes the
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life-changing decision to leave North
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Korea in under a minute she crosses to
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the Chinese side her heart
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pounding her plan is to visit relatives
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up north she seeks a Chinese Smuggler
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who lives by the
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river he frequently trades Goods with
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miny Young's mother and she trusts him
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he agrees to drive her into the
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sprawling city of
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Shenyang for the first time Minong
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experiences a world vastly different
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from the one she had just left
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behind Bright Lights bustling streets
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and the abundance of food and goods
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leaves her
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overwhelmed weeks go by and she turns 18
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years old she wants to return to North
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Korea back to her family but then she
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gets a sudden phone call
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from her
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mother rumors of her disappearance have
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spread across town people suspect she
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might have left the country coming back
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would be too dangerous now her family
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fears retaliation for letting M young
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Escape so mang's mother urges her to
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stay in China and live
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freely Mong remains in Shenyang she
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begins working in a restaurant and
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learns
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Mandarin she lives in constant fear of
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being caught and adopts several new
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names to evade
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detection one day two men enter the
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restaurant they asked for her and Flash
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their
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badges it's the
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police they take her away it's over she
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thinks this is the end at the station
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they question her relentlessly and
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demand she complete a written Chinese
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test to prove her
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fluency she does so handshaking
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constantly at the verge of a panic
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attack but she passes the test it's a
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narrow Escape had the officers doubted
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her she would have been deported to
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North Korea without a
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doubt everything she risked every moment
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of her struggle would have been for
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nothing later she learns that someone
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she trusted with her secret reported her
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to the
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authorities in 2002 she takes the train
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to Shanghai it marks the beginning of a
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new chapter in her
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life in the mega City she meets a
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brother broker who provides her with a
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new identity she spends her entire
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savings on this ID with it she secures a
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job as an interpreter at a South Korean
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tech
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company as she builds her life in
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Shanghai she saves money and falls in
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love with a South Korean
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man together they hatch a plan for her
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to seek asylum in Soul South Korea after
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years of hardship bang boards a flight
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to South
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Korea she's so close to freedom but
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immigration officers doubt her story she
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spends weeks in detention she is being
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interrogated over and over
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again then finally she's granted
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permanent
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residency she made
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it years later minyang uses her savings
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to arrange the Escape of her mother and
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younger brother today minyang goes by
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the name of hayano Lee she is a human
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rights activist speaking out for
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defectors and advocating for freedom in
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North Kore Korea her journey took over a
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decade but her resilience and courage
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led her to live a life free from fear we
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linked her book in the description
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minyong story is one of pain loss and
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perseverance But
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ultimately it is a testament to the
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unyielding Spirit of those who refuse to
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live in
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[Music]
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Chains for most North Korean refugees
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escaping through China is unavoidable
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but the country usually only marks the
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first stop the ultimate destinations are
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Vietnam Thailand or Mongolia all offer
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sanctuary and a route to Asylum in South
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Korea and as terrible as it sounds many
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Journeys to get there are much more
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grueling than hyan shio
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Le shiun grew up near the tuman river
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while her story is fictional we drew on
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various sources to paint a realistic
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picture her family is extremely poor
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shiun works as a vendor at an unofficial
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Street Market the money she makes is
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almost entirely spent on food for the
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family she once believed her
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government's promises that the supreme
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leader would provide for the
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people not
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anymore one day a friend whispers about
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a Chinese broker who helps people cross
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the border for a small fee he promises
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shelter food and even work to shiun it
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sounds like salvation maybe she could
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make enough money to provide for her
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family she and her friend agree to meet
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him after weeks of preparation shiun and
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her friend find themselves waiting by
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the river on a fresh Summer Night a
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shadowy figure emerges it's the broker
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the moon hides behind thick clouds and
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the only light comes from the distant
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glow of Chinese towns across the river
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they are ready to cross the broker leads
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them through the cold water shiun
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notices the absence of Border guards
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usually there are at least Le two guards
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patrolling this part of the river her
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guess the broker has bribed them on the
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Chinese Shore a car awaits the broker
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insist shiun right ahead alone claiming
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her friend will follow in a different
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car for safety numb with adrenaline
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shiun hesitates but complies she hugs
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her friend unaware as their final
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goodbye as the car drives to the dark
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Countryside exhaustion overtakes her
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shiun falls
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asleep she wakes to a nightmare
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the car has stopped in a remote Village
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the driver tells her she's meeting her
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new husband his words send chills down
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her spine this has to be a joke but no
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one seems to be
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joking shiun was deceived the broker has
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sold her to a middle-aged
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farmer while transiting through China
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many North Korean escapees fall into the
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hands of human traffickers in the Border
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regions the traffickers prey on the
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vulnerable promising food and jobs they
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Target people living in the harshest
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conditions once across the border hope
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turns to horror especially for women a
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2019 South Korean report estimates that
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60% of North Korean women in China fall
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victim to trafficking many forced into
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sex
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trade for 2 years shiun endures
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isolation abuse and constant
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surveillance it feels like a NeverEnding
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nightmare she learns Mandarin and secret
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and scrapes together money by selling
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eggs always planning her Escape in the
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back of her
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head one night shiun seizes her chance
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with her hidden savings and a few
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belongings she
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escapes the following weeks she travels
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North she has no plan no direction and
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no one to help
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her after months on the run she stumbles
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upon a network of defectors in the Korea
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Town of
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Beijing they promised to help her reach
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Mongolia
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she knows going back to North Korea
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would make her a traitor this means
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torture and death for her and her
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family she can't go back this strange
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far away Place seems like the only
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chance at a free life so she decides to
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go the only thing standing in her way is
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the GOI
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desert the size of Peru it is extremely
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hostile to humans freezing nights
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scorching days and no water she us joins
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a group of defectors and embarks on a
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grueling track days blur into nights as
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they walk through sandstorms share sips
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of water and little food after days of
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walking with almost no rest shun's feet
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are bleeding only the thought of Freedom
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keeps her moving when they finally reach
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the Mongolian border the group spots a
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few soldiers a man from their group
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volunteers and approaches with a bribe
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in case things go south the others are
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still able to escape
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undetected shiun nervously watches as
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the man from her group talks to the
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soldiers luckily they are Mongolian and
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quite supportive they guide the group to
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a Detention Center shiun Spends months
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in a refugee camp before finally being
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granted passage to South Korea she is
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one of the few hundred that make it
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every
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year one has to wonder how many more
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North Koreans would
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leave if only they could
00:15:34
[Music]