North Korean defector's heartbreaking journey to freedom

Brut America

"We saw dead bodies lying in the streets. Neighbors, kids, people I knew. But no one called it 'starvation.'"  She escaped the North Korean famine, but she was caught and sent back. This is Jihyun Park's heartbreaking story.

Transcript

00:00My uncle died of starvation right in front of me.

00:04It was the moment I started to question everything.

00:20In 1998, I was promised a safe way out for me and my brother.

00:27My weak and starving father begged us to leave.

00:32And even though I knew it would be the last time I saw him, I agreed.

00:48When there wasn't enough to eat, the state had a simple explanation—American problems.

00:58We saw dead bodies lying in the street.

01:02Neighbors, kids, people I knew.

01:06But no one called it starvation.

01:10Just an illness.

01:13We didn't protest or blame the government because our whole lives we'd been trained not to.

01:22During this period, known as the Old East March, more than 3 million North Koreans starved to death.

01:38I'd been sex trafficked and sold to a Chinese man for 5,000 yuan.

01:44My brother was arrested and sent back to North Korea.

01:49I still don't know if he is dead or alive.

01:55For the next 6 years, I lived as a sex slave in Northeast China.

02:01It's as tragic as it is common.

02:0580% of North Korean women who escaped became victims of human trafficking.

02:11I gave birth to my son alone in my bedroom.

02:16And although it was scary, I finally had something.

02:22I was so desperately missing family.

02:37Today, I live in the UK with my husband and three children.

02:42There is a lot of interest in North Korean refugees, but we can't forget about those who are left behind.

02:50North Koreans deserve the right to live freely without the fear of torture and persecution in whichever country they choose to live in.

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