“Most of the brokers who help defectors are human traffickers. They help women escape, not men. They’re paid to bring us to China either as brides or prostitutes. What I’m doing is a kind of prostitution, I guess, but it’s… — Hyeonseo Lee Copy Share Image
“The strength of my parents’ feelings for each other, however, was a worry to my grandmother. She warned them that if a couple loved… — Hyeonseo Lee Copy Share
“It was the dilemma all three of us had. Every choice we made cut us off permanently from someone we loved.” — Hyeonseo Lee Copy Share
“This was the first time I had ever known that North Korea has gay people. I am embarrassed to admit that I had thought… — Hyeonseo Lee Copy Share
“There was just one problem, however, and it was a major one. I wasn’t choosing any of this. It was all happening to me.” — Hyeonseo Lee Copy Share
“Most of the brokers who help defectors are human traffickers. They help women escape, not men. They’re paid to bring us to China either… — Hyeonseo Lee Copy Share
“I had to learn Mandarin. And I had the best teacher – necessity. You can study a language for years at school, but nothing… — Hyeonseo Lee Copy Share
“In her world, the law was upside down. People had to break the law to live. The prohibition on drug-dealing, a serious crime in… — Hyeonseo Lee Copy Share
“I’ll do whatever it takes. Humans are selfish and care only for themselves and their families. Am I any different?… Not only did I… — Hyeonseo Lee Copy Share
“Not only did I believe that humans were selfish and base, I also knew that plenty of them were actually bad – content to… — Hyeonseo Lee Copy Share
“Sixty thousand yuan – a fortune representing ten years’ wages at the restaurant – and a week’s imprisonment with the threat of rape, and… — Hyeonseo Lee Copy Share
“Every so often the authorities registered voters in order to find out who was missing and why. I had turned eighteen and was old… — Hyeonseo Lee Copy Share
“At the end of that first year at secondary school the ceremonies held on the anniversary of the Korean War affected me deeply and… — Hyeonseo Lee Copy Share
“Afterwards, wedding photographs were taken, as was customary, at the feet of the great bronze statue of Kim Il-sung on Mansu Hill. This was… — Hyeonseo Lee Copy Share
