“She’d said nothing about keeping this a secret, but I knew I would never mention it to my mother or my father or anyone. I was too young to know that talking about it is exactly what I should have… — 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 Image
“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 Image
“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 Image
“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 Image
“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 Image
“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 Image
“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 Image
“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 Image
“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 Image
“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 Image
“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 Image
“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 Image
“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 Image
