The kindness of strangers and the support of the international community are truly the rays of hope we North Korean people need. — Lee Hyeon-seo Copy Share Image
I can't be sure of exactly when and how North Korea will change. But I do believe it will happen, hopefully in… — Lee Hyeon-seo Copy Share Image
Certainly in North Korea, man is always superior to woman. Even the government treats women horribly. What is the slogan? Woman is… — Lee Hyeon-seo Copy Share Image
People who live in North Korea, they die for food, but living in the free world, the cat even eats expensive sushi. — Lee Hyeon-seo Copy Share Image
Kindness towards strangers is rare in North Korea. There is a risk to helping others. The state made accusers and informers of… — Lee Hyeon-seo Copy Share Image
We refugees, we become always a punchbag. A political punchbag between China and South Korea and North Korea. — Lee Hyeon-seo Copy Share Image
I know North Korea is the most ridiculous country in the world, but for me, my mum, my brother, and my families… — Lee Hyeon-seo Copy Share Image
In North Korea, we learnt all Americans are the enemy; they are not human. — Lee Hyeon-seo Copy Share Image
Many people - when they think about North Korea and the dictatorship, or the military or nuclear weapons, nuclear missiles, those things… — Lee Hyeon-seo Copy Share Image
Some people criticize North Koreans and ask, 'Are they stupid? How can they believe those ridiculous things?' But I say, It doesn't… — Lee Hyeon-seo Copy Share Image
Inside North Korea, we have many informants and spies watching everyone; they're paid by the government. Even a husband and wife can't… — Lee Hyeon-seo Copy Share Image
The TED talk I gave, that gave me another character I didn't know about. I'm not saying the mind of a hero,… — Lee Hyeon-seo Copy Share Image
A huge famine hit North Korea in the mid-1990s. Ultimately, more than a million North Koreans died during the famine, and many… — Lee Hyeon-seo Copy Share Image
Staying in China provided me with the opportunity to adjust to life outside of North Korea and to gain a sense of… — Lee Hyeon-seo Copy Share Image
When I explain to people what was the situation in North Korea, they think, how can such a country exist? They know… — Lee Hyeon-seo Copy Share Image
There are people who are destined to embrace endless pain and suffering, and there are people who desire to dream. Everybody dreams,… — Lee Hyeon-seo Copy Share Image
It was very shocking for me to read newspapers that openly criticised the government in South Korea. That is impossible in North… — Lee Hyeon-seo Copy Share Image
North Korean defectors who speak out against the regime always feel nervous. We never know what the North Korean government is planning.… — Lee Hyeon-seo Copy Share Image
Leaving North Korea is not like leaving any other country. It is more like leaving another universe. — Lee Hyeon-seo Copy Share Image
When many Chinese escaped to North Korea during the Cultural Revolution, we embraced them. People in China have forgotten about this. — Lee Hyeon-seo Copy Share Image
My mom told me many times how I need to be careful living inside the regime. We didn't say 'the regime.' We… — Lee Hyeon-seo Copy Share Image
We were taught North Korea is a heaven. They told us how people in western countries die in hospital or have no… — Lee Hyeon-seo Copy Share Image
North Korea is still my homeland, my country. I suffered on the outside because I was alien, without identity. I was nobody.… — Lee Hyeon-seo Copy Share Image
I just wanted to see China with my own eyes. I wanted to see whether North Korea was the best country in… — Lee Hyeon-seo Copy Share Image
Living in China, I found out that the bright new world was not for me, not for defectors. My life in North… — Lee Hyeon-seo Copy Share Image
I believe I'll see the reunification of North and South Korea in my lifetime and that defectors should play a role in… — Lee Hyeon-seo Copy Share Image
Like every country, North Korea has some very smart people. They could be contributing a lot more to science and other areas,… — Lee Hyeon-seo Copy Share Image
North Korea is not the dictator's country; it's 25 million citizens' country, and they are suffering under the dictator. North Koreans are… — Lee Hyeon-seo Copy Share Image
Even after arriving in South Korea, it's dangerous. As a North Korean defector, I need to be careful from the spies to… — Lee Hyeon-seo Copy Share Image
Because North Korea was so totally cut off, we didn't hear anything of the outside world. We had only one TV channel,… — Lee Hyeon-seo Copy Share Image
Leaving North Korea is not like leaving any other country. It is more like leaving another universe. — Lee Hyeon-seo Copy Share Image
North Korea is still my homeland, my country. I suffered on the outside because I was alien, without identity. I was nobody. I was… — Lee Hyeon-seo Copy Share Image
The kindness of strangers and the support of the international community are truly the rays of hope we North Korean people need. — Lee Hyeon-seo Copy Share Image
A huge famine hit North Korea in the mid-1990s. Ultimately, more than a million North Koreans died during the famine, and many only survived… — Lee Hyeon-seo Copy Share Image
Most people in the country didn't - and might still not - know about how powerful the United States is. They think North Korean… — Lee Hyeon-seo Copy Share Image
I just wanted to see China with my own eyes. I wanted to see whether North Korea was the best country in the world… — Lee Hyeon-seo Copy Share Image
People who live in North Korea, they die for food, but living in the free world, the cat even eats expensive sushi. — Lee Hyeon-seo Copy Share Image
If defectors say they had high-level connections in Pyongyang or came from an esteemed institution in the North, they can gain better employment in… — Lee Hyeon-seo Copy Share Image
Certainly in North Korea, man is always superior to woman. Even the government treats women horribly. What is the slogan? Woman is a flower. — Lee Hyeon-seo Copy Share Image
When I was little, I thought my country was the best on the planet. And I grew up singing a song called 'Nothing To… — Lee Hyeon-seo Copy Share Image
The border crossing is the most dangerous moment for anyone attempting to escape. But my brother and mother had been waved off by every… — Lee Hyeon-seo Copy Share Image
I lived near the border with China, and one night, I simply left home and walked across the iced-over river that separated the two… — Lee Hyeon-seo Copy Share Image
