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
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
We considered the Dear Leader our god. That's huge. He's more than our parents. I thought all of the world respected Kim… — 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
North Koreans are tragically oppressed. Despite the risks to my personal safety, I feel a strong obligation to tell the world about… — Lee Hyeon-seo Copy Share Image
In North Koreans, the moment we are born, we don't know there's another life existing outside of our country. The regime always… — 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
Most people in the country didn't - and might still not - know about how powerful the United States is. They think… — Lee Hyeon-seo Copy Share Image
We always had power shortages in the country. I was living right next to the border with China, and it was the… — 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
As a child, every North Korean is very happy. We were very happy because we learned horrible things about the outside world,… — 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
