A Thousand Miles to Freedom (20 page)

*   *   *

Unfortunately, not everyone is as sympathetic toward North Koreans. South Korean students often distance themselves from me when they find out my origins. It's a sad fact, but it is necessary to point out that in South Korea, the north is still the “enemy.” There is always fear of North Korean spies.

As for me, I simply consider myself, above all, Korean. Whenever anyone asks me where I'm from, I respond, “I'm from Korea.” And if I'm asked “North or South,” I respond, “Both!” I think it's the best answer possible. I want to help the world understand the situation on the Korean peninsula, so that the sufferings of my people are not forgotten. That is why I have chosen to write this book. And to help the world open its eyes to this problem, the ability to speak English is essential.

Thanks to my stay in the United States, my English improved dramatically, even if it is still far from perfect. I returned to Seoul in May 2013, and soon had the chance to test my abilities in English. Over the summer, I received an invitation to London to speak directly to the largest Scandinavian talk show, following the release of this book in Norwegian. I certainly felt nervous. I was to appear next to some big stars, and the host wanted me to speak in English. The producer tested my level in English over the phone. I was hesitant, and a little stressed. Usually, I prefer to speak through an interpreter. But this was an extraordinary chance to tell my story to the public at large. Finally, I accepted, and when the day came, despite my hesitations, I took off for London.

*   *   *

When I landed, the Norwegian producers welcomed me with great warmth. On set, everyone tried to reassure me. The tension was palpable. First it was silent, and then the show began. Some Scandinavian rock stars told how they had risen from humble beginnings to success. Then, the highlight of the night: a large man with green eyes started speaking. I was told he was an English singer who was very famous worldwide. His stage name was Sting.

I had never heard of him—perhaps I was too young, and besides, in North Korea his genre of music is forbidden! When the host asked me whether I knew who Sting was, I admitted that I had had to look up his biography on Google before the show started, so I wouldn't look foolish on camera. The audience laughed. Still, I focused my efforts on telling my story, about my life in Eundeok, where I'm from. At the beginning, I was very nervous about speaking, and my English was halting. But once I got started, I forgot my nervousness, and I told my story for the first time in a foreign language. On the platform, the silence was intense. Everyone listened attentively. I was carried away by emotion when I told the story of my father's death and described his grave, which I have never again been able to visit. I couldn't stop the tears from rolling down my cheeks. When I finished speaking, the crowd applauded. Sting came to talk to me later. He thanked me and we took a photo together. I was deeply moved by how much he and the audience cared. A few weeks later, I learned that the book had become a national best seller in Norway.

After returning from London to Seoul, I finally graduated from Sogang University. But the hard part was only beginning. Now I had to find a job that I liked and that would put my mom, who has not retired despite her old age, at ease. My eventual goal is to become a child psychologist. To achieve that goal, it is my dream to return to the United States for a master's degree. But first, I have to further improve my English and earn another scholarship. Voilà—this is my plan for the next few years.

I undertook the writing of this book with a mission that I hold dear to my heart: providing witness testimony to the situation in North Korea, and helping to alleviate the burdens of my people, who are oppressed by a totalitarian dictatorship. That's why for now, I work for an NGO based in Seoul. The Citizens' Alliance for North Korean Human Rights (NKHR) tries to mobilize world leaders to change the fate of the Korean peninsula north of the 38th parallel, and to help North Korean defectors who have taken refuge in Seoul. With this NGO, I traveled to Jakarta to meet the United Nations special rapporteur on human rights, Marzuki Darusman. This Indonesian diplomat was responsible for preparing a report about the crimes committed by Kim Jong-un's regime. These international efforts have clashed with the inflexibility of the young dictator, who refuses to let UN inspectors within his borders. Nonetheless, I am certain that these international efforts will pay off one day, and that the Kim dynasty will collapse. And when it does, so, too, will the terrible last vestiges of the Cold War.

*   *   *

Now, as I write the last few lines of this book, a memory buried deep in my mind comes back to me. When I was young and living in Eundeok, I remember that on the first floor of our building there lived a young mother. As the famine grew more and more severe, she had a harder and harder time finding food to feed her baby. By the end, she didn't even have enough water to give to the baby. And so one day, famished, the baby died.

That child could easily have been me.

This memory helps me realize how lucky I have been, despite everything, and it gives me the strength to continue pursuing my dreams.

Among my ambitions for the future, there is one that I will never be able to accomplish by myself. It's my dream of one day seeing my people in the north free from a dictatorship that has kept them in fear, misery, and isolation from the rest of the world for decades. For this dream to become a reality, the whole world must open its eyes to the horrors currently taking place in North Korea. The Kim dynasty has so successfully isolated my country that it would be easy for the rest of the world to forget about us. If my memoir can play even a small part in raising global awareness about our suffering and about the tragedies taking place at the hands of this regime, then all that I have endured will not have been in vain.

 

About the Author

EUNSUN KIM
grew up in North Korea. At age eleven, she fled the country and began the harrowing nine-year journey that led her to freedom. Today she lives in South Korea with her husband. You can sign up for email updates
here
.

 

SÉBASTIEN FALLETTI
has been the Korea correspondent for the French newspaper
Le Figaro
since 2009. He covers political and business news across Asia. Born in Paris, Falletti is now based in Seoul and Shanghai. You can sign up for email updates
here
.

 

DAVID TIAN graduated from the University of Chicago with a degree in East Asian Languages and Civilizations and is currently a graduate student at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service. You can sign up for email updates
here
.

 

Thank you for buying this

St. Martin's Press ebook.

 

To receive special offers, bonus content,

and info on new releases and other great reads,

sign up for our newsletters.

 

Or visit us online at

us.macmillan.com/newslettersignup

 

For email updates on Eunsun Kim, click
here
.

For email updates on Sébastien Falletti, click
here
.

For email updates on David Tian, click
here
.

 

Contents

Title Page

Copyright Notice

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Author's Note

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Epilogue

About the Author

Copyright

 

 

A THOUSAND MILES TO FREEDOM: MY ESCAPE FROM NORTH KOREA
. Copyright © 2012 by
É
ditions Michel Lafon. Epilogue copyright © 2015 by Eunsun Kim and S
é
bastien Falletti. Translation copyright © 2015 by David Tian. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin's Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.

www.stmartins.com

Cover designed by Elsie Lyons

Cover photograph of couple © Eric Audras; landscape © Rodionov Oleg/Shutterstock

eBooks may be purchased for business or promotional use. For information on bulk purchases, please contact Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department by writing to [email protected].

The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.

ISBN 978-1-250-06464-6 (hardcover)

ISBN 978-1-4668-7088-8 (e-book)

e-ISBN 9781466870888

First published in France in 2012 by
É
ditions Michel Lafon under the title
Corée du Nord—9 ans pour fuir l'enfer.

First U.S. Edition: July 2015