Lee Hyeon-Seo Quotes

My favourite place in South Korea is Jeju Island: it's a tropical paradise with sandy beaches, turquoise waters, and the magnificent Geomunoreum lava tube system of underground caves.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

On a bus ride through China, my family and I had talked for hours before a police officer boarded to conduct an inspection. My mother and brother couldn't speak Chinese, so they pretended to be deaf and mute, and none of the Chinese passengers said anything, sparing us.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

Hyeon means sunshine. Seo means good fortune. I chose it so that I would live my life in light and warmth and not return to the shadow.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

My favourite Korean food is delicious black five-layered pork belly, cooked over a charcoal grill. And Jeju chocolate, in citrus fruits and green tea flavour, which is famous throughout Korea.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

We always had power shortages in the country. I was living right next to the border with China, and it was the only country I could compare to my own. When I looked across the river, it was a completely different world - there were no people dying. It looked like a place full of colour, and that's what confused me.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

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 by eating grass, bugs, and tree bark.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

Freedom means everything to me. It is the most essential right that every person deserves. Most people take it for granted, but not North Koreans.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

We were taught North Korea is a heaven. They told us how people in western countries die in hospital or have no money to study in school.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

Like every country, North Korea has some very smart people. They could be contributing a lot more to science and other areas, but North Koreans are forced to spend so much time memorising the fake history of our dictators and other propaganda, so are at a huge disadvantage.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

Living in China, I found out that the bright new world was not for me, not for defectors. My life in North Korea had been OK; suddenly, in China, I had to feed myself and earn money. Worst of all, North Korean defectors are hunted by the government.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

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 countries. I was fortunate that my family had close relationships with some of the border guards, so I was able to cross without incident.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

North Korean defectors who speak out against the regime always feel nervous. We never know what the North Korean government is planning. It's really difficult for us to show our faces and speak out, but we feel obligated to do something to inform people about the ongoing tragedy inside North Korea.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

I want to see reunified Korean peninsula, and I believe that the majority of Koreans in both countries want to see Korea become whole again.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

The moment I escaped to China, I didn't have any money; I only had one address in my hand of some long-distance Chinese relatives. I didn't know China was that big. I thought I can find their home very easily, and I would come back one week later. But then I found out the address was a 10-hour drive away.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

Even after arriving in South Korea, it's dangerous. As a North Korean defector, I need to be careful from the spies to protect my relatives inside North Korea.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

Many Chinese criticize me not only on Baidu but on Facebook. Some say, do you think Chinese authorities were stupid enough not to realize you were a North Korean defector? If they read my book, they'd understand. I did my best to escape. I think it's all a miracle. It's not because Chinese policemen were stupid enough to believe my fake story.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

I hate the Chinese government. If you do not want to embrace North Korean defectors in your country, I understand. But we have a country where we can seek asylum. So please, let us freely pass through. Why are you doing your best to try and catch defectors?

- Lee Hyeon-seo

In North Koreans, the moment we are born, we don't know there's another life existing outside of our country. The regime always told us all the bad things about the outside world, describing America as full of thieves, all human scum, beggars, everyday people dying on the streets and hospitals.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

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 the South, where life can be very difficult for North Koreans.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

I was growing up in Hyesan, right by the closest North Korea-China border. China was just across the river: you could see across. So I was curious. On the river, on both sides, you have houses, then mountains. I wanted to know what was on the other side of the Chinese mountains.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

Here in South Korea, I'm continuing to learn English in order to boost my prospects. When North Korean defectors try to get a job to stabilize their lives, their lack of English is a handicap. It was the same story while I was living in China. It took an enormous amount of time and enthusiasm to learn Chinese.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

Many people - when they think about North Korea and the dictatorship, or the military or nuclear weapons, nuclear missiles, those things - tend to forget ordinary citizens are living there.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

Some people criticize North Koreans and ask, 'Are they stupid? How can they believe those ridiculous things?' But I say, It doesn't matter if you're smart: if you were born in North Korea, you would be exactly like us. We don't know what freedom is. We have never enjoyed it.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

North Korea is not the dictator's country; it's 25 million citizens' country, and they are suffering under the dictator. North Koreans are really nice, kind, pure people. I hate the dictator and the regime, but I love my home country.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

This is a divisive issue, but I really hope for unification. Even though we have been divided for a long time, we are all Koreans, so we should live together in a united Korea.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

I've been so lucky, received so much help and inspiration in my life, so I want to help give aspiring North Koreans a chance to prosper with international support.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

North Koreans are tragically oppressed. Despite the risks to my personal safety, I feel a strong obligation to tell the world about the Orwellian nightmare that North Koreans face.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

Due to hate, fear, and oppression, the North Koreans cannot help themselves.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

It was very shocking for me to read newspapers that openly criticised the government in South Korea. That is impossible in North Korea and almost impossible in China. I was really impressed, and I became addicted to reading the news and watching the media so I could learn about the world. North Koreans would be stunned if they experienced this.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

North Koreans are forced to work at state jobs in a moribund economy. Countless parents watch their children go to bed hungry. Many North Korean families feel they have no option but to try to escape.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

I am one of the lucky North Koreans who made it out of China. North Korean defectors in the country are terrified of trying to leave because they are often caught at the borders as they attempt to cross into Mongolia or Laos.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

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

In China, it was hard living as a young girl without my family. I had no idea what life was going to be like as a North Korean refugee. But I soon learned it's not only extremely difficult, it's also very dangerous, since North Korean refugees are considered in China as illegal migrants.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

Hyesan people have money, the most after those in Pyongyang, because it's near the border with China. Illegal smuggling businesses and Chinese trading companies operate there, so people can access outside products.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

Among the difficulties I encountered, economic problems were the worst. I found that financial hardships could limit one's ability to realize one's dream, no matter how desperate and earnest you are.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

For years, my Chinese family supported me, but they wanted me to have an arranged marriage, so I ran away and worked as a waitress. It was a tiny salary, but I was so happy; it was the first time I'd accomplished something.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

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

North Korea is still my homeland, my country. I suffered on the outside because I was alien, without identity. I was nobody. I was in the worst situation, fighting for everything, to survive.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

Inside North Korea, we have many informants and spies watching everyone; they're paid by the government. Even a husband and wife can't trust each other.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

Breathing in South Korea, even though the life here is not easy, makes me so happy. I feel that sitting in a coffee shop, having a cup of tea, and looking out of the window at the blue sky - this is happiness. Truly happiness.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

Most people in the country didn't - and might still not - know about how powerful the United States is. They think North Korean weapons are the best in the world, and they're very proud of them. They believe they can protect the country from anyone.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

When I was growing up, my mum was doing illegal smuggling with China. Sometimes she would see a fortune teller for advice. One time I went with her: 'In your future, you'll be living in foreign country and eating the foreign country rice,' she said.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

In North Korea, we learnt all Americans are the enemy; they are not human.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

No dictator can last forever. History shows that in the end, people around the dictator bring about change. Of course, a lot of high-ranking officials don't want change because they want to keep power. But there are other good people who want change. I believe they are waiting for the chance.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

In communism, we never had any freedom - of movement, of speech, of press. We didn't even make own decisions for our lives, our future. We were human robots.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

We considered the Dear Leader our god. That's huge. He's more than our parents. I thought all of the world respected Kim Il Sung. That's why we were bowing to their pictures.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

From the moment I was born, I was fed propaganda. I viewed the Kim dynasty not only as our fearless protectors from the imperialist forces, but also as gods.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

Even though some heartless North Korean, Korean-Chinese, and Chinese citizens have exploited vulnerable defectors for money, I witnessed many acts of kindness by the Chinese.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

As a child, every North Korean is very happy. We were very happy because we learned horrible things about the outside world, like in America and Japan. We thought they were suffering; that's why we were very happy... but in reality, we were living under fear.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

The North Korean regime really can control people. I think they are the best dictator in the whole planet.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

My life is not only mine. I am telling the story of all North Korean people; it is my responsibility to tell it.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

North Korean defectors can usually tell when other defectors are lying about their past.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

I think it's possible that China is ready for a serious change regarding its North Korean defector policy. Chinese people are starting to realize that so many defectors have been suffering in China, and it doesn't have to be this way.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

I don't think the North Korean leadership is interested in a genuine deal to end their WMD programs or their stranglehold on the North Korean people.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

The border crossing is the most dangerous moment for anyone attempting to escape. But my brother and mother had been waved off by every armed border guard along that stretch of the river.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

It was really tiring always pretending to be someone else. Not my life, not my real name, nothing.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

When I was little, I thought my country was the best on the planet. And I grew up singing a song called 'Nothing To Envy.' And I was very proud. In school, we spent a lot of time studying the history of Kim Il-Sung, but we never learned much about the outside world, except that America, South Korea, Japan are the enemies.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

We refugees, we become always a punchbag. A political punchbag between China and South Korea and North Korea.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

I defected to South Korea in search of freedom of speech and movement. I had longed to put my feet on this soil, even in my dreams.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

My family lived under communism their entire lives. When they arrived in South Korea, they didn't even know how to use the bank system and ATM or the subway, nothing.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

I believe I'll see the reunification of North and South Korea in my lifetime and that defectors should play a role in rebuilding the country. In the long run, I want to return to North Korea, because that's where I belong.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

Because North Korea was so totally cut off, we didn't hear anything of the outside world. We had only one TV channel, which showed only propaganda, and we believed everything.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

I can't be sure of exactly when and how North Korea will change. But I do believe it will happen, hopefully in my mother's lifetime.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

We were all blocked from western media, outside information. We were captured in a virtual prison cell. People would disappear in the middle of the night - not every day, but sometimes. We hear about it, and we never knew what happened inside the prison camps. I learned about them after I escaped.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

Staying in China provided me with the opportunity to adjust to life outside of North Korea and to gain a sense of perspective, most importantly, by learning that so much of what I had been taught about my country was a lie.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

History has proved that dictators can't last forever.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

When I explain to people what was the situation in North Korea, they think, how can such a country exist? They know North Korea is bad in some vague way, not clearly. But when we explain it, they then wonder how can a whole country be modern-day slaves?

- Lee Hyeon-seo

China is a heaven compared to North Korea.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

There are people who are destined to embrace endless pain and suffering, and there are people who desire to dream. Everybody dreams, of course. But does anybody desperately want to dream more than the people of North Korea?

- Lee Hyeon-seo

I'm not sure if my story will become a movie. Some of my western friends sent my story to people they know in the movie industry. But one consistent response was there aren't any main western characters in my story, so it's unlikely to be made into a movie in English.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

The TED talk I gave, that gave me another character I didn't know about. I'm not saying the mind of a hero, but a kind of responsibility. Every word I'm speaking, it's not from myself. I'm speaking for and representing the people of communist North Korea.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

I did my best to hide by changing my name many times. But I was captured by the Chinese police. But because my Chinese was so good, they thought I was Chinese and released me. That was a miracle.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

When I was 14, during Kim Il-sung's funeral, I wondered, 'How could a god die?'

- Lee Hyeon-seo

Kindness towards strangers is rare in North Korea. There is a risk to helping others. The state made accusers and informers of us all.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

Leaving North Korea is not like leaving any other country. It is more like leaving another universe.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

I know North Korea is the most ridiculous country in the world, but for me, my mum, my brother, and my families and old memories are so important.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

Keeping families and friends divided is unforgivable.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

I don't hate the Chinese. We're brothers, and we share a border. I just hate the government, politicians, policies, not the people.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

My mom told me many times how I need to be careful living inside the regime. We didn't say 'the regime.' We didn't even say 'North Korea.'

- Lee Hyeon-seo

When many Chinese escaped to North Korea during the Cultural Revolution, we embraced them. People in China have forgotten about this.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

I just wanted to see China with my own eyes. I wanted to see whether North Korea was the best country in the world or China was the best. I grew up believing that China was much worse than North Kore, because that's what the regime told us.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

We can have reunification if another power replaces Kim Jong Un. I don't know who it could be, but I hope and I believe another power, another person will be better.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

My mom told me many times that when you are outside, you have to be careful what you are saying, and don't repeat the words of what you hear at home.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

When I was young, I thought Kim il-Sung or Kim Jong-il is hero.

- Lee Hyeon-seo

Family is the most important thing: you can't buy them with money.

- Lee Hyeon-seo