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Jihyun ParkJihyun Park
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The Hard Road Out: Escaping North Korea Hardcover – 3 August 2022
by Jihyun Park (Author), Seh-Lynn Chai & 1 more
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 316 ratings
The harrowing story of a woman who escaped famine and terror in North Korea, not once but twice.
‘A gripping, suspenseful and cathartic memoir that tells a story of pain and perseverance and makes the moral case for asylum.’ David Lammy MP
North Korea is an open-air prison from which there is no escape. Only a handful of men and women have succeeded.
Jihyun Park is one of these rare survivors. Twice she left the land of the ‘socialist miracle’ to flee famine and dictatorship.
By the age of 29 she had already witnessed a lifetime of suffering. Family members had died of starvation; her brother was beaten nearly to death by soldiers. Even smiling and laughing was discouraged.
The first time she ran, she was forced abandon her father on his deathbed – crossing the border under a hail of bullets. In China she was sold to a farmer, with whom she had a son, before being denounced and forcibly returned to North Korea.
Six months later guards abandoned her, injured, outside a prison camp. She recovered and returned China to seek her son, now six, before attempting to navigate the long, hard road through the Gobi Desert and into Mongolia.
Clear-eyed and resolute, Jihyun’s extraordinary story reveals a Korea far removed from the talk of nuclear weapons and economic sanctions. She remains sanguine despite the hardship. Recalling life’s tiny pleasures even at her darkest moments, she manages to instill her tale with incredible grace and humanity.
Beautifully written with South Korean compatriot Seh-lynn Chai, this compelling book offers a stark lesson in determination, and ultimately in the importance of asylum.
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224 pages
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Review
A Washington Post noteworthy book
‘I am still reeling. … How does one person carry so much ― the pain of a family lost and life destroyed, and the joy and challenge of a new family and a new life in such an unfamiliar place?’ Financial Times
‘A gripping, suspenseful and cathartic memoir that tells a story of pain and perseverance and makes the moral case for asylum.’ David Lammy MP
‘A moving and insightful account of how tyrannical governance can squeeze all the joy and almost all the humanity out of its subjects and drain them of any power to revolt.’ Geoffrey Robertson KC
‘Extraordinary. … Elegantly written, reflective, wise, sad and at times almost unbearably painful.’ Marcel Theroux
‘Park’s story is shocking and a testament to her resilience.’ The Telegraph
‘Detailed and damning.’ TLS
‘Brave, tender, and intimate … A frank and balanced view of the reality of life under a dictatorship.’ Kirkus
‘A compelling and well-written account of life inside (and outside of) North Korea. Moving without being sentimental, comprehensive but never dry.’ Daniel Tudor, author of North Korea Confidential
‘An incredible story of survival and escape that provides tremendous insight … Anyone who wants to understand North Korea and be inspired by the strength of a true survivor must read this book.’ War on the Rocks
‘Courage and sacrifice befall few. Jihyun is one of those few. This fascinating and shocking book allows us to stand with Jihyun and others like her.’ Lord David Alton, Chairman of the British-DPRK All-Party Parliamentary Group
‘A riveting story of pain, suffering, starvation, betrayal, abandonment, and ultimately redemption. This deeply personal tale offers profound insights on human nature and the inhumanity of the North Korean state. Jihyun Park’s courage is a true inspiration.’ Professor Sung-Yoon Lee, author of The Sister
About the Author
Today, Jihyun Park is the Outreach and Project Officer at the European Alliance for Human Rights in North Korea. Park was the Outreach and Project Office at the European Alliance for Human Rights in North Korea, and is an online Language tutor and Human Rights Activist.
Seh-Lynn Chai lives with her family in London but still spends considerable time in Seoul, where her parents reside. A South Korean diplomat's daughter, Seh-lynn was born and raised from an early age in Korea, France and West Africa. Her first career was at JPMorgan before she became a writer. Seh-lynn has a Bachelor's and a Master's degree in French Literature from L'Universite Paris-Sorbonne (Paris IV). She finished her PhD coursework at New York University before completing an MBA at Columbia Business School in 1994.
Product details
Publisher : HarperCollins GB (3 August 2022)
Language : English
Hardcover : 224 pages
ISBN-10 : 000854140X
ISBN-13 : 978-0008541408
Dimensions : 15.9 x 2.1 x 24 cmBest Sellers Rank: 676,598 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)124 in History of South Korea
144 in History of North Korea
706 in International Law (Books)Customer Reviews:
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 316 ratings
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Top reviews from other countries
Jocelyn
5.0 out of 5 stars Good readReviewed in Canada on 7 June 2024
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It is a real insight in the lives of the Korean’s
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Delaney
5.0 out of 5 stars Eye OpeningReviewed in the United States on 10 May 2024
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I know North Korea was a horrible place to live, but I had no idea just how horrible.
I kept thinking, this really wasn’t that long ago!
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Chris Bramwell
5.0 out of 5 stars A sensational, shocking and compelling read. This is a truly important work.Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 6 June 2022
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Reading this book was an experience I will never forget. Jihyun and She-Lynn Chai bring a dispassionate clarity and calm to the narrative which makes it even more shocking and incredibly moving. I have read 2 other books about North Korea and escaping from it, both engaging and moving in their own ways, but this is in a different league. Phrases like 'unputdownable' and 'absolute page-turner' are not inappropriate in this case. I found myself on occasions almost breathless with anger. Not only is Jihyun's story an almost unbelievable tale of tragedy, mistreatment and betrayal, but She-Lynn Chai’s additional input is so sensitively and beautifully crafted that it adds another unique dimension to the story. I think she is a truly gifted writer. The miracle is that Jihyun emerged so sane and balanced and It’s clear that She-Lynn had to work very hard with great patience and sensitivity to win her trust.
I sincerely hope the book has the wide audience and success it so richly deserves.
If ever a book gave new credence to the phrase, 'the pen is mightier than the sword', this is it. My sincere congratulations to both authors.
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Kika
5.0 out of 5 stars Great storyReviewed in Canada on 9 October 2023
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Love true stories.
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Tony737
4.0 out of 5 stars Will There Be a Part 2?Reviewed in the United States on 15 November 2022
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The way this book “ended” it seems like there should be a sequel. This is one of the best of the 20+ “Escape from North Korea” books I’ve read, but it ended too abruptly. I’m hoping it’s the old “leave them wanting more” strategy. Yes I will buy Part 2! Take my money! I gave it 4 out 5 stars because of the ending, it would’ve easily been 5 out of 5 with just two more chapters.
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==
5.0 out of 5 stars Exceptional
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 17 June 2022
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I have never read a book that had such an effect on me. The writing is absorbing, the words moving and deep. I am amazed that women such as Jihyun Park exist and hope she knows the amazing life she has already achieved. I hope she goes from strength to strength. The people of Bury are lucky to have her and her father would be incredibly proud.
Thank you for what your story has taught me
4 people found this helpful
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Kika
5.0 out of 5 stars Great story
Reviewed in Canada on 9 October 2023
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Love true stories.
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Mee-Kyeong Knight
5.0 out of 5 stars What an extraordinary story!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 9 June 2022
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This book shows me that the North Koreans are not monsters of whom I was afraid but they are human beings just like me.
At school from Kindergarten to Secondary, I learnt that North Korea started the Korean war, how cruel they were in the war and they always tried to invade South Korea. When I was a young girl, on a few occasions, I had scary dreams that I was chased by the North Korean soldiers. Even as an adult, I felt uncomfortable until a couple of years ago whenever I drove by the North Korean Embassy in London (the North Korean Embassy is on route to New Malden, the biggest Korean community in the UK).
The Hard Road Out is telling readers that North Koreans and South Koreans are one people, using the same language (Hanguel) and having the same cultural root.
Thank you Jihyun and She-Lynn Chai for sharing this extraordinary story!
6 people found this helpful
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Pam Davidson
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully written.
Reviewed in the United States on 12 October 2022
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In South Korea today: 1. South Korean citizens 2. South Korean Congressmen 3. South Korean military 4. Foreigners in South Korea 5. North Korean refugees. Your book describes this hierarchy explicitly. North Koreans have no voice in South Korea. I have been deeply touched by your story for many years but I felt it even more deeply after reading your book. My heart broke for you as you described the last moments spent with your father. I still can’t imagine even now the deep pain you are still walking through because of what you had to do. Maybe your story felt more than a story to me because I was in Korea when I read it, I’m not sure. But your book was more than just a story for me. It became real and your pain is a part of me now. North Korean refugees have touched me deeply over the years and people like you make my heart grow even fonder. God bless you dear sister, always!
4 people found this helpful
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Mandy H
5.0 out of 5 stars could not put this book down, it really made me think.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 18 July 2022
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This book should be a mandatory read for secondary school pupils. Maybe they would then see how truly lucky they are. We in the west are so indulged in comparison to the horror and almost disbelief at what the North Korean people have to experience daily in their sad existence . It is truly heart wrenching and shocking. It makes you wonder where are all the marchers and activists are in support of those currently suffering, as opposed to the suffering experienced hundreds of years ago, which was truly evil, but was before our time. We cannot change what happened then, but maybe we could begin to effect action in the here and now,
This book truly moved me, I don’t care about the technical aspects of how well it was written, the content delivered a powerful testimony about the continued abuses perpetrated on North Korea by the despotic Kim family. Those lefties here (U.K) looking for a socialist utopia should read this.
2 people found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars One of the Few Books Revealing Life in North Korea
Reviewed in the United States on 13 May 2024
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Very enlightening insight/s about a very secretive culture and as far as we know, truthful.
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==
Michael A
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Read!
Reviewed in the United States on 16 May 2023
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If you want to have an idea of the life of a common person’s life in N. Korea, read this book!! Had me hooked all the way. Worth every penny!!
2 people found this helpful
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Margaret
5.0 out of 5 stars Truly amazing book.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 16 October 2022
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Brilliantly written. Makes you feel so grateful for being born in a democratic country. We have so much and some people in this world have so little. The strength of Jihyun is humbling.
One person found this helpful
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Wizard of WID
3.0 out of 5 stars Badly written, interesting story
Reviewed in the United States on 29 March 2023
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The story told here is a one-of-a-kind. How can a woman survive the totalitarian control of North Korea? The story is told as only an emotionally-deprived person can, least of all a woman with limited writing skills. She had to bear children whom she could not love, as we define love. The fact that she managed to escape alive is a miracle in itself.
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James
3.0 out of 5 stars A little clunky
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 12 June 2022
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I'm not sure it needed so much from the author throughout. I feel like it could have added something a little different if it was done differently, but it never felt quite right to me.
The end also feels a little strange, with the final years condensed into a few paragraphs, as if the author suddenly lost interest. I'm sure that's not the case but I do feel a little short changed.
The rest is perfectly fine and about what you'd expect for this genre. Good detail, really interesting, difficult to read at times.
One person found this helpful
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Roisin
5.0 out of 5 stars Great read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 9 July 2022
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Great book, very interesting
2 people found this helpful
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Pelicanbrief
4.0 out of 5 stars good story
Reviewed in the United States on 18 March 2023
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I saw these women interviewed and was interested in this book. Easy to read, difficult to imagine this is happening every day to North Koreans. Ended rather abruptly and I thought prematurely.
One person found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Create book
Reviewed in the United States on 20 August 2023
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The book was in good condition for used, joyed it
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Montteacher
4.0 out of 5 stars Worse than expected
Reviewed in the United States on 23 March 2023
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Unique experience of a closed in society and, yet, it reminded me that humans are humans no matter what they experience or where they live.
One person found this helpful
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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully written tragedy
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 10 June 2022
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This story is written so beautifully that it has broken my heart it really brings to life another reality that makes you feel ashamed of your own reality and ignorance of others suffering I hope for their liberation
4 people found this helpful
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Alex Newberry
5.0 out of 5 stars A real eye opener into North Korea
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 6 July 2022
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I couldn't put the book down, a heartbreaking read which shines a light into a secretive, oppressive society. Everyone should read this, your own problems seem tiny compared to how the North Koreans live
3 people found this helpful
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==
==
The Hard Road Out: One Woman’s Escape From North Korea
Jihyun Park
,
Seh-Lynn Chai
,
Sarah Baldwin
(Translator)
4.25
955 ratings112 reviews
The harrowing story of a woman who escaped famine and terror in North Korea, not once but twice.
North Korea is an open-air prison from which there is no escape. Only a handful of men and women have succeeded.
Jihyun Park is one of these rare survivors. Twice she left the land of the ‘socialist miracle’ to flee famine and dictatorship.
By the age of 29 she had already witnessed a lifetime of suffering. Family members had died of starvation; her brother was beaten nearly to death by soldiers. Even smiling and laughing was discouraged.
The first time she ran, she was forced abandon her father on his deathbed – crossing the border under a hail of bullets. In China she was sold to a farmer, with whom she had a son, before being denounced and forcibly returned to North Korea.
Six months later guards abandoned her, injured, outside a prison camp. She recovered and returned China to seek her son, now six, before attempting to navigate the long, hard road through the Gobi Desert and into Mongolia.
Clear-eyed and resolute, Jihyun’s extraordinary story reveals a Korea far removed from the talk of nuclear weapons and economic sanctions. She remains sanguine despite the hardship. Recalling life’s tiny pleasures even at her darkest moments, she manages to instill her tale with incredible grace and humanity.
Beautifully written with South Korean compatriot Seh-lynn Chai, this compelling book offers a stark lesson in determination, and ultimately in the importance of asylum.
Genres
Nonfiction
Memoir
Biography
Asia
History
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199 pages, Hardcover
First published May 26, 2022
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Katie.dorny
1,086 reviews
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March 29, 2023
A haunting and brilliant read - blows my mind the author joined the tories though.
2023
non-fiction
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Isabel
28 reviews
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December 1, 2022
A brilliant read, but I cannot make sense of the fact that the author, so conscious of her status as a refugee and so set on (rightly) highlighting the importance of asylum, is now a member of the Conservative Party: the very same party that is trying to criminalise her experience and make it near impossible for anyone to reach the UK in need of help. She joins the bizarre list of North Korean defectors who have since fallen prey of right-wing hysteria in the West: the author of The Aquariums of Pyongyang whose name I can’t remember (praising His Lord and Saviour G. W. Bush) and Yeonmi Park (besties with alt-right lunatic Jordan Peterson) being the other two.
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fatherofdragons113
201 reviews
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September 13, 2023
It feels like it kind of ends abruptly, but still an incredible story and very humbling when you realize how deeply some people struggle to survive in this world.
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Amerie
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February 6, 2023
The Amerie's Book Club selection for the month of February is THE HARD ROAD OUT by Jihyun Park and Seh-Lynn Chai!
Follow @AmeriesBookClub on IG, and watch the chat between me, Jihyun Park, and Seh-Lynn Chai on YouTube (youtube.com/AmerieOnYoutube) February 28!
THE HARD ROAD OUT is a harrowing read but also a hopeful one. From Jihyun Park’s recounting of her terrifying days in North Korea and her time as a trafficked human being in China, to Seh-Lynn’s exploration of her relationship to North Korea as a South Korean woman, this collaborative work is certainly momentous. It is not, however, solely important due to its first-hand accounting of life in North Korea, but rather to the idea Park and Chai pose: that the road to reunification rests not ultimately with the governments of North and South Korea, but in the hearts of the two nations’ peoples, and that perhaps therein lie the first steps.
Jihyun Park’s short film with Amnesty International @amnesty THE OTHER INTERVIEW: https://www.amnesty.org.uk/north-kore...
Seh-Lynn Chai’s website: https://www.sehlynn.com/en
๐
ABOUT JIHYUN PARK
Jihyun Park was born in Chongjin, North Korea, in 1968. She experienced acute poverty, famine, illness, and intimidation. She first escaped at the age of 29. After her second escape from North Korea, with the help of the UN, she was granted asylum seeker status in 2008 and moved to Bury, Greater Manchester, where she lives with her husband Kwang and three children. She has been outreach and project officer at the European Alliance for Human Rights in North Korea and is a human rights activist.
ABOUT SEH-LYNN CHAI
Seh-Lynn Chai lives with her family in London but still spends considerable time in Seoul, where her parents reside. A South Korean diplomat’s daughter, Seh-lynn was born and raised from an early age in Korea, France and West Africa. Her first career was at JPMorgan before she became a writer. Seh-lynn has a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in French Literature from L'Universitรฉ Paris-Sorbonne (Paris IV). She finished her PhD coursework at New York University before completing an MBA at Columbia Business School in 1994.
@AmeriesBookClub #AmeriesBookClub #TheHardRoadOut @seh_lynn #JihyunPark @harpercollins
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Jasmine
303 reviews
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April 13, 2024
I picked up this book to educate myself with a first hand account of what North Korea is really like. I’m shocked.
Jihyun’s and her family made some difficult decisions and I don’t blame or judge anyone for making any of them. Living in a regime like that, being brainwashed, being faced with incarceration and death; who am I to judge what others have done under those conditions when I myself have never had to face such duress? They had to do what they had to in order to live.
On the back of the book, Daniel Tudor describes the book as “moving without being sentimental” and I believe that’s very accurate.
I admire Jihyun’s determination and her strength. I can’t imagine going through what she’s been through.
The first few chapters didn’t get me, but after chapter 3 I couldn’t put the book down and stayed up until 3am! It was well-written and fascinating book.
I can’t even villainize Jihyun Park for now being a conservative. She’s been through absolute hell at the hands of a communist dictatorship, can you blame her for not even wanting to hear the word socialism?
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kate
1,489 reviews
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July 25, 2022
A haunting, brave, fascinating and insightful memoir that will stay with me for a long time to come.
(not rating this as I always feel a bit uncomfortable rating a persons life story but this is a book I would highly recommend.)
adult
non-fiction
poc-rep
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Horace Derwent
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June 24, 2022
PROLOGUE
Jihyun’s story could be my own. She is my age, speaks
my language, loves kimchi, and is Korean. She fled to
China to escape a dictatorship and protect her family
before seeking asylum in Britain some ten years ago. I
came to London around the same time when my
husband’s job brought us here, and I’ve been here
ever since. I haven’t swum across the Tumen River or
faced down the Gobi Desert like Jihyun has, but I have
crossed many borders in my time. And each time, like a
tortoise with its shell, I have carried my ‘home’ – that
is, my Korean identity – with me from one country to
the next. Jihyun is from the North and I am from the
South, but we share a single identity: we are both
Korean. And that is what saves us.
Jihyun speaks of her childhood, her family, prison
camps, slavery and escape. I write of my need to
connect two lives, to create a link, to repair: who would
she and I have become, had our country not been
divided?
Writing brings us together. As Jihyun tells me about her
life in North Korea, I take on her perspective, I access
her inner world. I become her. Our experiences are not
the same, but childhood, death, suffering and dreams …
these we share.
Jihyun and I meet for the first time in 2014, in
Manchester, during the filming of a documentary by
Amnesty International. An interpreter friend of mine has
to back out at the last minute and asks me to stand in
for her. The job is to interview Jihyun in Korean and
transcribe her answers in English for the short film, The
Other Interview, which is scheduled to come out soon.
I am nervous – not only because I’m not a professional
interpreter, but also because the idea of speaking to a
North Korean makes me uneasy. Isn’t that risky? Am I
allowed to engage with a North Korean citizen? What if
somebody reports me to the Embassy of South Korea
in London for spying? I am still mulling over these
questions as I fill out the paperwork for Amnesty
International. Driven by some unnamed feeling, I accept
the job. In the car carrying the Amnesty team from
London to Manchester, the director brings me up to
speed on the project. But the movie in my head is an
entirely different one.
I picture my childhood bedroom in our apartment in
Seoul. On the wall is a poster showing a fist against a
bright-red background, with the words ‘Down with
Communists’ in big letters above it. The poster won me
second prize in the anti-communism poster competition
organised by my primary school. It’s signed and dated
‘Seh-lynn, 1976’. I hear the shrill sound of the sirens
that signal, on the fifteenth of every month, the start of
the simulated attack – a practice established in 1953, at
the end of the Korean War. During the simulation, life
stops. No more cars in the streets. No more children in
the schoolyards. People in their homes hurriedly descend
to the bomb shelter in the basement of their apartment
building. Seoul becomes a ghost town. Then, twenty
minutes later, life begins again as though nothing has
happened. And the fifteenth of the following month, the
same sirens and helicopters, the same deserted streets.
It’s a routine like any other.
As the child of a diplomat, I was keenly aware of the
presence of that ‘other’ Korea. When we lived in Africa
for instance, when I was twelve, there were three or
four South Korean families in the city where we lived, all
there on diplomatic posts, and there were probably as
many if not fewer North Korean families. They were
hard to spot, except for the occasional glimpse in the
supermarket, because they rarely came out of their
homes. When they did, it was always in a group.
It was the first time in my life I’d seen North Koreans,
but despite our proximity the boundaries separating us
remained absolute. Under no circumstances were we to
talk to them. I was to hold tight to my mother’s arm
and stay close to the shopping cart lest I be kidnapped.
When our cars passed in the street, I would scowl at
them. They scared me, but at least I felt safe behind
the glass where they couldn’t get me. These encounters
never lasted more than a few seconds, but those
seconds marked me. I had been raised to believe all
North Koreans were the enemy, and here we were,
suddenly face to face.
Other than that, though, being Korean in Africa was
brilliant. With my slanted eyes and straight black hair,
some people thought I was a cousin of Bruce Lee or
Jackie Chan, while others saw me as representing the
country of economic miracle, South Korea. At home, the
Korean flag was always flying. I dreamed of becoming
my country’s president. Most of my foreign friends didn’t
know the difference between North and South Korea,
and in some ways that was fine with me. It meant I
didn’t have to explain that the North was communist
and the South capitalist, especially since I didn’t
understand how that had come about and found it all
very complicated. I was simply Korean, but in my mind
being Korean meant being South Korean. In ‘my’ Korea
there were no North Koreans. In 1979, the year I
turned fourteen, my parents announced that President
Park Chung-hee had been assassinated by a North
Korean spy. My mother wept. I felt sad without really
knowing why. It was the beginning of my historical
awareness.
The interview gets under way. It’s the first time I’ve
ever found myself face to face with a North Korean.
Roughly my age, her face is very peaceful, and like me
she is wearing glasses. She looks ‘normal’, not ‘evil’. But
I am terrified. What if she calls me a capitalist pig? Or
worse, what if I am the one who says something
terrible? My years of being raised to distrust North
Koreans have left me with ingrained beliefs that I
haven’t ever really questioned.
It is a good thing the cameraman from Amnesty
interrupts the interview to adjust the microphone on her
blouse and the position of her chair. Jihyun is polite and
smiles but she does not give me a good eye contact.
Little by little, her story grabs me. My initial fear turns
to shock, especially when she rolls up the bottom of her
black pants and shows me the scar on her leg from
her time in prison camp. My eyes fill with tears, my
vision blurs, but I catch every word, every emotion,
every subtle shade of meaning and tone. At the end of
the interview I’m exhausted but strangely satisfied, even
relieved. I have won a battle against my own beliefs
about North Koreans, managed to favour the human
over the political. I have just met one of those who
never get talked about in political circles, one of those
who reveal the history of a human soul, and generally
get omitted by the big picture of History – it’s a small
gift that has come to me out of nowhere.
My path crosses Jihyun’s several more times at human
rights conferences in London, and even if we are always
very happy to see each other again we remain
somewhat restrained. We keep it professional. Our
meetings alter my perspective on the fate of our divided
country, at least intellectually. We have, each in our own
way, from either side of the border – she to the North
and I to the South – been simulating war for almost
fifty years. I have been her enemy and she has been
mine. ‘We’ were the good guys and ‘they’ were the bad
guys – and vice versa. What a coup on the part of the
world powers, turning us against each other. We have
become our own enemies. One question leads to
another. I can’t stop wondering: where have 5,000
years of shared history gone?
My point of view continues to develop over the two
years that follow the interview in Manchester, until it
becomes urgent for me to face this question of
fundamental identity. Was two years also needed for
trust to grow between Jihyun and me?
Jihyun had been mentioning that she wanted to leave a
testimony for her children, until one day she asks me if
I would write her story. Me? Didn’t she already have a
Canadian writer in mind? She wants it to be written by
a Korean – without the go-between of a translator –
who can articulate emotions she can’t express in any
other language. She wants to use words that will bring
her truth to life without eliciting either judgement or
misunderstandings lost in translation. She wants to touch
people’s souls – yours and mine. She wants to tell the
story of an ordinary North Korean family and the
extraordinary suffering they underwent. With me.
Reaching this point, both of us wishing to share our
stories, has been anything but easy.
And I accept. I want to give voice to history’s invisible
people – a people torn apart, a people no one talks
about. I want to be among those who begin to talk,
those who seek to leave behind the suffering brought
on by a painful and tragic disunion that has been in
place since the end of the Second World War. When I
speak about Jihyun, people around me are interested. I
want to tell the story of her battle to save the lives of
other human beings, as well as the story of the Korean
Peninsula shrouded in amnesia: forty years of Japanese
occupation, followed by a fratricidal conflict – the
so-called Korean War – and a state of denial over the
separation of the country ever since. Whatever it takes,
we must lift the veil that covers up this chaotic past.
We must tell it like it is. We must write this book.
We hope it will be an initial step towards undoing
seventy years of forced isolation on both sides of the
border. Yes, Jihyun lived under a communist regime and
I in a democracy; yes, she was forced to leave her
country and cannot return, while I left mine voluntarily
and can go back when I choose. But the threat of war
looms over the peninsula more than ever, and we no
longer have time to focus on the differences that
separate us.
This is Jihyun’s story, but it is mine as well. I ignored
the ‘monster from the North’ for as long as I could,
keeping it at bay until I couldn’t hide from it any more.
It became too big, too familiar. Or too unfamiliar. Korea
is about more than Gangnam Style in the South and
nuclear tests in the North. Between these clichรฉs lives a
whole world of ordinary people like us. It took me some
time to accept that North Korea was part of my country
– I’d been afraid of it for so long – but recent events
have left me no choice. Don’t spit on your own face,
as the Korean proverb goes. North Korean, South
Korean … we are all, first and foremost, Koreans. This
book might have been written in two voices, but in the
end both ‘I’s became the voice of a single restored
identity – this is one story, of one Korea.
Seh-lynn Chai, London 2022
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Elizabeth
87 reviews
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August 15, 2023
I really liked this book. As the author mentions, North Korea to me too is like a black box, I never really learned about its going ons so this book was definitely an eye opener. It was very captivating and interesting to read throughout, her whole life story and how drastically her point of views changed.
Chapter 11 (her letter to her dad) absolutely broke my heart. I cried a lot.
The only reason I give it ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and not ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ is because sometimes the writing of the book just wasn’t rly it for me. For example… 90% of the book is written in Jihyun’s perspective but then all of a sudden for like 1 or 2 chapters is switched to the author’s perspective and it kinda gave me whiplash, it took me a while to understand who’s perspective it is.
Also I thought the ending was very abrupt, like the story is going, going, going, and then all of a sudden it ended and I was like ๐ค oh ok.
But overall amazing book.
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James
334 reviews
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October 27, 2024
I’ve read a few of these first-hand accounts of life in North Korea — and escaping from it. It’s always a good reminder that everyone’s story is different, and in this case the author lived a relatively privileged life in North Korea (and even that was full of paranoia and cruelty). And learning about her life in China, which should have been a relief, was its own horrendous experience of exploitation. All in all eye-opening and worth reading.
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Barbara
86 reviews
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February 9, 2023
I am ashamed that I judged the people of North Korea by clips I’d see of them lining up to glimpse their commander President, where they looked more like 15 year old girls trying to see Elvis Presley. Absolutely crazy, with tears and clutching their face in awe,etc.
Now I understand the truth of it.
This book was very well written. I felt like I was right there, nearly hyperventilating over the horrors these people go through.
If there was ever a time I nonchalantly looked at socialism as in any way acceptable, I would certainly regret it and vow to be a fighter against communism with everything in me!!!
I am so thankful to God to have been born in a free country.
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