I defected from North Korea twice. Now, I’m standing to be a Tory councillor
Timothy Cho fled famine, prison and persecution before rebuilding his life in Britain and serving his local community
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Timothy Cho, photographed for The Telegraph in Stockport, where he is running for election in today’s vote Credit: Jon SuperAbigail BuchananShow biography
Published 07 May 2026 6:00am BST
A few years ago, in 2021, Timothy Cho was canvassing on a doorstep in Greater Manchester wearing a Conservative Party rosette when a woman shouted that his party leader – Boris Johnson, at the time – was “a dictator”. Cho was nonplussed. “She was yelling at me for, I think, around 15 minutes,” he says. “And I didn’t move. I just stood there. I listened to her… It was actually a happy moment. Because if she did that in North Korea, she would have been executed.”
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Cho has a deeper appreciation for British democracy than most. Born and raised in North Korea, he was abandoned by his parents when they fled the country during the famine of the mid-1990s (dubbed “the Arduous March” by its government). He was just nine years old. As the son of defectors, he was ostracised as a member of the “hostile class”, had no access to education, and knew he would be subject to dangerous enforced labour. He finally escaped the country aged 17 after one failed attempt and four imprisonments, and eventually sought refuge in the UK.
His experiences have led him to believe that Britons underappreciate our democracy – not least the right to vote in fair and free elections. “Especially in the younger generations. I’m nearly 40, and [the younger] generations haven’t experienced what it means to have a life without freedom,” he says. “Freedom is very fragile; once it is taken away, it is hugely costly to get it back.” He is overjoyed when he has a conversation with someone who intends to vote. “Even if they say, ‘Sorry, we vote Labour’. That’s fine. At least you’re using your vote.”
Cho canvassing for the Conservatives in 2023 says his experiences in North Korea have given him a deep appreciation for Britain’s democracyHe remembers being at a polling station in North Korea. “I was following my parents – people lined up, nicely dressed. And at the door, someone gives you an envelope,” he says. “You don’t even know what’s inside. There’s just one candidate. And you put it in a box. And if you don’t, you end up in prison. And that is what they call a democratic election.”
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It is for that reason – alongside his work as a human rights activist and in the secretariat to the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on North Korea – that he decided to run as a local councillor. He first campaigned in 2021 in Denton South (part of the Gorton and Denton constituency, where Green MP Hannah Spencer was recently elected). He was unsuccessful there on two further occasions; this year, he is running again in nearby Heatons North, part of Stockport Metropolitan borough council. The ward has had Labour representation continuously for the past decade, but with the split that could occur between Labour and the Green Party, Cho says “anything could happen” when the ballots boxes open on Thursday.
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Cho is speaking to me over Zoom from his home office. He chose to join the Conservatives because he feels they best reflect his values of true democracy, religious freedom and a respect for history. “When I look at my idols – William Wilberforce and Winston Churchill – they stood and fought for democracy and freedom today.”
If elected, he intends to focus on the issues that really matter to local people. “I promise three things on the doorstep: Stockport has very high council tax, which needs to be addressed. The second thing is that people aren’t satisfied with local services, and there are lots of potholes – an issue up and down the country. The third thing I have promised is that I will be very visible. That is what a councillor is for.”
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il acknowledges applause from soldiers, August 2007 Credit: STRCho was born in the late 1980s – he does not share the exact year for security reasons – in Onsong, a county in the far north of the country, to schoolteacher parents. He bowed to pictures of the Kim family every morning before he left for school. “That held the role of religion in your life,” he says. “We worshipped them, we loved them, we gave everything.”
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From middle school, he wore a patriotic lapel badge, as virtually all North Koreans do, and took part in mandatory “self-criticism sessions” – a sort of secular confession – where he admitted to his shortcomings and was criticised by his peers.
North Korea is consistently rated as the worst country in the world for religious freedom and, by one estimate, between 50,000 and 70,000 Christians are currently imprisoned because of their beliefs. He was taught that Christianity was invented by America, and that America was trying to destroy North Korea. Jeans were banned for similar reasons, and both men and women could only choose from a selection of permitted hairstyles. However, he did not realise that the extreme restrictions on his life – with no freedom to travel or watch non-state-sanctioned television – were abnormal until his parents defected.
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“I still remember the day they disappeared,” he says. “I had breakfast with them and there was silence; something was going on.” His mother waved him off for an unusually long time, lingering until he was out of sight. “I went to school, but I couldn’t focus all day. And then I went home and opened the door; you could feel it. The atmosphere was frozen and I knew my parents were gone.”
Cho – who goes by an English first name that he chose when he fled – was eventually taken in by his grandmother, but, at first, the severe famine meant she could not afford to look after him and he was forced to live on the streets in Onsong.
He first tried to leave the country aged 17, when he was told that, instead of joining the army, as all young North Korean men must, he would be subject to forced labour in the country’s dangerous coal mines because his father had betrayed the country.
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Along with three others, he made the dangerous journey across the Yalu River and over the border into China. “I was terrified because I didn’t know what to expect, but I knew I had to escape,” he says. It was the first time he had seen people with different hairstyles and wearing jeans. They made it all the way to the border with Mongolia before they were caught, arrested and repatriated.
That was his first experience of a prison and detention centre. “Something happened that still lives with me today,” he says. “We were all crammed into a room; there were about 55 inmates. A man who was leaning against me was getting heavier and heavier, and I realised early in the morning that he had died. You could hear men and women screaming, being tortured and beaten. That was hell.”
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As soon as he was released, he knew he had to escape again. This time, he made it to Shanghai. Cho broke into an American-run international school in the city, hoping he would be offered assistance. Instead, the Chinese police were called. He knew that if he were returned to North Korea, he would likely be publicly executed. What he did not know at the time was that a student at the school had contacted a journalist about what had happened.
The story was picked up by newspapers across the world, forcing China’s hand. Instead of being repatriated for a second time, he was released. He was given a choice of where to go next. “I could only remember England, because North Korean high schools teach some English,” he says. So England it was.
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He had to take “baby steps” towards freedom: first learning English in the soup kitchen of a local church in Bolton, where he was placed by UK immigration services at the age of 19, then getting an education.
“I never thought I would enter politics,” he says. He was illiterate when he arrived in the UK as a refugee, but completed an English course and then took both GCSEs and A-levels (in chemistry, physics and maths), before going on to study politics at Salford University and then a Master’s in International Relations and Security at the University of Liverpool.
Soon afterwards, he found a job as a parliamentary assistant and worked for the then Conservative MP for Congleton, Fiona Bruce.
Meeting Pope Francis in a show of solidarity with the persecuted people of North KoreaAfter a chance encounter with Lord Alton, who chairs the British-DPRK All-Party Parliamentary Group, Cho was invited to visit Parliament for the first time in 2013. “That was a very overwhelming experience. To come from where I had, as a homeless boy in North Korea, escaping the terrible atrocities I had experienced,” he says. It gave him a completely different view of what politics could be.
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“I saw, while dealing with many of these constituency issues and letters, and hearing people’s stories, that Britain is one of the finest democracies I know,” he says. “I have been given great opportunities in this country, and the people of the UK have given me a second chance. Now, I regard it as my home.”
He married in 2018, but keeps the name and identity of his wife – and their two children – private for security reasons. “Thankfully, there is no threat on British soil, but North Korea still follows us, and [there is a risk] if I am travelling outside the UK,” he says.
He is reminded of his freedom every morning as he walks his seven-year-old to school in Stockport and when she tells him about the songs they sing in assembly. “That is not how I grew up. I grew up singing the same song for the Kim family [the three-generation lineage of North Korean leadership], brainwashed,” he says. “We regarded them as gods. But in Britain, we still have freedom, we still have choices… even if that is being threatened in many ways right now.”
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The main threat, as Cho sees it, is an encroachment on freedom of speech. In particular, he laments the fact that the teaching of the Bible and Christian religious education are disappearing from UK schools.
“In the first sentence of Magna Carta, it emphasises freedom of religion,” he says. “Once we stop talking about core parts of British identity – including the Church of England, as we are a Christian country – [we will be] diminished.”
Having escaped to China and been arrested for defecting from his home country, Cho himself experienced a dramatic conversion to Christianity in a prison cell in Shanghai. His cellmate – a South Korean “gangster” – gave him a Bible and taught him to pray. That day, he struck a deal with God: if he escaped what was a near-certain death sentence, he would devote the rest of his life to Him. China then made the unprecedented decision to release Cho, something he now believes was a miracle.
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But at one point after arriving in the UK, the trauma of what had happened caught up with him. “There was a certain period every night when I couldn’t turn the light off,” he says. “I even thought I was going to commit suicide.” It was only thanks to his strong Christian faith, he says, that he was eventually able to find the strength to forgive those who had harmed him in prison, and his parents for abandoning him as a child.
“In front of the church, I declared I forgave them. And that was quite powerful.” Years after his parents had abandoned him, he visited his mother at a care home in South Korea, where he was able to tell her in person that he forgave her for what she had done.
“I can say confidently that I’m rehabilitated now,” he says. “But I have also realised my past didn’t let me go for a long time – I was going through a lot of anger and hatred…”
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He has been a committed Christian ever since and works as a part-time spokesman for Open Doors, a charity that supports persecuted Christians in countries including North Korea.
That woman on the doorstep – the one who shouted at him in 2021 – is one of the reasons he is standing again in this week’s local elections. “She said, ‘You never know, I might change my mind’,” says Cho. “She is testament to the fact that [in Britain] we have a choice. We have several candidates, and you can put them all on the table and choose between them.
“I want people to remember that many others don’t have that privilege – in countries like North Korea and China, never mind what’s happening in Russia. In Britain, every person, on every doorstep, has that choice.”
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All Comments
Comment by BRYAN GOODRICH.
BG
BRYAN GOODRICH
May 7, 2026
pinned
He came to our Men's night Dinner at The Royal Motor Yacht Club in Poole recently to give a talk. Our Church is St Marys Longfleet and boy is he a wonderful man. He deserves a chance as a Councillor.
Comment by Terry Bull.
TB
Terry Bull
May 7, 2026
pinned
About 50 years ago, I met a young East German lad, who was a couple of years older than me, when I was travelling and hitch hiking around Europe. He was so relaxed and at peace with every drama. I asked his West German friends why he was so calm about everything (we were all penniless and kind of homeless at the time). They told me he'd escaped from East Germany. I hadn't realised he was from the East. It changed my perspective to see someone who had risked his life just to have what I'd always taken for granted. I have never forgotten him and how content he was, without anything of value, except that he was free.
Comment by Gillian Gill.
GG
Gillian Gill
May 7, 2026
pinned
Wow, what a back story. I very much doubt that the woman who shouted at you for fifteen minutes, reads a newspaper, but her life would surely improve if she listened and discussed, rather than ranted. Good luck to you today, but then you've made your own luck so far and what a rewarding life you have built for yourself and family.
Comment by Nigel Coulstock.
NC
Nigel Coulstock
May 17, 2026
First generation immigrants should concentrate on integrating rather than seeking political power.
Comment by Nick Russell.
NR
Nick Russell
May 16, 2026
Sadly Mr Cho came in fourth place. Shame on Heatons North's electors then, but better luck next time.
Comment by Good Batiatus.
GB
Good Batiatus
May 7, 2026
what a great guy. Good luck to him
Comment by Primrose Garcia.
PG
Primrose Garcia
May 7, 2026
Fantastic, but why join the traitorous tories? Over their 14 years they did so much to destroy the country he admires so much. The things he loves about the country won't be there for much longer.
1
1 older reply
show older replies
Reply by Primrose Garcia.
PG
Primrose Garcia
May 8, 2026
๐ ๐จ
Reply by Nick Russell.
NR
Nick Russell
May 16, 2026
This is how politics works:
Conservative Minister: 'I'd like to do X, Y and Z'
Civil servant: 'No, Minister'.
Comment by Gwyneth Owen.
GO
Gwyneth Owen
May 7, 2026
What a brave inciteful and compssionate man.
Comment by ric hick.
rh
ric hick
May 7, 2026
Great story, and while many here class China as a dictatorship having never been there, to Tim China would seem very democratic coming from North Korea..
Comment by Merx Ultor.
MU
Merx Ultor
May 7, 2026
That rare thing a GENUINE asylum seeker.
Comment by Manx Man.
MM
Manx Man
May 7, 2026
Twice? you went back?
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1 older reply
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Reply by Gwyneth Owen.
GO
Gwyneth Owen
May 7, 2026
He was taken back!
Reply by Sairy Dairy.
SD
Sairy Dairy
May 8, 2026
Not willingly.
Comment by Richard Mallory.
RM
Richard Mallory
May 7, 2026
Escapes North Korea. Arrives in Britain. Brings with him tremendous perspective.
Joins the Tories ๐
Reply by ric hick.
rh
ric hick
May 7, 2026
Yes, he joined the Tories because they represent what is important to all of us, but of course you don't realise it until you lose it, and depending on these and the 2029 election, you may lose your taken for granted rights..
Comment by A random User.
Ar
A random User
May 7, 2026
I would vote for him.
I come across a lot of people in Europe criticising their democracy, claiming democracy is eroded whilst praising tough non democratic leaders.
Europe has the best democracies. Even the UK.
Comment by Christine Mortimer.
CM
Christine Mortimer
May 7, 2026
Goodness what a story. What a man. I hope he is elected.
Comment by Dr Know.
DK
Dr Know
May 7, 2026
That man has a serious sense of perspective that, regrettably, most people in the West, especially Lefties, do NOT !
Comment by vivian fay.
vf
vivian fay
May 7, 2026
Wow, what a powerful wonderful story, I wish him well God Bless
Comment by Taco Tuesday.
TT
Taco Tuesday
May 7, 2026
Inspirational story, that’s what a actual refugee looks like…. And fantastic work in settling into the UK.
Comment by Jean Reid.
JR
Jean Reid
May 7, 2026
Cho has had more experience than most of the M P 's he should do well - wish he was in my constituency I would vote for him instead of Reform .
Comment by Dominic Charles.
DC
Dominic Charles
May 7, 2026
Good for him. And this is exactly the kind of person for whom the asylum system was designed for - not for mentally ill convicted rapists.
Comment by colin Carroll.
cC
colin Carroll
May 7, 2026
All power to you Tim!
Comment by colin Carroll.
cC
colin Carroll
May 7, 2026
Timothy Cho: "And at the door, someone gives you an envelope, You don’t even know what’s inside. There’s just one candidate. And you put it in a box. And if you don’t, you end up in prison. And that is what they call a democratic election.”
Kier Starmer: "That sounds brilliant, Tim! Do you think it would work in Britain?"
Comment by Nobby Nolan.
NN
Nobby Nolan
May 7, 2026
Isn't it funny how people who have lived under a Communist government value freedom whilst those clamouring for a version of it here are largely middle class who've never experienced hardship.
Comment by Tony Dalby.
TD
Tony Dalby
May 7, 2026
What a wonderful testimony! Both of God's grace and of the value of democracy.
Winston Churchill's famous comment regarding democracy is: "Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time."
We don't know what we might lose - if we don't bother to vote. (And we may lose even more if we don't care to believe!)
You'll be a great help if you're elected, Timothy.
Comment by Auclan McIntyre.
AM
Auclan McIntyre
May 7, 2026
Well done, Mr Cho. I'd rather have people like you in our government than any socialist.
Comment by Steve Bennett.
SB
Steve Bennett
May 7, 2026
Dear Liebour, virtue signalling. ignorant numpties....
This guy, and what he has endured, he IS a refugee and we are glad to have him!!!
Comment by DAVID Cameron.
DC
DAVID Cameron
May 7, 2026
Have North Korea overtaken us yet on GDP per capita
Reply by Auclan McIntyre.
AM
Auclan McIntyre
May 7, 2026
Possibly... Their beer's good.
Comment by Hugh Tredegar.
HT
Hugh Tredegar
May 7, 2026
I defected from North Korea twice. Now, I’m standing to be a Tory councillor....
Think you may be really good councillor...
Wish you well....
Me ..I support Reform ๐ฏ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ท๓ ฌ๓ ณ๓ ฟ๐ฌ๐ง
Comment by Jeremy Sharpe.
JS
Jeremy Sharpe
May 7, 2026
A very deserving migrant!
Reply by Hugh Tredegar.
HT
Hugh Tredegar
May 7, 2026
Yes
Comment by Ethan Harrington.
EH
Ethan Harrington
May 7, 2026
What's it like living in a socialist country? The UK, I mean.
Reply by Nobby Nolan.
NN
Nobby Nolan
May 7, 2026
Terrible. People struggle to pay the bills and any sense of pride, ambition and hope is trampled on by the government.
Comment by John Greenwood.
JG
John Greenwood
May 7, 2026
What a remarkable story, you are truly welcome to live in UK and all the best.
Comment by Old Man.
OM
Old Man
May 7, 2026
It appears that you are happy living in the Uk and with its culture. If so, Sir, you are welcome.
Comment by Mr Andrew.
MA
Mr Andrew
May 7, 2026
Hard working, intelligent, honest and with a love of his adopted country learning both its culture and language - yet bringing a different perspective - in short a perfect example of how immigration benefits the receiving nation. Compare and contrast.
Comment by Tim Ames.
TA
Tim Ames
May 7, 2026
From one form of purgatory to another!
Comment by Michael Taylor.
MT
Michael Taylor
May 7, 2026
Gorton and Denton. Where people vote as they're told.
After reading your story you must have felt at home.
Our so-called "democracy" is being subverted by malign actors who tell people how to vote.
Comment by Ray Purchase.
RP
Ray Purchase
May 7, 2026
What a fabulous story, and what an example of what migration can be if controlled properly. He must have views on the barbaric hordes arriving on the beaches.
Comment by Bob Bubka.
BB
Bob Bubka
May 7, 2026
"Freedom is very fragile; once it is taken away, it is hugely costly to get it back.”
Look where slam has taken and see this for yourselves. No one has been able to pay a price high enough to get it back from them once lost.
