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Reflection on Hyeonseo’s Escape from North Korea

During the TED Talk presentation, Hyeonseo provides a summary of her early life in North

Korea, and the adverse conditions she faced as a North Korean refugee in China and South

Korea. More so, Hyeonseo articulates the challenges she encountered in helping her family to

escape from North Korea. Therefore, the paper presents my reflection on the nature and lessons

about the miserable life experienced by North Koreans due to growing incidences of human

rights violations in North Korea.

The video mainly portrays the significance of resilience and hope to an individual even

when life seems hard and challenging. For instance, Hyeonseo recounts the adverse experience

that involved being tested on her fluency in the Chinese language (TED 04:15 - 05:08). As a

young child, the testing by the police exposed her to distress. However, the existence of cultural

exchanges between neighboring countries enabled Hyeonseo to learn Chinese easily (Yang 72).

The need to live a fairly better life in other countries has made North Koreans resilient to the

harsh conditions encountered. Therefore, Hyeonseo’s speech shows that the presence of hope in

a person’s mind is very significant in boosting his/her sense of resilience towards challenging

conditions.
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The video relates to the COVID-19 illness I experienced in 2021 because both cases

needed a sense of hope to survive. Just like Hyeonseo who had never encountered starvation in

her early days, I had never faced any serious illness in my entire life. The new land border law in

China continues to deter North Koreans from crossing over (Bartlett par. 1). Migration laws

related to COVID-19 are strongly reducing the hope of North Koreans in search of better lives

elsewhere. Consequently, people in North Korea just like Hyeonseo’s early starvation

experience, are bound to continue facing challenging living conditions.

Most importantly, the video depicts the hard life encountered by the people in and out of

North Korea. Human rights activists have often condemned the oppressive rule in North Korea

which involves the denial of basic freedoms to the people (Yeo and Chubb 61). The violation of

human rights such as; freedom of speech and the right to a free and fair trial among others have

led to the loss of lives. Therefore, the violation of human rights continues to prevail leading to

the persistent suffering of people in North Korea.

The information can be used in advancing awareness campaigns about the situation in

North Korea. Hyeonseo provided a highlight of the adversities North Koreans are facing such as

the public executions that seemed like a normal life in North Korea (TED 00:50 – 00:57). I can

use the information to run an online campaign aimed at influencing organizations such as the

United Nations (UN) to help North Korean refugees instead of being repatriated to face

imprisonment and public executions. Consequently, awareness campaigns can increase the

pressure on governments in helping North Korean refugees.

The one thing that surprised me was the stranger who helped Hyeonseo to get her family

out of jail. In Hyeonseo’s speech, the stranger went ahead to withdraw money to help in saving

her family (TED 09:48 – 10:13). The good heart portrayed by this man is very a big surprise as
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many people today are focused on helping themselves and their families. Thus, the stranger's

actions indicate that there still exist people with good and caring hearts.

Conclusively, Hyeonseo’s speech portrays the challenges and suffering encountered by the North

Koreans in trying to secure better living conditions in and out of their country. Also, a sense of

resilience and hope is crucial in facing challenging situations. Therefore, there is a need for more

international awareness and intervention about the condition of life in North Korea.
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Works Cited

Bartlett, Jason. "China’s New Land Borders Law is a Nightmare for North Korean

Refugees." The Diplomat, 2021, www.thediplomat.com/2021/10/chinas-new-land-

borders-law-is-a-nightmare-for-north-korean-refugees/.

TED. "Hyeonseo Lee: My Escape from North Korea." YouTube, 2013,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdxPCeWw75k.

Yang, EunSook. "The Two Koreas´ Relations with China: Vision and Challenge." UNISCI

Journal, vol. 18, no. 52, 2020, pp. 69-85., doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.31439/UNISCI-75.

Yeo, Andrew., and Danielle, Chubb. North Korean Human Rights: Activists and Networks.

Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2018.