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World News See other World News Articles Title: ESCAPE FROM KOREA I fled North Korea as my family starved – only to be sold as a sex slave and beaten in sickening ‘re-education camp’ ESCAPE FROM KOREA I fled North Korea as my family starved – only to be sold as a sex slave and beaten in sickening ‘re-education camp’ EXCLUSIVE by Dan Hall 31 Jul 2020, 10:56 Updated: 31 Jul 2020, 11:08 JIHYUN Park pulled her son down to the ground when she saw the headlights in the dark. She was attempting to climb over the border fence to get from China to Mongolia with her six-year-old son – if cops caught her, she'd be deported back to North Korea and locked up once more in the country's nightmarish detention centres. Jihyun Park is a North Korean defector now living in the UK - she made multiple secret border crossings and survived DPRK detention centres after being deported by China Credit: Jihyun Park By this night in 2005, Jihyun had already survived an escape from North Korea into China, where she was sold into human trafficking, and spent months in the DPRK's labour camps. Eventually finding freedom in the UK after years of struggling, she is one of the lucky few to escape North Korea's brutal regime. "Kim Jong-un is a murderer and he killed many people," Jihyun tells Sun Online. "He’s killing 25million people in North Korea – we need to remember them." The situation in North Korea has become even more desperate during the pandemic, with worrying reports of food shortages and government advice to eat terrapins while other basics aren't available. And with security inside the world's most repressive country stepped up to fight coronavirus, the possibility of escape is more hopeless than ever before. North Korea's borders can be extremely dangerous to cross - this fence divides the Korean Demilitarized Zone separating North and South Korea Credit: EPA Starving to death 'like animals' Before Jihyun's first escape from North Korea, she witnessed thousands of people starving to death – including members of her own family – during the Great Famine of the 1990s. She was raised in the city of Chongjin in North Hamgyung Province, in the north east of North Korea. There, Jihyun worked as a school teacher and, thanks to her mother's business and her father's membership in the Workers' Party of Korea, she lived a relatively stable life before the famine began. Her house had an image of Kim Il-Sung, the founder of North Korea on the wall – as did every other home in her city. Kim Il-sung, left, and Kim Jong-il - Kim Il-sung founded North Korea in 1948 and remained in power until his death in 1994 Workers preparing fields for planting rice in North Korea - the food became a severely rationed commodity during the famine Workers preparing fields for planting rice in North Korea - the food became a severely rationed commodity during the famine Credit: Getty Images - Getty “My family had enough food in our home. Until the 1990s, I didn’t know the meaning of hunger," Jihyun tells Sun Online. "But after the 1990s, business was really hard in North Korea and my mother’s business failed. “After then, my family situation crashed down.” With the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, North Korea stopped receiving aid. This lack of support coupled with a spiralling economic crisis and biblical flooding in 1994 led to widespread food shortages. It's not clear how many died from starvation in what is now referred to as the Great Famine or the Arduous March, but estimates range from hundreds of thousands to millions. Everywhere, Jihyun says, she saw corpses in the streets. Chronic malnourishment and food shortages continued to blight North Korea for years after the famine began - this three-year-old was being given UN food in 2004 Chronic malnourishment and food shortages continued to blight North Korea for years after the famine began - this three-year-old was being given UN food in 2004Credit: Getty Images - Getty “We had no food," Jihyun says. "In 1996, my uncle died of starvation in front of me. “That is very painful, how we watched these starving people. They don’t look like people. "When my uncle died, he looked like an animal. Just only bones in his body. “Outside, nobody smiled. Everyone was dark faced." In time, Jihyun's father also became terribly sick. She would leave a bowl of rice for him in the morning before she left for work – but it would still be there, cold and untouched, when she returned in the evening. He wanted to share it with her, because he didn't want his daughter to go hungry. North Korean children heading to school in 2001 - Jihyun worked in a school before she defected 18 North Korean children heading to school in 2001 - Jihyun worked in a school before she defected Credit: Reuters His condition deteriorated so much that he stopped being able to speak and could only communicate by writing things down. And the family's fortunes fell in other ways too. Jihyun's brother got into serious trouble while working with the military, and authorities were looking for him. "My father’s last wish was to save my younger brother," Jihyun says. "One day he woke up and moved his hand and gestured to leave. "That was my turning point, why I left North Korea." After she fled, her father succumbed to starvation too. Secret escape turns into nightmare The majority of North Koreans who defect do so by crossing the border into China before travelling to a third country, typically in South East Asia, where they can then apply for asylum. Escapes are extremely dangerous – even for those who successfully get over, defectors are considered illegal immigrants and face deportation if they're caught in China. Jihyun with a South Korean flag - she dreamed of building a new life in a free country 18 Jihyun with a South Korean flag - she dreamed of building a new life in a free countryCredit: Jihyun Park Once back in North Korea, captured defectors face brutal punishments in detention centres, including forced labour, re-education, and torture. In the February of 1998, Jihyun and her brother made their escape across frozen rivers and mountains into China with the help of a broker who promised them good lives in their new country. But when they arrived, Jihyun quickly realised she'd been lied to. "I was sold into human trafficking and then separated from my brother," she says. "He was sent back to North Korea. I still don’t know if he survived or died." Jihyun was kept for days by the broker as potential buyers came to look at her and haggle for her life. "I was sold to a Chinese man for 5,000 yuan – that is maybe £500," Jihyun says. The farmer who bought her threatened her with violence and deportation if she didn't do as exactly as he said. And she even had a son by the man who bought her, and was put to work for five years living in constant fear. Jihyun has previously spoken out about her horrific ordeal leaving North Korea and sold into slaveryCredit: Amnesty International It didn't seem like life could be harder. But then one night in 2004, Chinese authorities came to her house – she was caught, and was to be deported to North Korea. Worse, she was going to be separated from her son, who was just five years old. "My son was my last family," Jihyun says. "I was really scared I wouldn’t come back. I didn’t say to my son: ‘Wait for me,’ because the police didn’t allow me and my son a last chance to speak to each other." Beaten in lice-ridden hellhole Poster Comment: Lots of pictures at source. Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread
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