Joy's Story: Part 2 - Trafficked in China
In the first part of her story, Joy shared the details of her life in North Korea and how she made her daring escape. Read "Part 1 - Growing Up in North Korea".
After I finally got picked up by the broker, we got onto a bus. The bus got stopped by Chinese police twice and every time the police came aboard I pretended to be asleep.
I was ready to take the opium pill I had stashed in the collar of my shirt and end my life if I got caught, but thankfully I didn’t have to.
I got some rest for a couple of hours after I arrived at the house and then I was connected with the second broker. The second broker was a North Korean defector. I told her that I wanted to live with an old Chinese couple as their foster granddaughter. She shook her head and told me my only option was to be sold into marriage to a Chinese man so all the brokers who helped me escape could take my bridal cost as payment.
I couldn't even think of refusing because I was afraid the brokers would do something bad to me or drop me off somewhere alone to get caught by the Chinese police and sent back to North Korea. I had also heard that if North Korean women refused to get married in China, then they could be sold to brothels or sex websites so that the brokers could receive payment. At that point, I realized that I was trapped and I didn’t have any other choice but to be trafficked. The second broker told me that I could escape after living with my Chinese husband for at least six months. If I escape in less than 6 months, the brokers that sold me would return my bridal money to the Chinese husband.
The second broker took me to different small towns to sell me. Every time I went to a town, many old Chinese men gathered around me to bargain my bridal cost. I felt so ashamed. I was being treated as an animal and not as a human being.
The North Korean broker finally found a man who was willing to pay the amount the broker wanted for me as a bride. I couldn’t even communicate with him because I didn’t speak the language. I remembered looking at the broker’s face. She seemed to pity me. My whole being at the moment was filled with so much bitterness, hopelessness, and sorrow toward everything in the world.
I felt like I was losing everything including my own body to someone I didn’t even know. I was only 18.
Continue reading Part 3 of Joy's story where she shares about her escape from the Chinese man and her rescue journey through LiNK's networks.
You can support North Korean refugees like Joy each month by becoming a Liberty Monthly Donor.
North Korean Fellows in the United States: Meet the Class of 2025
Please join us in welcoming Hannah and Rose, LiNK’s 2025 Advocacy Fellows!
The Advocacy Fellows program partners with young North Korean defectors to build their skills as effective leaders, storytellers, and agents of change for this issue. Hannah and Rose spent the last month training and preparing with our team in South Korea, and will now be traveling across the US to share their stories!
Join us at a Fellows speaking event near you!
Dallas, TX
September 9th, 6pm
Southern Methodist University | Dallas Hall Room 306 (McCord Auditorium)
3225 University Blvd, Dallas TX 75205
RSVP Here
Guest parking information here
Waco, TX
September 11th, 6pm
Baylor University, Foster Campus | Room 240
1621 S 3rd St, Waco, TX 76706
RSVP Here
Parking: 1521 S Fourth St. Waco,TX 76706 (Google maps or Apple Maps)
Madison, WI
September 16th, 12pm
UW-Madison | Lubar Commons (Room 7200)
975 Bascom Mall, Madison, WI 53706
RSVP here
Evanston, IL
September 20th, 5pm
Northwestern University | Harris Hall 107
1881 Sheridan Rd, Evanston, IL 60201
RSVP Here
Palo Alto, CA
September 28th, 1:20pm
True North Church
655 Arastradero Road, Palo Alto, CA 94306
RSVP Here
Berkeley, CA
September 29th, 6pm
UC Berkeley | Stephens Lounge at the MLK Student Union
2495 Bancroft Way, Berkeley, CA 94720
Parking: Lower Sproul Garage
RSVP Here
Washington, D.C.
October 8th, 1pm ET
The Stimson Center
1211 Connecticut Avenue Northwest Washington, DC 20036
RSVP Here
*Online livestream also available: RSVP Here
Washington, D.C
October 9th, 10:30am
ET Hudson Institute
1201 Pennsylvania Ave N.W. Suite 400 Washington, DC 20004
RSVP Here
Philadelphia, PA
October 13th, 5:30pm
University of Pennsylvania
3401 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104
RSVP Here
New York, NY
October 16th, 2025, 12 PM
The Korea Society
350 Madison Avenue, 24th Floor
New York, NY 10017
RSVP here
Los Angeles, CA
October 21st, 7:30pm
UCLA
Haines Hall Room A2 Portola Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90095
Parking available in UCLA Parking Structure 2
RSVP here
Additional details and timely updates will be sent to RSVP’ed guests via email.
Hannah is a 4th year student at Hongik University studying Electrical and Electronic Engineering. While participating in LiNK’s Changemaker Scholarship Program, she worked on developing devices and strategies that increase information access for people inside North Korea. Her goal as an Advocacy Fellow is to grow as a leader and communicator, and facilitate more collaborative work on this issue.
Rose graduated from Hongik University’s Department of Architecture. For her final project, she designed a memorial to honor North Korean human rights and provide comfort to defectors who had to leave their homeland. She drew inspiration from the Holocaust and 9/11 Memorials in the US, and was deeply moved by how such spaces contribute to healing and progress. As an Advocacy Fellow, Rose hopes to continue finding her identity and increase interest in this issue.
