Joy's Story: Part 3 - A Difficult Decision
Read parts one and two of Joy's story that detail her life in North Korea and how she was sold as a bride in China.
When I started living with the Chinese man I was sold to, I thought of escaping after six months. I just did what the Chinese man wanted without thinking about birth-control—I never had proper sex education. Two months later, he and his family took me to a hospital for a pregnancy test. I was pregnant. I am so sorry to my daughter for this, but after I got pregnant was so miserable and I felt like I was stuck in this situation because of the baby. I knew that I couldn’t escape until I gave birth to my daughter and raised her for a while. I was not happy, but the Chinese man and his family were. I am very sorry to my daughter for how I felt about having her back then, but the pregnancy was not what I wanted and I didn’t love the Chinese man. I actually tried to abort the baby by jumping down from a high tree many times but it didn’t happen.
I ended up having a daughter and raised her for two years before I escaped.
When I was still raising my daughter and living with the Chinese man and I was losing hope about my life, the North Korean broker who sold me into marriage got back to me and introduced me to some people who later connected me to LiNK’s network. She told me that she felt really bad for selling me to the Chinese man but she had to do it to survive in China as a North Korean herself. When she told me about going to South Korea and life there, I felt like that was my last chance to have my life back again. At that point, I was no longer breastfeeding and my baby had started to talk, so I thought the Chinese man’s parents could take care of her. I decided to leave for South Korea.
I was so sad to leave my two-year-old daughter in China.
Before I left, I thought of taking her with me, but she was still very young and I was not sure if I was going to make it to South Korea safely so I didn't want to risk her life.
To this day I feel guilty and sorry about having left her so I could have freedom and better life. I know my daughter has been hurt a lot by my leaving.
Before I started moving to get out of China I stayed with some other defectors before I got connected to LiNK's network. At the time, I cried every day thinking of my daughter. Even when I was sleeping in the house, I kept waking up to see if my little daughter was sleeping well on my arm and realized that she was not with me anymore.
I didn't want to cry in front of other defectors, so I cried behind a curtain and I found another North Korean woman crying there because she also left her child. We ended up hugging each other and crying together.
Since I resettled to South Korea a few years ago, I have been talking with my daughter through online video calls as often as possible. She is doing well and is now in elementary school, but I can tell she has been so hurt by my absence in her life. It breaks my heart when she asks me why I am not with her. Whenever there is homework about family or whenever her teacher asks her to bring her mom, she gets so sad and I feel so helpless and remorseful. I plan to visit her in China on one of my summer breaks from college.
It is so ironic because I was so hurt a lot by my mom for leaving me and my family when I was a little kid and I did the same thing to my own daughter.
Now I understand why my mom had to make such a decision...Hopefully there will be a day my daughter can understand and forgive me.
At the Forefront of North Korean Human Rights Work | LiNK Organizational Update
Liberty in North Korea welcomes Sarah Yun as our new Chief Regional Officer (CRO), South Korea, as our previous South Korea Country Director, Sokeel Park, transitions into a new role as our Chief Strategy Officer (CSO). Sarah and Sokeel will collaboratively lead LiNK’s South Korea operations while growing LiNK’s impact through their respective areas of expertise.
Over a Decade of Dedication to Human Rights
Sarah Yun brings a wealth of experience and expertise from her work to advance human rights in North Korea and across Asia during the past 15 years. She most recently served as the Country Director of Korea and Cambodia at the National Democratic Institute (NDI), managing the Institute’s operations and programs in the two countries.
Previously, Sarah was a Senior Manager for Asia at the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), overseeing the Cambodia, Vietnam, North Korea, Thailand, and the Philippines programs and teams. Prior to her experience at the NED, she worked at the Center for International Private Enterprise where she managed the Cambodia and North Korea programs, in addition to the Papua New Guinea program and field office.
“I have had the opportunity to work on issues related to various countries in Asia at a variety of institutions throughout my career, but my greatest passion has always been to envision a North Korea where its people can choose their own future. I am deeply inspired by the stories and resilience of the North Korean people and am committed to supporting their leadership and efforts toward a better future.”
– Sarah Yun, LiNK CRO
Sarah holds a BA in Political Science and Business Institutions from Northwestern University and MA in International Relations and International Economics from Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. Her journey with LiNK began in college, when she came across her campus LiNK Team.
“I first learned about LiNK during my college years, when chapters began to emerge across the United States. Since then, I have respected the organization’s mission and work. When I was given the opportunity to work at LiNK, I had great anticipation and excitement at the thought of joining and supporting North Koreans' journey toward a free and open future. Together with the LiNK team, I hope to contribute to amplifying the leadership and voices of young North Korean defectors in creative and impactful ways.”
– Sarah Yun, LiNK CRO
A Strategic Shift
As LiNK continues to expand and refocus our programs in response to the evolving needs of this issue, there was a timely opportunity to bring on Sarah and diversify the organization’s impact.
As CRO, Sarah Yun will lead LiNK’s South Korea team, oversee our Capacity Building Programs, and represent the organization in South Korea. Sokeel Park will jointly represent LiNK alongside Sarah and maintain key collaborative efforts with external stakeholders. As CSO, Sokeel’s scope will also encompass the development of the organization’s broader strategy and Information Access Programs (IAP). Moving forward, IAP is an area of work which we are expanding as a crucial way to support North Koreans driving change inside the country, and achieve our vision.
North Korean refugees consistently tell us that getting more outside information into North Korea is crucial for empowering North Koreans to change their country. The importance of this area of work has only increased in recent years, so it is vital that we are able to increase the resources and time we are investing into these strategies. I’m extremely grateful to our donors for joining with us and making this expansion and these initiatives possible.”
– Sokeel Park, LiNK CSO
This is a challenging time for North Korean people, refugees, and the issue. We are grateful to Sarah for bringing her experience and expertise to LiNK and everyone whose support sustains our organization and enables us to grow.
We look forward to increasing our impact with Sarah’s leadership and sharing updates about our progress with our supporters.
