North Korean Refugee Stories: Meet Joo Ri
Joo Ri never knew what it felt like to be envious of others as a child. Growing up in Pyongyang, daughter to a supervisor at the Ministry of Industry, she had no idea that life could be filled with anything but laughter and happy memories. Even after losing her parents at an early age, her father's name and position were enough to keep her going to the best schools and within the right circles in Pyongyang. After falling in love right after completing her army duty, she decided to get married and move with her husband back to his hometown near the North Korea-China border. Even though she was leaving her home, she felt it a small sacrifice to be with the person she loved.
At first, Joo Ri did not mind that life outside Pyongyang was less glamorous. All she wanted was to care for her family and lead a happy life. However, adversity and hardship started to wash over her in slow, steady waves. By the time she gave birth to her second child, her family was chronically short of food and resources. Thus, Joo Ri decided to obtain traveling passes to Pyongyang and sell goods on the route to and from her home. While this was able to sustain a life for her and her family, she started to feel trapped, suffocated, and helpless. The life she had led in Pyongyang was nothing but a memory.
After losing her husband, Joo Ri realized that she could not take living under such bleak oppression any longer. In the dead of night, she was successfully able to sneak through the border into China. Immediately after crossing, she had to go into hiding for months before eventually being sold as a bride to a Chinese man. Unable to let her guard down, she lived in constant fear and anxiety, restricted to her home, until one day the local police conducted a raid where she was caught, detained, and immediately repatriated to North Korea.
Joo Ri was sentenced to over a year in a forced labor camp where she was barely fed, and forced to work more than half the day without rest. Experiencing such ruthless treatment only made her crave freedom more, and immediately after being released, she took to the border again. This time, however, she was unsuccessful. She was caught attempting to cross the border and sentenced to more than 3 years in a re-education camp.
There, she was stripped of her name, hit, slapped, punched, beat, kicked, hung by her wrists from the ceiling, and pushed into a water well, the water level sitting over her knees, where she was forced to stay for a month. In order to survive, she ate bugs and leaves, but she still lost all of her hair and all but one of her top teeth due to starvation.
After being released from the re-education camp, Joo Ri went back to her hometown so she could recuperate and gain back her strength. During this time she had more than seven people, from friends to secret police, spying on her at any given time. Unable to give up the desire for happiness, but now fueled by anger and resentment for the people who had done so much wrong to her, Joo Ri snuck out in the middle of the night, making her sixth attempt to cross the border. This time, she was able to make it into China, and by a stroke of luck, connected with LiNK's network.
Joo Ri is overjoyed to start her new life in South Korea. Even though she suffered so much, she has not lost her sense of compassion, and hopes to work with resettled North Korean children and elderly people. She has also started writing a memoir depicting her life.
Joo Ri hopes to bring light to the situation in North Korea and advocate for the friends and family she left behind.
Thank you for helping supply the funds for Joo Ri’s rescue. Your efforts have changed her life and have provided the opportunity for her to enjoy her new liberty.
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.
