I just wanted to see China with my own eyes. I wanted to see whether North Korea was the best country in the world or China was the best. I grew up believing that China was much worse than North Kore, because that's what the regime told us.
History has proved that dictators can't last forever.
I can't be sure of exactly when and how North Korea will change. But I do believe it will happen, hopefully in my mother's lifetime.
Freedom means everything to me. It is the most essential right that every person deserves. Most people take it for granted, but not North Koreans.
When I was young, I thought Kim il-Sung or Kim Jong-il is hero.
In North Koreans, the moment we are born, we don't know there's another life existing outside of our country. The regime always told us all the bad things about the outside world, describing America as full of thieves, all human scum, beggars, everyday people dying on the streets and hospitals.
Some people criticize North Koreans and ask, 'Are they stupid? How can they believe those ridiculous things?' But I say, It doesn't matter if you're smart: if you were born in North Korea, you would be exactly like us. We don't know what freedom is. We have never enjoyed it.
I've been so lucky, received so much help and inspiration in my life, so I want to help give aspiring North Koreans a chance to prosper with international support.
I don't hate the Chinese. We're brothers, and we share a border. I just hate the government, politicians, policies, not the people.
In communism, we never had any freedom - of movement, of speech, of press. We didn't even make own decisions for our lives, our future. We were human robots.
