North Korean defector returns home to visit Christian family despite risks

A woman, who became a Christian after she escaped from North Korea, risked her life to return home to visit her relatives who were secret believers because she wanted them to know that she too has found out about their faith.

The North Korean woman who goes by the pseudonym Myoung-Hee discovered that her family was Christian after her uncle was executed because of his faith.

After finding out about the faith of her family, she wanted nothing to do with the religion as she felt that it was the cause of her uncle's death.

Myoung-Hee told World Watch Monitor that she wanted to leave North Korea, but when she had the opportunity to go to China on a sponsored student program, she refused because she did not want to be monitored by the state.

She was eventually able to escape to China after she graduated from school, but she was caught by a human trafficker who sold her to a Chinese farmer.

Myoung-Hee said that the farmer was not as bad as other Chinese men who bought North Korean women, and she had a child with him, but she never felt home with his family. She felt that her mother-in-law often behaved suspiciously and would sometimes leave without telling her where she was going.

"One night I followed her. It was a long way before she reached a place where some kind of meeting was going on. I called after her," Myoung-Hee recounted.

"She was surprised to see me, but then invited me to take part. It was a Christian meeting, which made me uncomfortable because I had always been against Christianity. But my curiosity got the better of me and I decided to stay. I actually found myself wanting to learn more about God," she continued.

When Myoung-Hee converted to Christianity, she wanted to tell her family in North Korea about her newfound faith. Her Chinese family did not want to let her go, but she was able to convince them in the end.

While crossing the border, Myoung-Hee was arrested by a military patrol officer and was sent to prison. She said that she felt like she would never see her family again after seeing how she and the other prisoners were treated.

She drew on her new faith to give her hope and repeated Bible verses that she had memorized, particularly verses six and seven from Psalm 62, which was about God being "my mighty rock, my refuge."

When the prison guards found out where she came from, she was transferred to a camp closer to her hometown.

Myoung-Hee saw an opportunity to escape from the new camp one night when the guards got drunk and forgot to lock the doors. She snuck out and ran until she saw a sign pointing to her home.

She said that being reunited with her family was the "most joyous experience ever."

"We were so happy to see each other. For the first time we worshipped God together as a family. I also attended small gatherings of other Christian families," she added.

She decided to go back to her Chinese family because she said she wanted her husband and son to hear the Gospel.

Myoung-Hee, who is now in her 40s, currently lives with her family in South Korea. Her husband and son both became Christians.

North Korea has been ranked on the Open Doors World Watch List as the number one most oppressive place in the world for Christians. Believers are forced to hide their faith from neighbors and even their own family members to avoid being caught by the authorities. Those who try to escape to South Korea through China can be executed or sentenced to life imprisonment.