North Korean former prisoners share testimonies on plight of those suffering under hermit regime

Former prisoners in North Korea traveled to the U.S. to share their experiences in the hope of letting more people know about the plight of those who are living inside the country.

The group consisted of 29 refugees who are now staying in Seoul, South Korea. Their trip was made possible by the Hometown Mission Association for North Korea in Seattle together with the Korean Churches Council of San Francisco, SFGate reports.

The group is the third wave of delegations who went to the U.S. for the purpose of raising awareness about what's going on in North Korea.

Their trip was organized by Pastor John Yoon, who has been living in the U.S. for more than 30 years after escaping North Korea in 1950.

Yoon organized the group's travel to let them know more about the U.S. and also to help others know more about North Korea.

One member of the group, Yu Sunhui, described through an interpreter how she got out by taking a train. She would jump off when the train approached a checkpoint to avoid detection.

She was able to reach China by swimming through a river. Unfortunately, when she got there, she was sold to human traffickers. Eventually, she was able to reach South Korea in 2010.

Yu's sister, who was pregnant at the time, was not able to make it out. Authorities took her and her husband, and they both died in prison. The baby died, too.

Ju Yeongsun, another member of the group, fled North Korea in 1997 after her husband, children and mother-in-law all died from hunger. She said that despite the painful experiences she had, her trust in God remains.

There have been more than 300,000 North Koreans who defected to other countries since the 1950s because of harsh conditions in the country.

Many of them refuse to go public out of fear that the family members they left behind would be harmed.

North Korea tops the World Watch List of the countries where Christians are most persecuted. According to the organization Open Doors, it has claimed the top spot for 14 years in a row.

Many Christians in the country keep their faith secret in order to avoid being sent to labor camps. Some Christian parents also do not raise their children as Christians to keep them from being caught by the authorities.

In spite of this, an estimated 200,000 Christians worship Christ secretly.