How learning English empowers North Korean refugees – Ep. 284

Eunju Kim was a victim of human trafficking after she fled North Korea, spending three years in China in the house of a man who purchased her and her sister.

Then, in the middle of the night, police stormed into the residence and took the girls into custody before forcibly repatriating them back to North Korea. When Eunju crossed the border again, she found that she had been erased: The local DPRK government assumed she had starved to death, and deleted her from the citizens' registry. 

A ghost in her hometown, she embarked on a yearslong journey that ultimately ended up with her in South Korea.

Now Eunju works for Freedom Speakers International (FSI), helping empower North Korean refugees, especially women, by teaching them the communication tools critical for life in modern South Korean society.

Eunju and FSI co-founder Eunkoo Lee join the NK News podcast to discuss Eunju’s incredible journey out of North Korea, the importance of English language for defectors, how North Korean refugees overcome prejudice and more. 

Eunju Kim is a North Korea refugee communication specialist at FSI and co-author of “A Thousand Miles to Freedom.” Eunkoo Lee is co-founder and co-president at FSI and an expert and advocate for North Korean human rights and refugees.

About the podcast: The North Korea News Podcast is a weekly podcast hosted by Jacco Zwetsloot (@JaccoZed) exclusively for NK News, covering all things DPRK — from news to extended interviews with leading experts and analysts in the field, along with insight from our very own journalists.