ICC Note: There are a minority of North Koreans who somehow have emerged from beyond the borders of their tragic nation to speak about the anguish that subsumes hundreds of thousands of people each day through the policies of Kim Jong-un, a vile caricature of a government official. The United States has been fortunate to receive a portion of this small minority who are willing to tell the world about the persecution they have faced. Christians in North Korea experience some of the most extreme persecution in the world, but those who have survived it possess an incredible testimony to tell.
7/18/2016 San Franciso, CA (San Francisco Gate) – Yu Sunhui calmly recounted how she escaped North Korea by train, jumping off often to avoid the checkpoints. She had to swim across a river to China, where she was sold to human traffickers before she managed to make her way to South Korea in 2010.
Yu’s story is fortunate compared with her sister, who was eight months pregnant when she and her husband were arrested. The couple and their child died in a North Korean prison.
Ju, 51, was one of a just handful of delegates who were willing to speak to the media as many fear for the safety of family still living in North Korea. She and her 15-year-old daughter, Eunhye, are living in South Korea. She said through an interpreter that she has a lot of pain but places her trust in God.
This is the third delegation Seattle Pastor John Yoon, who escaped North Korea in 1950 and has been living in the U.S. for 36 years, has arranged to help Americans better understand the plight of North Koreans. Previous groups visited the states of Washington and Hawaii.
The public is invited to hear the stories of members of the delegation of North Korean defectors on Wednesday, July 20, at 6 p.m. at Full Gospel San Francisco Church, 1480 Ellis St in San Francisco.
