ICC Note: Grace Jo, a North Korean defector who escaped from North Korea in 2006 shares her horrific experience working for the Kim regime as a kid. Grace Jo does not recall ever being tortured by the North Korean government, however, her father, two brothers, and grandmother have passed away from starvation. She explains that orphanage shelters are pretty much like labor camps for kids. Children are forced to work long days on mountains or farms. Around 50 children would share a small room where they barely have enough space to sleep. Jo will be sharing her experiences and the plight of North Korean Christians when she speaks at the 4th Annual Night of Prayer for the Persecuted Church that will be held at Chinese Community Church in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 18, 2017.
11/6/2017 North Korea (Christian Post) – A North Korean defector has shared what life is like for children sent to horrific, overcrowded “orphanage shelters” while their parents are imprisoned by the authoritarian Kim regime.
Grace Jo, a 26-year-old defector who came to the United States as a refugee with her mother and sister in 2008 and now helps lead an organization that facilitates the escape and rescue of victimized North Koreans, shared her experiences of being imprisoned as a child after being caught twice with her family while trying to flee the oppressive nation.
Jo told The Christian Post in a recent interview that although she doesn’t recall ever being tortured by the government, she does remember what it was like when she, her mother and sister had to do hard labor for the Kim regime — whether on the construction site or on the farm.
She explained that on two separate occasions while her mother was imprisoned, she was sent to orphanage shelters.
Jo, whose father, two brothers and grandmother passed away from starvation, said she was sent to an orphanage shelter with her sister when she was about 11 and was also sent to another orphanage shelter by herself when she was about 14.
However, Jo warned that these shelters are basically “labor prison for kids.”
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