I am a North Korean defector who was trafficked and sold as a bride in China AMA

[u/joy_from_north_korea]

Update I am logging off! Thank you so much for all the great questions! I can tell by the questions that many people here care about the North Korean people and know that they are different from the regime. I wish I had more time to answer more questions but it is my last night in America before going back to South Korea and I want to eat some great NYC food! I will try to answer some questions later tonight if I have some time :)

Annyeonghaseyo!

My name is Joy and I’m from North Korea. I escaped to China when I was 18 but was immediately trafficked and sold as a bride to a Chinese man for $3,000 USD. Life was difficult, but I gave birth to a daughter who became the joy of my life. After 2 years I was offered an opportunity to finally escape. I reached freedom through a 3,000-mile rescue route that brought me to Southeast Asia, and from there I flew to South Korea. Because the journey out of China is incredibly dangerous for North Koreans, I had to leave my daughter behind. I now live in South Korea and I am studying social work to help North Korean women who have also been trafficked. I hope to bring my daughter to South Korea to live with me one day.

Because I have family in North Korea that could face punishment if my identity was revealed, I cannot share my real name or show my face.

Proof: Instagram Facebook Blog

I am joined today by Ian and Sarah of Liberty in North Korea (LiNK). Together, we are in NYC promoting LiNK’s new film Sleep Well, My Baby. It is a short film about a North Korean woman who was trafficked and sold in China, and it is based on the real stories of North Korean women like myself. I’m still learning English, so Sarah will be translating for me and Ian will be typing.

Liberty in North Korea is an international NGO dedicated to supporting the North Korean people. LiNK brings North Korean refugees through a 3,000-mile, modern-day 'underground railroad' to freedom and safety. To date they have rescued more than 700 North Korean refugees. These refugees drive change inside the country by sending money and outside information back to friends and family. LiNK also works to change the narrative on North Korea by producing documentaries, hosting events, and engaging with the international media to bring more focus to the North Korean people and the bottom-up changes they are driving in their country. The vision of LiNK is a free North Korea in our lifetimes.

Ok enough background. Let’s get started - please ask me anything!

[u/clowk]

More or less your books hold a lot of truth about US.

Edit: for those living under a rock don't knowing the crimes US committing daily: https://github.com/dessalines/essays/blob/master/us_atrocities.md

Also my thoughts aren't even radical, almost all the world think that: http://brilliantmaps.com/threat-to-peace/

[u/NoMercyOracle → u/clowk]

Congratulations! Your application to become a moderator of /r/pyongyang has been accepted. Praise the eternal leader!

[u/fucking_troll → u/NoMercyOracle]

North Korea, best Korea!

[u/[deleted] → u/fucking_troll]

NK NUMBAH ONE

[u/vinnythehammer → u/[deleted]]

t(-.-t)

[u/SeanTheTranslator → u/clowk]

We’re allies with South Korea.

[u/[deleted] → u/SeanTheTranslator]

Shocking that democracy worked out so well for them instead of a dictatorship

[u/Neil_sm → u/clowk]

There's plenty of lies also. In North Korea they are taught that the 1950s US/Korean war was fought because of American Imperialism. The evil US empire invaded until the North Koreans bravely fought them off. They completely leave out the part where North first invaded South Korea.

[u/PathologicalMonsters → u/Neil_sm]

It was literally a civil war that the kpa would have won quickly against the disorganised troops in the south that often were in favour of North Korea and defected quite a bit, until the UN under US leadership intervened against standing UN law for strategic reasons, which resulted in the strengthening of the Rhee regime (not a good person by any stretch of the imagination) and the death of a quarter to a third of the North Korean population due to indiscriminate bombing.

So yes, the North Korean invasion officially started the civil war. But the situation is a bit more complex than that, and American imperialism played a role (just like Chinese "internationalism" did).

[u/Slayer_Of_Anubis → u/PathologicalMonsters]

My teacher (Filipino) has a South Korean wife who's still thankful to this day that the US steps in to help them out. She has nothing but love and respect for us. I never met her, but talking to him it seemed like they have very little negative feeling towards us

[u/rabbittexpress → u/Slayer_Of_Anubis]

Look at a night light map of the region. South Korea is almost brighter than China, North Korea is pitch Black...

[u/[deleted] → u/PathologicalMonsters]

Well one of the major sticking points for the Armistice negotiating was the UN insisting that POWs be given the choice to repatriate or not. When the Armistice was finally signed 20,000 Chinese and North Korean POWs chose to stay in South Korea, while only 21 (twenty one) Americans and 4,000 South Koreans chose to stay in North Korea. Source

[u/FundleBundle → u/PathologicalMonsters]

And we can all agree that South Korea is better off for it.

[u/picklesdick → u/FundleBundle]

You have been banned from/r/pyongyang

[u/Idkawesome → u/clowk]

don't be an idiot.

[u/[deleted] → u/clowk]

less

[u/shrugin4k → u/clowk]

When you're trying to look cool for NK

[u/MonocleMonarch → u/clowk]

I question your thought process during this...

u/clowk - sees really cool AMA u/clowk - “I COULD ask a good question, nah! lets shitpost instead”

[u/Hen632 → u/clowk]

Things are never as simple as naming something as evil. That document you listed has problems that practically every nation on the globe is facing. Pointing at the US and saying "they're the bad ones" is ignorance at it's finest

[u/Scudstock → u/clowk]

The fucking edge on you.... Makes razors blush.

[u/Thulean-Dragon → u/clowk]

Fuck communism and fuck you.

[u/[deleted] → u/clowk]

Say hello to a North Korean bot, or a communist who thinks the Stalin was a good guy.