Meet Johnny

Growing up in North Korea, I never had the chance to dream about academics because survival was my only priority. Even though I attended school, from kindergarten through high school the purpose of our education was to worship our leaders like gods by singing songs and memorizing information. After Kim Il Sung died in 1994, the North Korean economy collapsed and people around me became homeless or orphaned. Hunger was a daily reality. The public executions I witnessed are burned into my memory. The suffering became so intense that my mother crossed the border into China, telling me that she would return back in a week with more money. Yet that one week turned into one month, then five months... I started to fear she might have been trafficked and I would never see her again. So, I found a broker who could guide me to China where I could reconnect with her. 

 

On March 15, 2005, I made the most difficult decision in my life to leave North Korea in search of my mother – not knowing if I’d ever see my grandmother again. I couldn’t tell her because she would never allow me to go, so I left while she was sleeping. My heart aches so much even now to think of leaving her by herself. I realize now what punishment she could have received by the government if I were captured.

 

The journey was terrifying but I was thankful to finally locate my mother who was trying to earn some money before returning home. We were in China for a few months with plans to return to North Korea to be with my grandmother. We learned it was very difficult to live in China because we were essentially trespassers who do not belong there. As we considered returning to North Korea we learned my grandmother starved to death in North Korea. The guilt I felt was unbearable. My grandmother helped raise me until I escaped. My father left us when I was little so my mom and grandma were my whole world. I hated the corn rice I was given to eat, but my grandma sacrificed the little food we had to keep me alive and ate tree roots to try to survive. The last image I have of her was of her sleeping when I left. I never even had the chance to tell her I found my mother.

 

In my grief I tried to find a way to cross the border back into my hometown but my Korean-Chinese friends kept stopping me and trying to reason with me. There was no guarantee to escape again, and now there was no one else in North Korea to go back to. Eventually realizing I could not return home, my mother and I tried to find a way to make a new life, and our path ultimately led to leaving China for America. 

 

In the U.S. I took various odd jobs to try to make money and survive. Each opportunity gave me invaluable life experience and awakened my understanding of capitalism. I began to pick up on business principles – how to care for clients properly, insights for developing a successful business, and the importance of communication, responsibility, and meeting workplace expectations. My set-backs and successes directly influenced my determination to pursue a business and economics major. 

 

My journey also gave me deeper insight into myself, and enabled me to consider my interests, strengths, and dreams. I began to dream that I could become successful in business, grow in character, and become someone who can actually inspire and help others. I want to share the perspectives I’ve gained with other refugees like me – even return to my hometown in North Korea someday to expand their vision, hope, and aspirations for what their futures can be.

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My journey from North Korea to America was more than a physical change. It was a complete transformation of my identity, purpose, and dream about the future. The intense hunger I experienced as a child, the loss of my grandmother, and the struggle to survive in a new country, have all shaped my understanding that education is not just a privilege, but a powerful tool for change. I believe living in the U.S. fundamentally changed who I am. It transformed me from someone focused solely on survival to someone committed to serving others as an advocate for hope and opportunity.