Love And Courage

Hyeonseo Lee was born in 1980 in North Korea, a country she thought was the best on the planet’ until she witnessed great suffering and starvation. At the age of 17, she left her family behind and escaped alone to China. Hiding her identity for ten years, her life in China was far from easy and she eventually decided to flee for South Korea. There she faced further challenges when the authorities initially didn’t believe she was North Korean. Some time later she returned to China where she met her family and travelled to Laos in order to bring them to join her in South Korea. However the family were caught and imprisoned in Laos until an Australian backpacker helped pay for their release. Hyeonseo is the author of an acclaimed book, the Girl with Seven Names, and her TED talk has reached well over 10 million people. While still struggling to adapt to her new freedoms, she travels extensively sharing her story and telling the world about what is happening in North Korea. ........... About the podcast The Love