fredag 29. oktober 2021

A Letter from North Korea: Looking back… the beginning of 20 years of separation

North Korean defector Kim Eun-Hee (a pseudonym to address safety concerns) who currently lives in Seoul, still vividly remembers this day in the spring of 2002 when she left her mother for the first and last time: 

“I went to see my mom at night. She came out and asked what’s going on. I just kept saying ‘mom’ over and over, and she asked why I keep repeating ‘mom.’ I felt like if I say anything else besides ‘mom,’ I would start tearing up. So I just said ‘mom, mom’ repeatedly. I didn’t know what else to say.” - Kim Eun-Hee (pseudonym)

Kim said to her mother that ‘if she is nowhere to be found one day, just assume that she married a good man and moved to another city.’

Kim’s mother, who had no clue, told her daughter to hurry back home as it is dangerous at night time.

Kim’s mom turned around and closed the door, and that was Kim’s last moment with her mom.