These North Korean brothers spent 10 years planning their escape. Months after reaching freedom, everything changed

Two brothers spent a decade plotting their escape from North Korea – an audacious plan conceived by their late father, whose ashes they carried as they crept toward a boat moored in the shadows. There were guards nearby, and no second chances.

It was May 6, 2023. A three-day spring storm churned over the Yellow Sea, cloaking their movements. Kim Il-hyeok and Kim Yi-hyeok gathered their seven relatives – including women who just tiptoed through a minefield – as they traced their route one last time. Among the passengers were Kim Yi-hyeok’s two children, ages 4 and 6, hidden in burlap sacks. Kim Il-hyeok’s wife, five months pregnant, reluctantly agreed to join.

“My wife did not want to defect,” Kim Il-hyeok told CNN. “She was especially worried about doing it while pregnant.”

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