Hyeonseo Lee with David John’s The Girl with Seven Names recalls Hyeonseo Lee’s life in North Korea and her escape from North Korea. She has seven unique names representing her different identities that are explored in the story. These names are Kim Ji-has, Min-young, Chae Mi-ran, Jang Soon-hyang, Chae In-hee, Park Su -Ja, and Hyeonseo, her current name that she goes by. The Story starts off with Kim Ji-hae’s mother forced to break away from her lover and trapped into future marriage with a man who she doesn’t love conspired by her own mother. During the marriage, Kim Ji-hae was conceived, but due to her mother having conflicts with her biological dad, she divorced him for her true love. Kim Ji-hae was forced to change her name into Min-young,
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Hyeonseo worked hard to obtain an accounting qualification and was offered a job from a law firm. Yet, without a degree, she knew she would never be able to move on anything greater resulting in Hyeonseo applying to many universities and studying English for an extra credential. After a phone call from her mom, she was determined to help her mother and brother escaped North Korea. Hyeonseo set on a journey that was painstaking and full of obstacles where they’ll cross the border of North Korea and then travel over Laos into the Vientiane Immigration where they would be transferred to Phonthong Prison, and then turn to the South Korea Embassy seeking asylum. Six months later from the phone call with her mom, Hyeonseo’s mother and brother were defected and able to live freely in South Korea. Fast forwarding, Hyeonseo began to speak out in the defense of defectors and about the human right abuses in North Korea. She was chosen to give a talk at a TED conference and invited to New York to testify before the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in North Korea alongside some other defectors who had survived the North Korean gulag. Currently, Min-ho, her brother is now enrolling in university and can speak English fluently. Although her mom is still heartbroken over her family she left behind, she tries to find peace within the new country that is now her home. Hyeonseo recently graduated university and was proposed to by an American man which her mom and brother were at first opposed to, but accepted later on when they accompanied her to their wedding in the Midwest. In conclusion, the book displays a story of bravery and sacrifice that Hyeonseo was forced to face during her escape from North Korea and life as well as her
Hyeonseo worked hard to obtain an accounting qualification and was offered a job from a law firm. Yet, without a degree, she knew she would never be able to move on anything greater resulting in Hyeonseo applying to many universities and studying English for an extra credential. After a phone call from her mom, she was determined to help her mother and brother escaped North Korea. Hyeonseo set on a journey that was painstaking and full of obstacles where they’ll cross the border of North Korea and then travel over Laos into the Vientiane Immigration where they would be transferred to Phonthong Prison, and then turn to the South Korea Embassy seeking asylum. Six months later from the phone call with her mom, Hyeonseo’s mother and brother were defected and able to live freely in South Korea. Fast forwarding, Hyeonseo began to speak out in the defense of defectors and about the human right abuses in North Korea. She was chosen to give a talk at a TED conference and invited to New York to testify before the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in North Korea alongside some other defectors who had survived the North Korean gulag. Currently, Min-ho, her brother is now enrolling in university and can speak English fluently. Although her mom is still heartbroken over her family she left behind, she tries to find peace within the new country that is now her home. Hyeonseo recently graduated university and was proposed to by an American man which her mom and brother were at first opposed to, but accepted later on when they accompanied her to their wedding in the Midwest. In conclusion, the book displays a story of bravery and sacrifice that Hyeonseo was forced to face during her escape from North Korea and life as well as her