Lee Hyeonseo: A Brief Analysis

The story of Lee Hyeonseo is captivating and touching. But before one can understand the crises she went through it is important to understand a little about her history (Leo Hyeonseo, 2015). In order to appreciate the crises that affected Lee, it is important to understand her background. She was born in North Korea and grew up in a middle class family. It was only after the North Korean famine of the late 90s that she started to witness suffering, starvation, and death in her country. At a very young age she witnessed a public execution. Soon she regularly witnessed starvation and suffering of the population. Her father was taken away by the military and he eventually died from an unknown cause. She lived close to the border with China and …show more content…
Soon the North Korean police had intercepted the money and were about to forcibly remove her family to a desolate location in the country. Lee decided to return back to China and sneak back into North Korea; she helped her brother and mother escape, but first they had to cross the southern chinese countryside. This long 2,000-mile journey was fraught with danger. They were stopped several times by police. Lee finally had to ask someone else to take her mother and brother to Laos, and she herself flew back to South Korea. Unfortunately, her mother and brother were arrested in Laos and Lee had to return. With the help of a kind Australian who gave her money, she paid off the officers and her mother and brother were free to enter Laos. Later, they all flew back to South Korea. This help from a stranger changed her view of life and she started to develop broader views on life. Lee enrolled at a university in South Korea and studied and studied foreign relations. Lee underwent many different crises throughout her childhood. She first went to China where life was miserable, she was not accepted, considered to be a spy and was an illegal person. Lee had many close calls in China: she narrowly escaped an arranged marriage. Later she was kidnapped by a gang of criminals, later caught, and interrogated by police as a North Korean …show more content…
She also lacked formal education, had no money, had no external support and was not readily accepted into another culture. The environment from where she escaped was hazardous. North Korean usually executes people who try to escape. The Chinese are friends of North Koreans, and if they catch anyone trying to escape, they simply hand them back over to the North Koreans. The 2,000-mile journey was long and without any money and reliable transport they were at the mercy of Chinese. She did not know anyone on China. She was all alone trying to escape and at the same time helping her family escape I think Lee made is because of perseverance, determination, having a belief, strong character, willing to sacrifice everything to get a better life and being motivated. Throughout her journey she remained motivated. She knew what she wanted to achieve and knew that failure was not