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When I was little, I thought my country
was the best on the planet.

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And I grew up singing a song
called "Nothing To Envy."

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And I was very proud.

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In school, we spent a lot of time
studying the history of Kim Il-Sung,

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but we never learned much
about the outside world,

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except that America, South Korea,
Japan are the enemies.

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Although I often wondered
about the outside world,

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I thought I would spend
my entire life in North Korea,

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until everything suddenly changed.

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When I was seven years old,
I saw my first public execution.

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But I thought my life
in North Korea was normal.

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My family was not poor,

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and myself, I had never
experienced hunger.

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But one day, in 1995,
my mom brought home a letter

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from a coworker's sister.

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It read, "When you read this,

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our five family members
will not exist in this world,

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because we haven't eaten
for the past three weeks.

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We are lying on the floor together,

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and our bodies are so weak,
we are waiting to die."

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I was so shocked.

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This was the first time I heard
that people in my country were suffering.

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Soon after, when I was walking
past a train station,

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I saw something terrible that to this day
I can't erase from my memory.

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A lifeless woman was lying on the ground,

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while an emaciated child in her arms

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just stared helplessly
at his mother's face.

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But nobody helped them,

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because they were so focused on taking
care of themselves and their families.

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A huge famine hit North Korea
in the mid-1990s.

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Ultimately, more than a million
North Koreans died during the famine,

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and many only survived by eating
grass, bugs and tree bark.

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Power outages also became
more and more frequent,

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so everything around me
was completely dark at night,

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except for the sea of lights in China,

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just across the river from my home.

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I always wondered
why they had lights, but we didn't.

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This is a satellite picture
showing North Korea at night,

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compared to neighbors.

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This is the Amnok River,

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which serves as a part of the border
between North Korea and China.

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As you can see, the river can be
very narrow at certain points,

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allowing North Koreans to secretly cross.

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But many die.

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Sometimes, I saw dead bodies
floating down the river.

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I can't reveal many details
about how I left North Korea,

47
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but I only can say that
during the ugly years of the famine,

48
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I was sent to China to live
with distant relatives.

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But I only thought that I would
be separated from my family

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for a short time.

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I could have never imagined

52
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that it would take 14 years
to live together.

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In China, it was hard living
as a young girl without my family.

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I had no idea what life
was going to be like

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as a North Korean refugee.

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But I soon learned it's not
only extremely difficult,

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it's also very dangerous,

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since North Korean refugees are considered
in China as illegal migrants.

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So I was living in constant fear
that my identity could be revealed,

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and I would be repatriated
to a horrible fate,

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back in North Korea.

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One day, my worst nightmare came true,

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when I was caught by the Chinese police,

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and brought to the police station
for interrogation.

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Someone had accused me
of being North Korean,

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so they tested my Chinese
language abilities,

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and asked me tons of questions.

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I was so scared.

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I thought my heart was going to explode.

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If anything seemed unnatural,
I could be imprisoned and repatriated.

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I thought my life was over.

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But I managed to control
all the emotions inside me,

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and answer the questions.

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After they finished questioning me,

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one official said to another,

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"This was a false report.
She's not North Korean."

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And they let me go. It was a miracle.

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Some North Koreans in China
seek asylum in foreign embassies.

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But many can be caught
by the Chinese police,

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and repatriated.

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These girls were so lucky.

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Even though they were caught,

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they were eventually released,
after heavy international pressure.

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These North Koreans were not so lucky.

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Every year, countless North Koreans
are caught in China

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and repatriated to North Korea,

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where they can be tortured, imprisoned,
or publicly executed.

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Even though I was
really fortunate to get out,

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many other North Koreans
have not been so lucky.

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It's tragic that North Koreans
have to hide their identities

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and struggle so hard just to survive.

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Even after learning a new
language and getting a job,

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their whole world can be turned
upside down in an instant.

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That's why, after 10 years
of hiding my identity,

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I decided to risk going to South Korea.

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And I started a new life yet again.

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Settling down in South Korea

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was a lot more challenging
than I had expected.

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English was so important in South Korea,

100
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so I had to start learning
my third language.

101
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Also, I realized there was a wide gap
between North and South.

102
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We are all Korean, but inside,

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we have become very different,
due to 67 years of division.

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I even went through an identity crisis.

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Am I South Korean or North Korean?

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Where am I from? Who am I?

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Suddenly, there was no country
I could proudly call my own.

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Even though adjusting to life
in South Korea was not easy,

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I made a plan -- I started studying
for the university entrance exam.

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Just as I was starting
to get used to my new life,

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I received a shocking phone call.

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The North Korean authorities
intercepted some money

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that I sent to my family,

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and, as a punishment, my family
was going to be forcibly removed

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to a desolate location in the countryside.

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They had to get out quickly.

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So I started planning
how to help them escape.

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North Koreans have to travel
incredible distances

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on the path to freedom.

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It's almost impossible to cross the border

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between North Korea and South Korea.

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So, ironically, I took
a flight back to China

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and headed toward the North Korean border.

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Since my family couldn't speak Chinese,

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I had to guide them somehow
through more than 2,000 miles

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in China, and then into Southeast Asia.

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The journey by bus took one week,

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and we were almost caught several times.

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One time, our bus was stopped
and boarded by a Chinese police officer.

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He took everyone's I.D. cards,

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and he started asking them questions.

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Since my family couldn't
understand Chinese,

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I thought my family
was going to be arrested.

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As the Chinese officer
approached my family,

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I impulsively stood up, and I told him

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that these are deaf and dumb people
that I was chaperoning.

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He looked at me suspiciously,

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but luckily, he believed me.

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We made it all the way
to the border of Laos.

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But I had to spend almost all my money

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to bribe the border guards in Laos.

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But even after we got past the border,

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my family was arrested and jailed
for illegal border crossing.

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After I paid the fine and bribe,

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my family was released in one month.

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But soon after, my family
was arrested and jailed again,

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in the capital of Laos.

148
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This was one of the lowest
points in my life.

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I did everything to get
my family to freedom,

150
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and we came so close,

151
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but my family was thrown in jail,

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just a short distance
from the South Korean embassy.

153
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I went back and forth
between the immigration office

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and the police station,

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desperately trying to get my family out.

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but I didn't have enough money
to pay a bribe or fine anymore.

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I lost all hope.

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At that moment, I heard
one man's voice ask me,

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"What's wrong?"

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I was so surprised that a total stranger
cared enough to ask.

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In my broken English,
and with a dictionary,

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I explained the situation,
and without hesitating,

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the man went to the ATM,

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and he paid the rest
of the money for my family,

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and two other North Koreans
to get out of jail.

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I thanked him with all my heart,
and I asked him,

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"Why are you helping me?"

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"I'm not helping you," he said.

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"I'm helping the North Korean people."

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I realized that this
was a symbolic moment in my life.

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The kind stranger symbolized new hope
for me and the North Korean people,

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when we needed it most.

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And he showed me
that the kindness of strangers

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and the support
of the international community

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are truly the rays of hope
we North Korean people need.

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Eventually, after our long journey,

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my family and I were reunited
in South Korea.

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But getting to freedom
is only half the battle.

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Many North Koreans
are separated from their families,

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and when they arrive in a new country,

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they start with little or no money.

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So we can benefit
from the international community

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for education, English language training,
job training, and more.

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We can also act as a bridge

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between the people inside North Korea
and the outside world.

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00:11:07,234 --> 00:11:12,505
Because many of us stay in contact
with family members still inside,

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and we send information and money

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that is helping to change
North Korea from inside.

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I've been so lucky, received
so much help and inspiration in my life,

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so I want to help give
aspiring North Koreans

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a chance to prosper
with international support.

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I'm confident that you will see
more and more North Koreans

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00:11:36,890 --> 00:11:39,017
succeeding all over the world,

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including the TED stage.

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Thank you.

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00:11:42,399 --> 00:11:49,309
(Applause)