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I was born and raised in North Korea.

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Although my family constantly struggled against poverty,

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I was always loved and cared for first,

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because I was the only son

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and the youngest of two in the family.

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But then the great famine began in 1994.

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I was four years old.

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My sister and I would go searching for firewood

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starting at 5 in the morning

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and come back after midnight.

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I would wander the streets searching for food,

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and I remember seeing a small child

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tied to a mother's back eating chips,

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and wanting to steal them from him.

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Hunger is humiliation. Hunger is hopelessness.

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For a hungry child, politics and freedom

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are not even thought of.

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On my ninth birthday, my parents

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couldn't give me any food to eat.

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But even as a child, I could feel the heaviness

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in their hearts.

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Over a million North Koreans died of starvation in that time,

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and in 2003, when I was 13 years old,

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my father became one of them.

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I saw my father wither away and die.

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In the same year, my mother disappeared one day,

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and then my sister told me

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that she was going to China to earn money,

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but that she would return with money and food soon.

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Since we had never been separated,

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and I thought we would be together forever,

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I didn't even give her a hug when she left.

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It was the biggest mistake I have ever made in my life.

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But again, I didn't know

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it was going to be a long goodbye.

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I have not seen my mom or my sister since then.

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Suddenly, I became an orphan and homeless.

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My daily life became very hard,

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but very simple.

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My goal was to find a dusty piece of bread in the trash.

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But that is no way to survive.

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I started to realize, begging would not be the solution.

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So I started to steal from food carts in illegal markets.

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Sometimes, I found small jobs

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in exchange for food.

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Once, I even spent two months in the winter

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working in a coal mine,

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33 meters underground without any protection

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for up to 16 hours a day.

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I was not uncommon.

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Many other orphans survived this way, or worse.

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When I could not fall asleep from bitter cold

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or hunger pains,

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I hoped that, the next morning,

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my sister would come back to wake me up

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with my favorite food.

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That hope kept me alive.

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I don't mean big, grand hope.

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I mean the kind of hope that made me believe

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that the next trash can had bread,

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even though it usually didn't.

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But if I didn't believe it, I wouldn't even try,

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and then I would die.

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Hope kept me alive.

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Every day, I told myself,

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no matter how hard things got,

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still I must live.

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After three years of waiting for my sister's return,

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I decided to go to China to look for her myself.

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I realized

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I couldn't survive much longer this way.

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I knew the journey would be risky,

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but I would be risking my life either way.

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I could die of starvation like my father in North Korea,

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or at least I could try for a better life

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by escaping to China.

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I had learned that many people tried to cross

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the border to China in the nighttime to avoid being seen.

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North Korean border guards often shoot and kill people

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trying to cross the border without permission.

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Chinese soldiers will catch

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and send back North Koreans,

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where they face severe punishment.

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I decided to cross during the day,

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first because I was still a kid and scared of the dark,

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second because I knew I was already taking a risk,

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and since not many people tried to cross during the day,

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I thought I might be able to cross

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without being seen by anyone.

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I made it to China on February 15, 2006.

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I was 16 years old.

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I thought things in China would be easier,

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since there was more food.

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I thought more people would help me.

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But it was harder than living in North Korea,

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because I was not free.

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I was always worried about being caught

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and sent back.

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By a miracle, some months later,

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I met someone who was running

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an underground shelter for North Koreans,

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and was allowed to live there

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and eat regular meals for the first time in many years.

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Later that year, an activist helped me escape China

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and go to the United States as a refugee.

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I went to America without knowing a word of English,

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yet my social worker told me that I had to go to high school.

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Even in North Korea, I was an F student.

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(Laughter)

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And I barely finished elementary school.

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And I remember I fought in school more than once a day.

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Textbooks and the library were not my playground.

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My father tried very hard to motivate me into studying,

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but it didn't work.

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At one point, my father gave up on me.

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He said, "You're not my son anymore."

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I was only 11 or 12, but it hurt me deeply.

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But nevertheless, my level of motivation

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still didn't change before he died.

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So in America, it was kind of ridiculous

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that they said I should go to high school.

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I didn't even go to middle school.

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I decided to go, just because they told me to,

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without trying much.

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But one day, I came home and my foster mother

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had made chicken wings for dinner.

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And during dinner, I wanted to have one more wing,

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but I realized there were not enough for everyone,

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so I decided against it.

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When I looked down at my plate,

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I saw the last chicken wing, that my foster father had given me his.

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I was so happy.

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I looked at him sitting next to me.

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He just looked back at me very warmly,

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but said no words.

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Suddenly I remembered my biological father.

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My foster father's small act of love

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reminded me of my father,

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who would love to share his food with me

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when he was hungry, even if he was starving.

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I felt so suffocated that I had so much food in America,

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yet my father died of starvation.

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My only wish that night was to cook a meal for him,

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and that night I also thought of what else I could do

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to honor him.

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And my answer was to promise to myself

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that I would study hard and get the best education

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in America to honor his sacrifice.

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I took school seriously,

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and for the first time ever in my life,

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I received an academic award for excellence,

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and made dean's list from the first semester in high school.

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(Applause)

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That chicken wing changed my life.

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(Laughter)

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Hope is personal. Hope is something

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that no one can give to you.

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You have to choose to believe in hope.

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You have to make it yourself.

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In North Korea, I made it myself.

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Hope brought me to America.

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But in America, I didn't know what to do,

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because I had this overwhelming freedom.

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My foster father at that dinner gave me a direction,

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and he motivated me and gave me a purpose

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to live in America.

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I did not come here by myself.

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I had hope, but hope by itself is not enough.

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Many people helped me along the way to get here.

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North Koreans are fighting hard to survive.

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They have to force themselves to survive,

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have hope to survive,

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but they cannot make it without help.

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This is my message to you.

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Have hope for yourself,

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but also help each other.

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Life can be hard for everyone, wherever you live.

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My foster father didn't intend to change my life.

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In the same way, you may also change someone's life

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with even the smallest act of love.

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A piece of bread can satisfy your hunger,

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and having the hope will bring you bread

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to keep you alive.

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But I confidently believe that

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your act of love and caring

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can also save another Joseph's life

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and change thousands of other Josephs

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who are still having hope to survive.

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Thank you.

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(Applause)

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Adrian Hong: Joseph, thank you for sharing

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that very personal and special story with us.

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I know you haven't seen your sister for, you said,

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it was almost exactly a decade,

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and in the off chance that she may be able to see this,

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we wanted to give you an opportunity

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to send her a message.

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Joseph Kim: In Korean?

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AH: You can do English, then Korean as well.

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(Laughter)

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JK: Okay, I'm not going to make it any longer in Korean

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because I don't think I can make it

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without tearing up.

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Nuna, it has been already 10 years

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that I haven’t seen you.

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I just wanted to say

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that I miss you, and I love you,

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and please come back to me and stay alive.

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And I -- oh, gosh.

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I still haven't given up my hope to see you.

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I will live my life happily

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and study hard

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until I see you,

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and I promise I will not cry again.

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(Laughter)

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Yes, I'm just looking forward to seeing you,

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and if you can't find me,

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I will also look for you,

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and I hope to see you one day.

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And can I also make a small message to my mom?

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AH: Sure, please.

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JK: I haven't spent much time with you,

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but I know that you still love me,

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and you probably still pray for me

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and think about me.

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I just wanted to say thank you

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for letting me be in this world.

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Thank you.

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(Applause)