Introduction
Chapter 1: The North Korean Mind
Chapter 2: Inside the Hermit Kingdom
Chapter 3: Famine
Chapter 4: Road to Refuge
Chapter 5: Sex Trafficking
Chapter 6: Gulags
Chapter 7: Christianity and North Korea
Chapter 8: Freedom on the Fourth
Chapter 9: Asian Underground Railroad
Chapter 10: Heroes
Chapter 11: Restoring Lives
Chapter 12: The Future of North Korea
Epilogue
Mike Kim is the founder of Crossing Borders, an NGO that provides aid to North Koreans. He travels and speaks widely to raise awareness of their plight and leads Deloitte’s Anti-Human Trafficking Initiative. You can visit his website at http://www.escapingnorthkorea.com/.
[A] fascinating account of [Mike Kim's] efforts to smuggle North
Korean defectors to freedom in the South.
*The New York Review Of Books*
[Kim's] intrepid effort to help four North Korean teenagers avoid
arrest and repatriation on the journey from northern China to the
British consulate in Shanghai is riveting, as is his insider
knowledge of the perilous route refugees navigate across the
borders of China, Laos and Thailand.
*Publishers Weekly*
The power of Escaping North Korea stems from the stories Mr. Kim
tells. During his four years in China, he met hundreds of escapees
from the North. He reconstructs their tales—of the privations of
daily existence in North Korea, of life on the lam in China—in
heartbreaking detail. . . . There are many heroes in Mr. Kim's
book, not least the author himself.
*The Wall Street Journal*
A portrait of modern North Korea by an awareness advocate who was
granted special access to the country's isolationist circles shares
inspirational stories by survivors of such tragedies as famine,
sex-trafficking, and gulag torture.
*Forecast Magazine*
Mike Kim focuses on the question why such a large number of North
Koreans are seeking refuge in China. He describes their flight and
their situation in China as well as the living conditions in North
Korea, including the situation of Christians under the North Korean
regime. Among their sufferings are the following: poverty, famine,
unemployment, violence, alcoholism, theft, corruption, bribery,
oppression, gambling, abuse, rape, human trafficking, child soldier
slavery, etc. According to Kim, famine and the search of food is
the most common reason why North Koreans defect.
*International Journal for Religious Freedom*
Mike's embrace of the spartan and hazardous vocation of protecting
North Korean refugees in China is nothing short of exceptional. His
book offers a personal and compelling account of this
life-and-death rescue operation for our cousins in the North.
*Tim Peters, Helping Hands Korea*
It is impossible to read the remarkable stories of personal
suffering, endurance, and courage in these pages without believing
that more can and must be done to help the North Korean people. It
is not bad strategy or poor diplomatic practice to place human
rights at the top of our agenda with Pyongyang and to challenge the
rest of the international community to do the same.
*Michael J. Green, Georgetown University*
This is an inspiring yet tragic study of the brave few in North
Korea who have chosen to vote with their feet to leave the earth's
most repressive regime. An important and accessible piece of work,
it should be read by generalists and specialists alike.
*Victor Cha, Georgetown University*
We hear about women refugees who suffer when sold as brides for
rural Chinese farmers (a practice, incidentally, that involves many
Chinese, not just Korean refugees, though this is not discussed),
or who are sold into city brothels. We hear of children born to
stateless North Korean mothers in China, who as a consequence are
unable to attend school or obtain medical care. We hear that most
refugees are sick when they cross the border. We gain insights into
indoctrination and the mindset of North Koreans after six decades
of socialist rule. We learn how refugees initially appear lifeless
and rarely smile; that they are usually weak, thin, and
malnourished; and so on. And it is here that the volume's strength
resides.
*Reviews*
Americans and other foreigners have also opened a window to the
suffering of the North Korean people, including Mike Kim, a young
Tae Kwon Do expert who opened a string of martial arts studios in
China as cover to help North Koreans defect. His book, Escaping
North Korea, is a stunning story of tragedy and heroism.
*Michael Green, Georgetown University, on CNN Opinion*
![]() |
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
![]() |