“THE GIRL WITH SEVEN NAMES” – DEFECTING FROM NORTH KOREA PRODUCES A BOOK

 

Hyeonseo Lee – author of this account of her life so far,  made her first visit to the UK this year and talked about her new book, The Girl with Seven Names at Asia House.

Born in North Korea and undergoing several years of famine there where people died as a result, Hyeonseo found the regime there stifling and cruel.  There were self criticism classes in primary school and she was compulsorily forced to join the Youth Corps at the age of nine. When Kim II-Sung died there were apparently public executions of those who had not shown enough grief.

Living near the Chinese border made her plan her escape at the age of seventeen. In China she found life tough and she had to pretend not to be North Korean for four years.  In Seoul she was intimidated and questioned and disbelieved.  She did and does miss North Korea but she created a plan to save her mother and brother and persuaded  them to escape which they managed to do.  All the time she was away from her family she thought of regrets – such as not giving her family  enough presents and other basic things which bring happiness.  She even decided not to celebrate her own birthday to punish herself for this “misdemeanor”.

This is the first female defector’s story to be published (by William Collins) from that part of the world.  Hyeonseo Lee has spoken at the UN Security Council, the US Committee for Human Rights with Nick Clegg at the Seoul Nuclear Summit and in several other internationally-accessed forums. Her TED talk has had more than 4 million views – Oprah has called it “the most reveting TED talk ever”.

In 2008 Hyeonseo arrived in South Korea – Seoul, and studied at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies.  She involved herself in journalism at the Ministry for Unification and was a selected member for the ‘Future’ programme at the British Embassy in Seoul and also was a young leader at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.  Hyeonseo is an international campaigner for North Korean human rights and refugee issues, speaking the world over including at the Oslo Freedom Forum and the UN.  Over four million have viewed her TED talk.

Despite the cruel regime in North Korea, Hyeonseo Lee says she still misses her homeland, despite her ordeal being “on the run” from the authorities and having to change her name seven times to save her life. When she fled and called her mum, her mum advised, “don’t come back”.  Now the family are together again and are able to share presents in South Korea where Hyeonseo also lives. She had come back twelve yeas later to save the rest of her family.  It is a story of strength and ingenuity to tug at your heartstrings and is hailed as “the first fully verified account of North Korean defection”.

• ISBN: 9780007595709
• ISBN 10: 0007595700
• Imprint: William Collins
• On Sale: 02/07/2015
• Format: Audiobook
• Pages: 648
• List Price: £13.99
• BIC1: B00T0P000
• BIC2: J00P0W000

• ISBN: 9780007554836
• ISBN 10: 0007554834
• Imprint: William Collins
• On Sale: 02/07/2015
• Format: Hardcover
• Trimsize: 15.300
• Pages: 320
• List Price: £16.99
• BIC1: CRA033000
• BIC2: B00T0P000
• BIC3: J00P0W000