Ms Oh Hye Son, who recently published a Korean-language memoir, was once part of Pyongyang aristocracy — a descendent of a famed North Korean general who fought alongside leader Kim Il Sung against the Japanese in the 1930s.
Born into an elite North Korean family with ties to the ruling dynasty, Ms Oh Hye Son grew up believing she was"special"Most of the tens of thousands of North Koreans who have escaped repression and poverty at home make an arduous, high-risk journey across the country's land border with China, where they face arrest and possible deportation.
Years of postings across Europe — in Denmark, Sweden, and Britain — exposed the family to a different life, she said, adding that when she first arrived in London she thought:"If there is paradise, this must be it". Ms Oh said it was eye-opening when the family first arrived in London in 2004 and became eligible for the National Health Service.
North Korea is beset by labour shortages across economic sectors and it is common for the government to order students, even schoolchildren, to do manual labour as a demonstration of loyalty. She had hoped the North Korean regime would collapse after the death of Kim Jong Il, the father and predecessor of current leader Kim Jong Un, and was crushed when his son emerged as the third generation of Kims to rule.Mr Thae became the first defector to be elected to South Korea's parliament, where he is now a high-profile lawmaker for the conservative People Power Party.
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