Featured Image Credit: Jubilee
Topics: Politics, North Korea
Anish Vij
A man wanted by the North Korean government has relived the terrifying moment he hid while police raided his home.
North Korean defector Harry has explained how difficult it was living under a dictatorship and how his 'entire family' would have been killed if they continued to live in the country.
Harry was 14 when he escaped, now he is 22.
Speaking exclusively to Jubilee, he reveals why his mother was wanted by the government.
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He said: "Since we were wanted by the government, there were wanted posters of us on the road.
"So, we could only walk outside at night.
"And one day, the police came to the house where we were hiding.
"They searched the whole house, but we were hiding in the storage room.
"If the police had searched the storage room, we could have been caught.
"Looking back, hiding in the storage room us such a scary memory."
Harry went into detail about his mother's role, explaining: "So my mom helped South Koreans to find their family members while living in North Korea.
"That's why she was like sent to prison for two years for this work, she continued to help someone who threatened to report her to the police if she didn't help him.
"So if she stayed in North Korea my entire family would die or end up in prison for life.
"That's why me and my mom escaped North Korea."
Despite having such bad memories, he still misses his sister.
"There's a lot of things that I miss. Especially I have a sister still in North Korea that's why I was worried about speaking in a public place like this," he said.
"But unfortunately my sister got tortured by the government because our escape for four months.
"She continuously, like, rejects that she's guilty, eventually she got mental illness from that torture, and so that's why they released her.
"Now I don't have anything to lose so that's why I'm choosing to speak in a public place about North Korea, but I miss her so much yeah."
With regards to misconceptions about the North Korean people, he said: "The people actually living in North Korea. North Koreans have dreams, too.
"They also love food, they like reading and writing. They have plenty of hobbies.
"But the military and dictator images are mentioned in the media much more than the developed culture.
"I think it's a bit different from reality."
Harry also admits: "Whenever I got a questions from my friends or any of the people they always ask me about bad things about North Korea or your bad memory, they don't really ask me about the good memories in North Korea.
"I really like to hang out with my friends, go to mountains and rivers to swim, fish."