My escape from North Korea我的北韩逃亡记

My escape from North Korea

我的北韩逃亡记

李炫秀< /p>

Ted

英语演讲：

(

中英

)

When I was little, I thought my country was the best on the planet, and I grew up singing a

song called

studying the history of Kim Il-Sung, but we never learned much about the outside world,

except that America, South Korea, Japan are the enemies. Although I often wondered

about the outside world, I thought I would spend my entire life in North Korea, until

everything suddenly changed.

我小的时候以为

我住在全世界最棒的国家

有首叫做

「我们最幸福」

的歌陪伴着我长大

当

时

我好骄傲

在学校

我们花很多时间

学习有关金日成的历史

但从来没有人告诉我们

外

面的世界长甚么样子

我们只知道

美国

南韩

和日本

都是敌人

即便我对外面的世界充满

好奇心

那时的我也没想过

自己这辈子会离开北韩

直到一切忽然急转直下

When I was seven years old, I saw my first public execution, but I thought my life in North

Korea was normal. My family was not poor, and myself, I had never experienced hunger.

But one day, in 1995, my mom brought home a letter from a coworker's sister. It read,

haven't eaten for the past two weeks. We are lying on the floor together, and our bodies

are so weak we are ready to die.

我七岁那年

第一次看到公开处刑

但我还是觉得在北韩的生活很正常

我的家境并不穷困

而我也不曾饿过肚子

.1995

年的某一天

我妈妈带了一封信回到家

那封信是她同事的姊姊

寄的

信上写着

「当你读到这些字的时候

我们一家五口

已经离开这个世界了

因为我们已

经足足饿了两个礼拜

我们五个人现在全倒在地上

身体虚弱地

感受死亡的逼近」

I was so shocked. This was the first time I heard that people in my country were suffering.

Soon after, when I was walking past a train station, I saw something terrible that I can't

erase from my memory. A lifeless woman was lying on the ground, while an emaciated(

瘦

弱的，憔悴的

) child in her arms just stared helplessly at his mother's face. But nobody

helped them, because they were so focused on taking care of themselves and their

families.

我当下真的好震惊

那是我第一次知道

原来我们国家也有如此生灵涂炭的一面

那之后没多

久的一天

当我经过经过火车站的时候

我看到一个可怕的景象

我这辈子永远忘不掉

一个

女人奄奄一息地倒卧在路边

手里却仍紧抱着嬴弱的孩子

那孩子瞪大了双眼

无助地凝视着

妈妈的脸庞

但没有一个人帮助他们

因为大家都忙着

照顾自己和自己的家人

A huge famine

（饥荒）

hit North Korea in the mid-1990s. Ultimately,(

最后

) more than a

million North Koreans died during the famine, and many only survived by eating grass,

bugs and tree bark(

树皮

). Power outages

（供断）

also became more and more frequent,

so everything around me was completely dark at night except for the sea of lights in China,

just across the river from my home. I always wondered why they had lights but we didn't.

This is a satellite picture showing North Korea at night compared to neighbors.

90

年代中期

北韩发生大饥荒

超过一百万的北韩人民

因为那场飢荒而死亡

而许多幸存者

靠着吃草

抓虫

嚼树根

才活了下来

没电的情况也越来越严重

所以当夜色降临时

我的世

界天昏地暗我唯一能看到的是

中国的灯火照在海波上反射过来的光

中国距离我家仅有一

河之隔

我总是在想

为什么他们有光

而我们却没有

这张是北韩夜晚的卫星空照图

可以和

邻国们相比

This is the Amrok River, which serves as a part of the border between North Korea and

China. As you can see, the river can be very narrow at certain points, allowing North

Koreans to secretly cross. But many die. Sometimes, I saw dead bodies floating down the

river. I can't reveal many details [about] how I left North Korea, but I only can say that

during the ugly years of the famine I was sent to China to live with distant relatives. But I

only thought that I would be separated from my family for a short time. I could have never

imagined that it would take 14 years to live together.

这是鸭绿江

(Amrok River)

她就恰巧压在

北韩和中国的边境线上

如你所见

这条河川的

河道十分狭窄

北韩人民可以从某些地方偷偷跨境

然而

有很多人因此死了

有时候

我会看

到河面上漂着浮尸

我不能透漏太多

我是怎么怎么离开北韩的

我能说的就是

在那可恨的

飢荒岁月中

我被送到中国的远房亲戚那去了

但那时我认为

我和我的家人过不久一定能再

见面

我从来没想过这一别

就是

14

个年头

In China, it was hard living as a young girl without my family. I had no idea what life was

going to be like as a North Korean refugee

（难民，

避难者）

, but I soon learned it's not only

extremely difficult, it's also very dangerous, since North Korean refugees are considered

in China as illegal migrants. So I was living in constant fear that my identity could be

revealed, and I would be repatriated

（遣返）

to a horrible fate back in North Korea.

在中国

没有家人的陪伴下

很难不马上长大

我根本不知道

身为北韩难民

人生会变成什么

样子但很快地我就明白

这样的生活不仅艰难困苦

更是危机四伏

因为中国将北韩难民

视

为非法移民

所以我无时无刻都活在恐惧之中

我担心我的身分会被发现

也担心我会被遣返

回北韩

接受可怕的命运

One day, my worst nightmare came true, when I was caught by the Chinese police and

brought to the police station for interrogation

（审讯）

. Someone had accused me of being

North Korean, so they tested my Chinese language abilities and asked me tons of

questions. I was so scared; I thought my heart was going to explode. If anything seemed

unnatural, I could be imprisoned and repatriated. I thought my life was over, but I

managed to control all the emotions inside me and answer the questions. After they

finished questioning me, one official said to another,

North Korean.

有一天

我的噩梦成真了

中国的警察抓了我

把我带回警察局去侦讯

原来

有人向他们告发

我是北韩人

于是

他们考我中文

问我一大堆问题

我好害怕

我的心脏简直要跳出来了

如

果哪里表现的不自然

我很可能会面临牢狱之灾

甚至

被遣返

当时

我觉得我人生简直要画

上句点了

但我努力控制自己的情绪

回答那些问题

他们问完我之后

其中一个警察向另一

个警察说

这是误报

她又不是北韩人

然后他们就这样放我走了

这简直是奇迹

Some North Koreans in China seek asylum

（避难所）

in foreign embassies, but many can

be caught by the Chinese police and repatriated. These girls were so lucky. Even though

they were caught, they were eventually released after heavy international pressure. These

North Koreans were not so lucky. Every year, countless North Koreans are caught in

China and repatriated to North Korea, where they can be tortured, imprisoned or publicly