WEBVTT - Captured in North Korea 0:00:14.916 --> 0:00:33.276 Pushkin. In two thousand and nine, Korean American journalists Una 0:00:33.356 --> 0:00:36.156 Lee traveled to China. She was there to film a 0:00:36.236 --> 0:00:39.516 documentary about the plight of people who escaped North Korea 0:00:39.676 --> 0:00:42.476 in search of freedom. On the last day of her trip, 0:00:42.756 --> 0:00:45.316 Una and her team briefly crossed the border into North 0:00:45.396 --> 0:00:49.556 Korea to capture some footage before quickly returning to Chinese soil. 0:00:50.356 --> 0:00:53.356 But North Korean soldiers had spotted Una and her crew, 0:00:53.756 --> 0:00:56.636 and the soldiers raced over to them and dragged them 0:00:56.636 --> 0:01:00.596 back into North Korean territory. Una and a fellow journalists 0:01:00.596 --> 0:01:04.116 were then carted around to two different locations before being 0:01:04.116 --> 0:01:08.996 blindfolded and taken to an army base. Being blindfolded was very, 0:01:09.156 --> 0:01:12.876 very scared because you can't really see anything. But when 0:01:13.076 --> 0:01:16.516 someone snatched out the blind board and I was looking 0:01:16.516 --> 0:01:21.716 at the prison cell, and that just told me that 0:01:21.716 --> 0:01:25.596 everything is going to the opposite direction that I wished 0:01:25.636 --> 0:01:29.476 to go. Una ended up being held captive for one 0:01:29.556 --> 0:01:33.276 hundred and forty days in North Korea. She was terrified 0:01:33.316 --> 0:01:36.276 and demoralized during her time there, but there was one 0:01:36.316 --> 0:01:40.156 part of her experience that surprised her. Before she moved 0:01:40.156 --> 0:01:42.916 to the US, Una had grown up in South Korea, 0:01:42.996 --> 0:01:45.596 where she'd been taught to view northerners as the enemy, 0:01:46.396 --> 0:01:48.876 but that changed for Una during her time in North 0:01:48.956 --> 0:01:52.396 Korea as she found herself building emotional connections with the 0:01:52.436 --> 0:01:56.356 people who were guarding her. There were some moments that 0:01:56.636 --> 0:01:59.796 we could connect on a human level. There were some 0:01:59.876 --> 0:02:04.156 commonalogies that we could understand each other as parents and 0:02:04.196 --> 0:02:09.116 then also understanding the Korean kirture, and there were moments 0:02:09.196 --> 0:02:12.116 that we were able to mix more talk that was 0:02:12.436 --> 0:02:21.036 really helpful during that depension. On today's episode, how finding 0:02:21.116 --> 0:02:27.156 humanity and your enemy can help you survive, I'm Maya 0:02:27.236 --> 0:02:30.116 Shunker and this is a slight change of plans, a 0:02:30.196 --> 0:02:32.716 show about who we are and who we become in 0:02:32.756 --> 0:02:48.156 the face of a big change. In March of two 0:02:48.196 --> 0:02:50.836 thousand and nine, Una Lee said goodbye to her husband 0:02:50.876 --> 0:02:53.876 and four year old daughter in California and traveled to 0:02:53.956 --> 0:02:56.276 China for a two week trip to make a television 0:02:56.316 --> 0:03:01.356 documentary about North Korean defectors. The crew included Una, fellow 0:03:01.436 --> 0:03:04.956 journalist Laura Ling, a producer, and a local guide or 0:03:05.076 --> 0:03:08.636 fixer as Una called him. On their last day of filming, 0:03:08.716 --> 0:03:11.836 they found themselves at the Tuman River, which flows between 0:03:11.836 --> 0:03:14.516 North Korea and China and is a route that North 0:03:14.596 --> 0:03:17.996 Koreans used to seek freedom. Off in the distance in 0:03:18.076 --> 0:03:21.796 North Korean territory, their fixers saw these so called safe 0:03:21.836 --> 0:03:25.076 houses where defectors would wait and hide before trying to 0:03:25.076 --> 0:03:28.876 cross the river into China. Una and her team knew 0:03:28.956 --> 0:03:30.996 it was a risky move to try and film the 0:03:30.996 --> 0:03:34.156 safe houses up close, but they also knew these houses 0:03:34.196 --> 0:03:37.636 represented a critical part of the escape route, so they 0:03:37.636 --> 0:03:40.116 followed their guide to the midpoint of the frozen Tuman 0:03:40.236 --> 0:03:45.036 River and crossed briefly over into North Korean territory. So 0:03:46.436 --> 0:03:49.596 after we get that foodie, we quickly left and then 0:03:49.636 --> 0:03:51.636 we were in the middle of the river and walking 0:03:51.676 --> 0:03:57.916 back and continued to filming and or producer he shouted soldiers. 0:03:58.876 --> 0:04:02.476 Two soldiers ran towards Una and her crew with rifles 0:04:02.476 --> 0:04:07.156 in hand, and we all ran as fast as we 0:04:07.396 --> 0:04:12.756 cou to towards Chinese soil. And my fixer who was 0:04:12.876 --> 0:04:15.716 running next me and asked me, are you filming this? 0:04:16.196 --> 0:04:19.556 And I thought it's crazy, but then at the same time, 0:04:19.596 --> 0:04:22.636 you never know, so let me let me feel me 0:04:22.796 --> 0:04:24.956 because this is the thing that probably a lot of 0:04:24.996 --> 0:04:28.276 Norse cream defectors are facing. So I filiped the camera 0:04:28.356 --> 0:04:31.156 and put under my arm and push the record and 0:04:31.236 --> 0:04:37.076 then ran and our producer, who was an avid runner, 0:04:37.236 --> 0:04:41.276 he disappeared out of my sight fast. And when I 0:04:41.396 --> 0:04:47.556 arrived in Chinese soil, I found Laura just knee on ice, 0:04:47.756 --> 0:04:52.676 and then I just stopped running. So I asked her 0:04:52.716 --> 0:04:55.476 you okay, and she said I can't, you know, I 0:04:55.516 --> 0:05:02.436 can't feel my legs. So in a flash, didn't know 0:05:02.596 --> 0:05:05.396 what to do with us. Somebody who can fill her 0:05:05.516 --> 0:05:08.276 leg and I knew that I cannot leave her alone there, 0:05:09.156 --> 0:05:11.876 and all these things in my mind, and then we 0:05:11.876 --> 0:05:17.716 were surrounded by two Norse Grand soldiers. So you find 0:05:17.996 --> 0:05:21.516 you find Laura on the ice, on her knees, unable 0:05:21.556 --> 0:05:25.836 to move, and you're now surrounded by North Korean soldiers. 0:05:26.276 --> 0:05:33.116 What happens after you're caught? So there were two small 0:05:33.196 --> 0:05:37.236 North Grand soldiers, one what guarding Laura was guarding me, 0:05:37.356 --> 0:05:40.596 and they both were determined to drag us back to 0:05:40.676 --> 0:05:44.356 North Korea. And I was fighting. I grabbed anything that 0:05:44.436 --> 0:05:50.876 in front of me not to be dragged, and at 0:05:50.916 --> 0:05:53.676 some point he wanted to hit me because I was 0:05:53.756 --> 0:05:58.036 fighting against him, and then he lifted his rifle. Back 0:05:58.036 --> 0:06:03.836 of his rifle was pointing me, and so when I 0:06:03.876 --> 0:06:08.276 looked at him, and he was a young boy, maybe seventeen, 0:06:08.756 --> 0:06:14.956 and they he he wasn't hesitating to hit me. So 0:06:14.996 --> 0:06:16.876 I quickly told him that I'm going to get up 0:06:16.916 --> 0:06:20.476 and walk with you. So I got up and walked 0:06:20.516 --> 0:06:23.916 with him, and I saw Laura, and when I looked her, 0:06:23.996 --> 0:06:27.916 she was unconscious on the eyes. She was hit by 0:06:28.076 --> 0:06:34.836 the other soldier, and I streamed her name over and 0:06:34.956 --> 0:06:38.796 over to wake her up, and she finally woke up, 0:06:39.396 --> 0:06:42.436 and I helped her and we got up and we 0:06:42.596 --> 0:06:47.516 both followed these two storgiers and across the river to 0:06:47.716 --> 0:06:52.596 North Korea. And what's going through your head at this moment? 0:06:52.636 --> 0:06:58.436 In everything felt so surree. Your mind was everywhere and 0:07:00.076 --> 0:07:04.476 fear and worried and what's going on? And then and 0:07:04.516 --> 0:07:08.756 then it's silly. But I was hopeful too, because some 0:07:08.836 --> 0:07:14.156 of journalists sometimes talk to North Grand soldiers and then 0:07:14.196 --> 0:07:17.756 they write stories about it. So we knew about these things. 0:07:17.756 --> 0:07:20.036 So we were hoping that, oh, is it something that 0:07:21.636 --> 0:07:25.956 bad incident, but they're gonna extend us back home. I 0:07:25.956 --> 0:07:32.476 don't know, Oh, what's in my mind? I just couldn't believe. 0:07:32.796 --> 0:07:37.756 I just couldn't believe what has happened. Like, it's not 0:07:37.876 --> 0:07:41.596 something that you can organize your thoughts and plan things. 0:07:42.356 --> 0:07:45.236 You just a face every moment that comes to you. 0:07:45.836 --> 0:07:51.116 And it was more like I need to become so 0:07:51.196 --> 0:07:54.916 that I can make the best decision or best reaction. 0:07:55.756 --> 0:07:59.236 So I think I was trying to become and I 0:07:59.436 --> 0:08:03.716 was trying to somehow find a human connection with them 0:08:03.916 --> 0:08:09.236 so that they won't be too brutal towards us. You 0:08:09.276 --> 0:08:11.436 say more about that, in what ways did you try 0:08:11.436 --> 0:08:16.756 to find human connection with them? They were actually these 0:08:16.796 --> 0:08:23.276 boys were smoking while they're walking, and they offered me, 0:08:23.356 --> 0:08:27.396 do you want to smoke? I didn't smoke, but somehow 0:08:27.436 --> 0:08:31.596 I know that anything that similar action that you do, 0:08:31.756 --> 0:08:34.476 they will have the feel comfortable. So I said, I'm 0:08:34.516 --> 0:08:39.276 gonna yeah, give me one. After Unit and Laura were 0:08:39.316 --> 0:08:42.156 captured by these soldiers, they were moved to two different 0:08:42.196 --> 0:08:45.956 locations before being blindfolded and driven to an army base. 0:08:46.796 --> 0:08:51.156 What is the army base? Like? It was like a 0:08:51.276 --> 0:08:57.436 matchbox along box buildings with gray color, and then they 0:08:57.516 --> 0:09:02.356 had an exercise yard in front of the building. Soldiers 0:09:02.476 --> 0:09:08.836 to practice knife fighting, and we were taken inside of 0:09:09.196 --> 0:09:13.836 or a sure moment to an officer, and the insight 0:09:14.036 --> 0:09:19.356 looked like a scene from World War two. Everything was 0:09:19.436 --> 0:09:26.796 so old in their telephone typewriters. Everything was like you 0:09:27.836 --> 0:09:33.956 traveled Tiemotion two, nineteen forty. So you said to me 0:09:34.476 --> 0:09:38.516 that you were retaining some hope, you know, maybe it 0:09:38.556 --> 0:09:41.236 will be okay, maybe they'll let us, maybe they'll set 0:09:41.316 --> 0:09:45.836 us free. At what moment did you realize that wasn't 0:09:45.876 --> 0:09:51.356 going to be the case. Being blind folded was very 0:09:51.436 --> 0:09:55.436 scared because you can't really see anything. But when someone 0:09:55.476 --> 0:09:58.636 snatched out the blind board and I was looking at 0:09:58.716 --> 0:10:04.396 the prison cell, and that just told me that everything 0:10:04.596 --> 0:10:07.876 is going to the opposite direction that I wish to go. 0:10:09.236 --> 0:10:12.236 And the cell was very small, and it was maybe 0:10:12.356 --> 0:10:16.276 five by seven maybe two others can lay down together 0:10:16.436 --> 0:10:20.796 that small cells. And they put Laura and I into 0:10:20.836 --> 0:10:28.956 two different cells, and in there there was nothing, nothing 0:10:29.196 --> 0:10:32.396 but myself and I was there for to nights, but 0:10:32.436 --> 0:10:35.716 there was a long tonight. And were you told what 0:10:35.796 --> 0:10:38.436 was happening? I mean, did you get did anyone let 0:10:38.436 --> 0:10:41.516 you know what the state of affairs was? What Laura 0:10:41.636 --> 0:10:44.396 and I quickly decided we are not going to tell 0:10:44.396 --> 0:10:48.396 them they were from television Cavor Television. We were going 0:10:48.436 --> 0:10:51.516 to tell them we're students studying film, and then we 0:10:51.596 --> 0:10:55.236 followed our professor, which is our another producer who disappeared, 0:10:55.316 --> 0:10:57.996 So we kind of made that story. I kind of 0:10:58.076 --> 0:11:02.276 joked with my another producer in the plane, if anything happened, 0:11:02.316 --> 0:11:05.236 we tell this kind of story. I never knew that 0:11:05.276 --> 0:11:08.436 I was going to use that story, and they were. 0:11:09.276 --> 0:11:13.076 They were interrogating Laura May separate to get more information. 0:11:14.476 --> 0:11:17.836 UNA's and Laura's stories did not completely match up, so 0:11:17.876 --> 0:11:21.516 they were immediately relocated to a secluded compound in Pyongyang, 0:11:21.636 --> 0:11:25.076 the capital of North Korea. There they were isolated in 0:11:25.116 --> 0:11:29.316 separate rooms. North Korean government officials repeatedly questioned Yuna and 0:11:29.396 --> 0:11:31.996 Laura for months with the goal of getting them to 0:11:32.036 --> 0:11:34.876 reveal the truth about who they really were and why 0:11:34.916 --> 0:11:40.156 they were there. Eventually, North Korea's tactics worked. In May 0:11:40.196 --> 0:11:42.876 of two thousand and nine, Una and Laura broke down 0:11:42.996 --> 0:11:46.156 and signed a confession. They were brought to trial three 0:11:46.196 --> 0:11:49.196 weeks later and sentenced to twelve years in a North 0:11:49.316 --> 0:11:53.916 Korean hard labor camp. Yuna was stunned by the verdict 0:11:54.796 --> 0:11:57.276 when exactly they'd be transferred to the labor camp was 0:11:57.316 --> 0:12:00.116 still up in the air, but Una was paralyzed with 0:12:00.196 --> 0:12:04.236 fear about how she would survive her time there. That 0:12:04.516 --> 0:12:09.076 is the moment that I crush it. And at the time, 0:12:09.316 --> 0:12:16.556 everything that, all my hope, all my effort to put 0:12:16.556 --> 0:12:22.516 myself together, just just crash it. And I I was 0:12:22.876 --> 0:12:29.116 so impanic mode, and North Korean officers brought doctors to 0:12:29.276 --> 0:12:35.676 make sure that I'm not going to lose myself. What 0:12:35.796 --> 0:12:37.756 did it look like for you when you lost hope? 0:12:40.676 --> 0:12:46.356 You know? North Korea gave me sleeping pills. I didn't 0:12:46.356 --> 0:12:50.076 take any pills that they gave me, and I collected them, 0:12:50.156 --> 0:12:52.516 and that's the moment that I felt like I wanted 0:12:52.556 --> 0:12:57.516 to just take them all and I wanted to find peace. 0:12:57.756 --> 0:13:02.676 It was so so hard to even breathe, and I 0:13:02.716 --> 0:13:06.636 wanted to find the peace. And that's the moment that 0:13:06.716 --> 0:13:10.676 I really wanted to let everything go. But thankfully, you know, 0:13:10.876 --> 0:13:19.236 my daughter's face just passed by, It flashes me in 0:13:19.276 --> 0:13:22.716 front of me, and then I felt that's very selfish 0:13:22.836 --> 0:13:28.476 decision to make. So so one more day, you know, 0:13:28.636 --> 0:13:32.076 one more day. Someone wrote to me that it's one 0:13:32.116 --> 0:13:36.276 more day close to home. I don't think that you 0:13:36.276 --> 0:13:39.196 are adding days in North Korea. It's one more day 0:13:39.276 --> 0:13:45.596 close to home. So I reminded myself that. So I thought, Okay, 0:13:45.636 --> 0:13:50.516 maybe this is the burden that I can handle. Still, 0:13:50.676 --> 0:13:53.356 you know, continued to fear her eventual transfer to a 0:13:53.396 --> 0:13:56.796 hard labor camp, and she desperately missed her family back 0:13:56.796 --> 0:13:59.876 in California, her husband Michael and her four year old 0:13:59.956 --> 0:14:03.196 daughter Hannah. She was rarely allowed to talk with them 0:14:03.196 --> 0:14:06.076 by phone, so she spent hours a day writing letters 0:14:06.076 --> 0:14:14.276 to Michael. Michael and I really left everything to God 0:14:14.476 --> 0:14:19.516 and then whatever we just uh without talking to each other. 0:14:19.956 --> 0:14:25.476 We we knew that we couldn't control anything, and then 0:14:25.516 --> 0:14:31.156 we are gonna rely on God. Whatever happened, that would 0:14:31.196 --> 0:14:38.916 be okay. And Hannah was didn't know. We didn't tear 0:14:38.996 --> 0:14:42.116 Hannah that I was detained. She thought that I was 0:14:42.236 --> 0:14:46.676 on a business triph my God, but Michael thought that something. 0:14:46.796 --> 0:14:49.476 She knew something was wrong because he said she got 0:14:49.556 --> 0:14:51.676 up in the middle of night and started to cry 0:14:52.116 --> 0:14:56.876 out of nowhere. Um, we did our best to to 0:14:56.916 --> 0:15:02.356 protect Hannah. At the time, she was only four. Yeah. Wow. 0:15:04.916 --> 0:15:08.916 So at one point, m Laura says to you, looking 0:15:09.716 --> 0:15:12.156 tell them that you have a daughter at home, I'll 0:15:12.276 --> 0:15:18.236 stay here instead, and and you refuse. You're clearly an 0:15:18.236 --> 0:15:23.276 exceedingly loyal person, right, But I'm wondering, you know, in 0:15:23.316 --> 0:15:26.796 that moment, how do you weigh these competing loyalties in 0:15:26.836 --> 0:15:29.676 your life? Right, you have loyalty towards Laura, you also 0:15:29.676 --> 0:15:33.116 have loyalty towards Michael and Hannah. You know, how do 0:15:33.156 --> 0:15:36.516 you think about that? It's such an incredibly painful and 0:15:36.636 --> 0:15:46.996 challenging position to be in. I'm I'm I'm grateful that 0:15:47.236 --> 0:15:52.756 you you know, you're seeing this a really positive way. 0:15:53.836 --> 0:15:57.916 But I don't know. I I think I thought about it. 0:15:57.956 --> 0:16:01.076 I thought about why am I making those choices? Why 0:16:01.076 --> 0:16:05.476 am I not thinking about myself first? My family first. 0:16:06.876 --> 0:16:17.556 I always thought that my families are families always next 0:16:17.556 --> 0:16:20.396 to me, right, I always thought that they will be 0:16:20.396 --> 0:16:25.716 there all the nime. So my priority was somebody who 0:16:25.836 --> 0:16:29.316 need my help, not my family, because my family is 0:16:29.356 --> 0:16:33.716 going to be always there. And why am I putting 0:16:33.756 --> 0:16:38.436 so much attention to others and then you're helping everybody 0:16:38.476 --> 0:16:43.996 else but my family? But I still don't know. I 0:16:44.036 --> 0:16:48.556 think it's because I cannot live if I think about myself. 0:16:48.916 --> 0:16:53.236 You know, I abandon something or abandon somebody else because 0:16:53.276 --> 0:16:59.916 of my own selfish reasons, I cannot live. I don't 0:16:59.916 --> 0:17:05.996 think in under any circumstances leaving Laura alone on the eyes, 0:17:06.476 --> 0:17:10.556 by yourself. If I escape and then survived, I don't 0:17:10.596 --> 0:17:14.596 think I could have believed normal life the guilty feeling. 0:17:14.876 --> 0:17:17.316 If Laura said, you go home, you have a child, 0:17:17.756 --> 0:17:20.956 I'll stay here. If I said, okay, I'm gonna think 0:17:20.956 --> 0:17:24.276 about my family better and then leave Laura there by herself, 0:17:24.636 --> 0:17:30.356 I don't think I could have believe without any single 0:17:30.476 --> 0:17:34.916 day without guilty feelings. If I don't align with what 0:17:35.036 --> 0:17:38.956 I feel like what's right, then I would carry that 0:17:39.036 --> 0:17:53.076 burden with on my shoulders every day. We'll be back 0:17:53.076 --> 0:18:00.276 in a moment with a slight change of plans. Korean 0:18:00.276 --> 0:18:04.076 American journalist Uni Lee and her colleague Laura Lying were 0:18:04.156 --> 0:18:06.956 captured in two thousand and nine by North Korean soldiers 0:18:07.356 --> 0:18:09.996 and had been sentenced to twelve years in a North 0:18:10.076 --> 0:18:13.436 Korean hard labor camp. The date for their transfer to 0:18:13.476 --> 0:18:16.516 the labor camp had not yet been set, so Una 0:18:16.596 --> 0:18:19.436 and Laura continued to spend their days in confinement and 0:18:19.476 --> 0:18:24.156 a secluded complex in Pyengyang. One thing that really moved 0:18:24.196 --> 0:18:28.796 me about your story is that you were surprised by 0:18:28.796 --> 0:18:31.516 the kindness that the people you met in North Korea 0:18:31.996 --> 0:18:36.316 showed you, and that it violated your former assumptions given 0:18:36.356 --> 0:18:40.076 how North Koreans were portrayed to you growing up in 0:18:40.116 --> 0:18:43.476 South Korea. Right, Can you tell us a bit more 0:18:43.636 --> 0:18:49.836 about Officer Lee, who was put on your case. I 0:18:49.876 --> 0:18:54.196 remember one time I was loosing so fast in North Korea. 0:18:54.236 --> 0:18:59.116 I lost about seventeen pound, and I was I started 0:18:59.116 --> 0:19:01.556 a small but then you know, losing seventeen pound was 0:19:01.636 --> 0:19:04.356 a lot at the time, but because of my summa 0:19:04.516 --> 0:19:06.116 was so small that I couldn't take a lot of 0:19:06.156 --> 0:19:09.036 food at once. And you're a prisoner, so they will 0:19:09.116 --> 0:19:11.476 give you any three meals a day, and I couldn't 0:19:11.476 --> 0:19:16.356 need a lot each meal. And I think he noticed that. 0:19:16.556 --> 0:19:19.916 He noticed that I couldn't need a lot, and he 0:19:19.996 --> 0:19:24.836 asked if I'm getting enough meal, And one day he 0:19:26.316 --> 0:19:29.676 brought some bread and gave to me to it. I 0:19:29.796 --> 0:19:33.916 just snack. And the other time was after I was 0:19:33.996 --> 0:19:42.596 sentenced to twelve years at the North Korean court, I 0:19:42.796 --> 0:19:46.316 was frightened. I think that was the time that I 0:19:46.396 --> 0:19:49.436 dropped everything, and then I did not want to hang 0:19:49.476 --> 0:19:54.076 on anymore. It was almost like I wanted to just 0:19:54.156 --> 0:20:00.396 give up. And he wanted to somehow come for me, 0:20:00.756 --> 0:20:08.036 and he took me outside of my compinement and I 0:20:08.076 --> 0:20:11.476 told him I'm not not survived in the labor camp 0:20:11.516 --> 0:20:13.876 for twelve years, and he said, we're not going to 0:20:13.996 --> 0:20:19.436 kill you. So he did his best to come for 0:20:19.596 --> 0:20:26.436 me when he could. Yeah, can you tell me about 0:20:26.476 --> 0:20:31.116 the two female guards and the bond that you eventually 0:20:31.156 --> 0:20:34.996 developed with them as well? Oh? Yeah, they were in 0:20:35.356 --> 0:20:39.916 young twenties and one girl was studying English. She wanted 0:20:39.916 --> 0:20:43.516 to be a translator, and her dream was to be 0:20:43.516 --> 0:20:45.916 a translator because she wanted to tell the world how 0:20:46.796 --> 0:20:49.316 how amazing her country is not that bad that like 0:20:49.516 --> 0:20:52.596 you guys, portraying we have something good about our country. 0:20:52.636 --> 0:20:56.676 That was her dream. And she was very curious about 0:20:57.396 --> 0:21:00.196 some of the book that I received from home, and 0:21:00.276 --> 0:21:03.796 she wanted to have that book because she's studying English, right, 0:21:04.876 --> 0:21:08.036 so things like that. She asked me if she can 0:21:08.076 --> 0:21:11.276 borrow that book. Of course, you know, to give to 0:21:11.316 --> 0:21:15.556 her the book. And so we did do things when 0:21:15.716 --> 0:21:19.356 people were not around us. And the other girl was 0:21:19.556 --> 0:21:22.476 a beautiful. She had a beautiful voice. She was a 0:21:22.516 --> 0:21:29.396 really good singer. She sang to my surprise, she sang Celendians, 0:21:29.596 --> 0:21:35.196 my heart will go on all the time. But honestly, 0:21:35.356 --> 0:21:38.076 I grew up propaganda towards North Korea, and then I 0:21:38.116 --> 0:21:39.956 thought that they don't want to do anything to do 0:21:40.036 --> 0:21:46.116 with America language, fashion or anything, you know, art culture. 0:21:46.876 --> 0:21:49.196 So I was actually very surprised that she was singing 0:21:49.196 --> 0:21:53.716 the song. And one day I told her, like, you 0:21:53.756 --> 0:21:55.876 have a beautiful voice. You want to be a singer, 0:21:56.236 --> 0:22:00.996 and she said, no, I can't. And later I learned 0:22:00.996 --> 0:22:04.356 that to be a singer in North Korea you have 0:22:04.476 --> 0:22:08.196 to have money, you have to have a good family 0:22:08.236 --> 0:22:12.076 background or the things to be successful in seeing career. 0:22:12.516 --> 0:22:14.876 So she probably did not have any of those things. 0:22:16.436 --> 0:22:19.196 So I were so bad for her. So every time 0:22:19.276 --> 0:22:24.676 I see her that I wanted a kind of the 0:22:24.756 --> 0:22:27.596 value her, you know. The value was like you know, 0:22:27.636 --> 0:22:30.396 how good she is, and then how beautiful her voices. 0:22:31.396 --> 0:22:36.756 And when she left that job the last day, I 0:22:36.876 --> 0:22:39.636 was really sick in my room so I couldn't move, 0:22:39.956 --> 0:22:44.156 and she came to me and told me that I 0:22:44.196 --> 0:22:46.476 hope that you'll get better soon. And then you'll be 0:22:46.556 --> 0:22:50.876 with your family. So and that was our last conversation. 0:22:52.636 --> 0:22:54.996 You know, was shown many small acts of kindness from 0:22:54.996 --> 0:22:58.156 the people she interacted with at the complex. They brought 0:22:58.156 --> 0:23:00.956 her treats like cherries and fruit juice and turned up 0:23:00.956 --> 0:23:03.996 the volume on songs they knew she liked. And you know, 0:23:04.036 --> 0:23:06.516 it was charmed by how curious they were about many 0:23:06.556 --> 0:23:10.476 aspects of life in America, including day and one night stands. 0:23:11.436 --> 0:23:14.436 We were talking about dating, and then she asked, like, 0:23:14.796 --> 0:23:17.516 is that really true? There's one nice standing it is 0:23:17.756 --> 0:23:21.876 And then I laughed and I laughed and how did 0:23:21.916 --> 0:23:26.436 you guys even know? That's not even the country? Its 0:23:26.436 --> 0:23:30.676 stuff is so conservative in that culture, you know, dating churlture. 0:23:30.756 --> 0:23:33.436 And then I thought that was really funny that they 0:23:33.476 --> 0:23:37.076 brought up. So when I said, like, I think so 0:23:37.156 --> 0:23:40.876 sometimes some people, it happens some people, not to everybody. 0:23:40.916 --> 0:23:42.996 And then they were like, oh, you know, like a 0:23:43.036 --> 0:23:47.196 little girls. So I felt I forgot. I forgot that 0:23:47.236 --> 0:23:50.476 I was a prisoner. At that moment, I felt like 0:23:50.516 --> 0:23:53.876 I was sitting in my high school classroom with my 0:23:53.956 --> 0:23:59.556 friends and talking about all these things. I think because 0:23:59.596 --> 0:24:02.756 of me a prisoner. They were pretty in this job 0:24:02.876 --> 0:24:05.276 right twenty four seven, they couldn't go home, so they 0:24:05.356 --> 0:24:08.516 complained a lot about I want to go home, I 0:24:08.556 --> 0:24:10.676 want to hang out with my friend, and I want 0:24:10.676 --> 0:24:15.156 to do this. At some point I think they fail 0:24:15.276 --> 0:24:19.676 for me that, oh, she's someone who can go home 0:24:20.076 --> 0:24:22.956 five thousand miles from home then by herself. I heard 0:24:22.996 --> 0:24:29.276 she has a child, and they wanted without showing too 0:24:29.356 --> 0:24:35.556 much because of our relationship is guard and prisoner, so 0:24:35.636 --> 0:24:40.636 they wanted to show their kindness very subtle way. The 0:24:40.796 --> 0:24:44.396 guards did that when they're by themselves. Obviously did that 0:24:44.476 --> 0:24:48.516 when you know, when someone wasn't around. So everything they do, 0:24:48.836 --> 0:24:52.236 the kindness, they did that when no one was around. 0:24:53.476 --> 0:24:56.276 At this point August two thousand and nine, Una and 0:24:56.356 --> 0:24:59.076 Laura had been held captive for more than four months 0:24:59.156 --> 0:25:01.756 in North Korea, and we're waiting to find out when 0:25:01.756 --> 0:25:05.396 they be transferred to the hard labor camp. But unbeknownst 0:25:05.396 --> 0:25:08.556 to Una, former President Bill Clinton was on his way 0:25:08.596 --> 0:25:11.516 to North Ria at that moment to negotiate the release. 0:25:12.396 --> 0:25:14.836 And it was actually Officer Lee who take you off 0:25:14.836 --> 0:25:17.236 to this fact that Hope was on the way and 0:25:17.276 --> 0:25:21.356 that someone very important was coming to see her. It 0:25:21.436 --> 0:25:26.796 was a President Clinton. Oh, my god, you it was 0:25:27.396 --> 0:25:31.316 I thought it was an angel standing and you know, 0:25:31.356 --> 0:25:35.196 he has gray hair, and there was a window behind 0:25:35.276 --> 0:25:38.756 him so you can see you can really see his face, 0:25:38.836 --> 0:25:41.316 but with a gray hair person with a tour guy 0:25:41.756 --> 0:25:44.796 with a very generous smile. And then he opened his arms. 0:25:44.916 --> 0:25:51.276 So we ran to him and he embraced us and 0:25:51.356 --> 0:25:54.996 asked us are you guys saying okay. So he brought 0:25:55.076 --> 0:26:00.556 his personal physician with him, so he wanted us to 0:26:01.356 --> 0:26:03.676 talk to the physician to make sure that we are 0:26:03.796 --> 0:26:08.756 physically okay, conditioned to leave if he can make that happen. 0:26:09.716 --> 0:26:12.436 So he told us he has one more meeting to go, 0:26:13.236 --> 0:26:17.676 but she can't promise anything, but we want to make 0:26:17.716 --> 0:26:20.636 sure they are physically okay. And Laura and I were like, 0:26:21.036 --> 0:26:28.036 we're okay, Yeah, We're okay, they can go. Yeah. I've 0:26:28.116 --> 0:26:32.636 watched the footage on YouTube, basically on loop in which 0:26:33.276 --> 0:26:36.956 you're getting off the flight and you reunite with Michael 0:26:36.996 --> 0:26:40.756 and Hannah. What's striking about the video it is that 0:26:41.156 --> 0:26:47.076 it is a complicated joy. Right. I thought everything is 0:26:47.356 --> 0:26:50.836 going back to normal, and then we remember everybody and 0:26:50.876 --> 0:26:53.916 I hug each other, and then you know, that's what 0:26:54.076 --> 0:26:57.316 I was what I expected, and when Hannah hesitant to 0:26:57.316 --> 0:27:01.596 come to me, it really ached my heart. So one 0:27:01.676 --> 0:27:04.876 hundred forty days was a long time for this four 0:27:04.956 --> 0:27:11.636 year old girl. She was just so confused by everything, 0:27:11.916 --> 0:27:14.716 like seeing her mom after so long, and you know, 0:27:14.756 --> 0:27:17.276 seeing these old cameras and then people, and then in 0:27:17.316 --> 0:27:20.276 front of airport and I asked her, do you remember me? 0:27:20.876 --> 0:27:25.076 It's mom, I said in Kournian, and she nodded, and 0:27:25.116 --> 0:27:27.156 then can you give me a hug? And then she 0:27:27.236 --> 0:27:35.716 came to me and I do. It's that moment. Just 0:27:35.836 --> 0:27:42.796 thinking about that moment still make me choke. Yeah, yeah, 0:27:42.796 --> 0:27:51.596 it's beautiful. So I I realized that it's been exactly 0:27:51.636 --> 0:27:56.756 twelve years since your captivity, and so in a counterfactual world, 0:27:56.996 --> 0:27:59.356 had you been in the labor camp for twelve years, 0:27:59.396 --> 0:28:01.636 this would have been the year that you were reunited 0:28:01.716 --> 0:28:05.596 with your your daughter, Hannah, right, who's now sixteen? Is 0:28:05.636 --> 0:28:09.596 that right? Yeah? We talked about it, My husband and 0:28:09.636 --> 0:28:11.796 I talked about that it would have been this year 0:28:11.876 --> 0:28:14.636 that we would be reunited if I didn't come home. 0:28:15.236 --> 0:28:21.396 And every moment is like whenever I give her hug, 0:28:21.556 --> 0:28:24.876 whenever I you know, bless her and I and then 0:28:25.036 --> 0:28:30.996 it's I'm thankful, I'm thankful, and thank you we without 0:28:31.036 --> 0:28:34.836 saying we knew it, how we are blessed to be together. 0:28:35.676 --> 0:28:41.596 M You know, we've been talking about how during that 0:28:41.636 --> 0:28:43.596 period of your life, in the years leading up to 0:28:44.076 --> 0:28:47.316 North Korea and then even in the days you were 0:28:47.356 --> 0:28:51.916 in North Korea, UM, you were ruthlessly prioritizing others over 0:28:51.996 --> 0:28:55.316 yourself and your family. And I want to know how 0:28:55.316 --> 0:28:58.716 that dynamic has shifted in your life, like, how, how 0:28:58.716 --> 0:29:03.516 how that's changed for you, if at all it did it? 0:29:03.516 --> 0:29:08.596