Learning Freedom: Help Educate North Korean Youth

We are extremely proud of Cheol because, after devoting years to intense study in South Korea’s highly competitive education system, he was accepted into Seoul National University’s law school two weeks ago. Seoul National University is Korea’s most prestigious academic institution, and competition for admission is fierce. He will be funding his legal education partly through a special scholarship from NKHR, as part of the scholarship funds ($ 1,535) you generously donated during Global Giving’s September Challenge Campaign. We asked Cheol to share his story with you.

To the supporters of Learning Freedom,

Thank you for helping me make my dream come true!

I was born in the coldest place in the entire Korean Peninsula—Eundeok, in the North Hamgyong Province of North Korea. The bitter cold made living there tough. That, and my family was of low social status,[1] having been designated by the North Korean government as the family of a reactionist due to my grandfather’s opposition to the dictatorship of Kim Il Sung. We simply could not have any big expectations for our lives—we wanted only to survive. But my father always dreamt of a better life for us, and that’s what drove him to escape North Korea. 

Everything was completely foreign to me when I landed in South Korea as a young child. But as I embarked on the long road to adjusting to my new life in South Korea, I was lucky enough to participate in NKHR’s Hangyoreh School. The teachers pushed me to study really hard, and they showed me that I could become a lawyer. That has been my dream ever since. When North Korea begins to change, I want to help create a system based on the principles of democracy and the rule of law. That will be the beginning of unification with South Korea.

However, when I got to high school in South Korea, I was behind all of my peers who grew up in South Korea. In my first year of high school, I placed last in my class. I was devastated. But I told myself that if I managed to survive and escape from North Korea, nothing could stop me from achieving my dream. When my friends would go out to play, I would study, sometimes until the wee hours of the morning. All my hard work paid off, though, and by my third year of high school I was one of the three best students in the school. And this year, I finally managed to get into law school at Seoul National University.

Having been born into a family of low social status, in the poorest region of North Korea, I started at the lowest place possible, but I want you to know that I have never given up on my dream. I will finish law school, and I hope you will cheer for me along the way!