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When Joo Min* fled North Korea, she wasn\u2019t expecting to meet Jesus\u2014but He turned her life upside down and gave her a mission to carry the light into the darkness. Joo Min crouched by the riverbank, waiting until the guard passed her. She could see him picking out his steps, his machine gun swinging in time with his walk. At last, the guard walked over the horizon and the coast was clear.<\/p>\n
Joo Min quietly crept from her hiding place, thankful the moon provided just enough light for her to carefully make her way to the water. All she had to do was cross the river and she\u2019d be out of North Korea. She hoped the opposite side would have food and a way to provide for her family. But she didn\u2019t know that something else was waiting for her too. Something that would change her life.<\/p>\n
An education of hatred<\/strong> In school, Joo Min learned discipline and that she was part of the greatest society and country in the world. She studied the philosophy of self-reliance (Juche) that governs all of North Korean society. She learned about the exploits of North Korea\u2019s founder, Kim Il-Sung, hearing instruction on how the Great Leader had defeated the Japanese invaders after World War II and helped create the modern state of North Korea.<\/p>\n Joo Min also learned how his son, Kim Jong-Il (also known as Dear Leader), was born under a double rainbow and his birth made winter turn to spring. Like her classmates, Joo Min regarded North Korea\u2019s leaders as near-gods, the only ones worthy of her worship and affection. She learned a song popular with North Korean children, loudly singing: \u201cWe have nothing to envy in this world.\u201d<\/p>\n Joo Min also learned about the dangerous enemies of North Korea. She knew that South Korea was a puppet of the United States[AK1] [RH2], the most wicked country of all. She and other students drew pictures that showed American soldiers being killed in graphic detail. She also heard about other wicked people who were bent on the destruction of her nation. \u201cI was told to stay away from the Bible and missionaries,\u201d she remembers. \u201cThey said missionaries were like wolves pretending to be sheep.\u201d Her textbooks proved this, relaying stories of missionaries who were secretly American spies, sent to their country to kidnap children and sell them into slavery. But this was normal life in North Korea. It wasn\u2019t until she got older that things took a serious turn.<\/p>\n \u2018Living was a daily struggle\u2019<\/strong> Joo Min and her family felt this reality firsthand. They struggled to find food, and gnawing hunger became a daily occurrence. Things grew even worse for Joo Min when her mother died\u2014and her father\u2019s behaviour took a new, dangerous turn. Her father had always drunk a lot, but he became totally consumed by alcoholism. \u201cWhen I was young, my father\u2019s alcoholism led to violence,\u201d she says. \u201cI was in constant fear. Living was a daily struggle.\u201d It got even worse when her father brought his new girlfriend and their two children to live with them. Joo Min would listen for the telltale signs of his drunken rage and leave the house whenever she could. When she couldn\u2019t, she was beaten.<\/p>\n Her father began to blame her for their lack of food. His alcoholism meant he couldn\u2019t provide even the meager amount to feed his family that was available from black markets or local farmers that illegally sold some crops. \u201cDuring those turbulent years, food shortages were increasingly a concern,\u201d she remembers. \u201cMy father told me I had to provide for our family. It was a heavy weight on my shoulders.\u201d Eventually, things came to a head. Her father demanded she provide for the family, and the only option was to flee to a country where she could hopefully make some money and find food to bring home.<\/p>\n \u201cDriven by the need to provide, I crossed the border in search of work,\u201d she says. A dangerous destination\u2014and a place of safety<\/strong> He took her to one of the safe houses, where she was given food and helped back on her feet. She met other North Korean refugees who had taken the same journey she had. And, eventually, she found a job to send support to her family. She also continued coming to the safe house for support and community with other North Koreans.<\/p>\n But that wasn\u2019t all. \u201cWhile I was in the safe house, I heard the gospel for the first time. I started hearing about Jesus,\u201d Joo Min remembers. At first, she wanted nothing to do with Christianity or religious belief. She knew if she was caught and deported back to North Korea, she would face severe consequences if it was discovered she had met with Christians. And yet \u2026 there was something different about the people she met at the safe house. They weren\u2019t the sadistic priests or missionaries she had read about in her textbooks. They were kind, loving and offered her help without demanding anything in return. Slowly, Joo Min\u2019s heart began to soften as she learned about Jesus. \u201cDespite what I was told as a child, I accepted Jesus as my Savior,\u201d she says. \u201cI started attending Bible studies and training every week.\u201d Years passed. And Joo Min discovered she had a wound that hadn\u2019t healed.<\/p>\n A burden lifted<\/strong> \u201cAs we delved into the Bible teachings, I came across the idea of forgiveness. It was then that I knew I had to start forgiving him. As I realized all of this, it felt like a weight lifted off my shoulders, instead of feeling all that pressure and pain, I felt a desire to pray for my father.\u201d Joo Min\u2019s life had changed again. Her faith in Jesus had become precious to her\u2014and now she was freed from the burden of hatred that had hampered her heart for so many years. She decided to get baptized, a decision she had put off for a long while. Finally, she was healed of the pain that had kept her from fully embracing her identity as a daughter of Jesus. She also made another decision: She would tell her father and her family about Jesus. But God had another plan for her, too. And it was a plan that she knew would put her in incredible danger.<\/p>\n
\nJoo Min was born and raised in North Korea. Her childhood was spent going to school, with parents who were assigned jobs and given food, clothing and housing by the North Korean government, which at that time was led by Kim Il-Sung. When she was young, it was sometimes difficult for her family to find enough food to eat, but they managed to survive.<\/p>\n
\nIn the mid-1990s, North Korea began what it officially called the \u201cArduous March.\u201d This was an intense call to solidarity in the face of what would become a massive famine. Exact numbers are unknown, but it\u2019s estimated that up to 3 million people died due to lack of food and basic supplies.<\/p>\n
\nThat\u2019s how she found herself on the riverbank, dodging the border patrol. When she emerged on the other side, she was out of North Korea\u2014and she was determined to find a way to provide for her family.<\/p>\n
\nJoo Min was one of tens of thousands of North Koreans who crossed the border looking for food and income. It\u2019s illegal for North Koreans to leave their country, but during times of severe food insecurity, North Korean authorities largely let such crossings happen. Still, if Joo Min would have been caught, she would have been jailed; but the border crossing wasn\u2019t as heavily guarded as it is at other times.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Joo-Min-North-Korea-WWL25-Reenactment-portrait-300x200.jpg\")
However, in countries that border North Korea, it\u2019s illegal for North Koreans to sneak across the boundary line. If they are caught, they will often be forced to return home, where they will face arrest and imprisonment. It\u2019s even worse if they are found to have encountered Christians. Captured North Koreans are directly asked if they encountered Christians, and their punishment is severe if it\u2019s found they heard about Jesus Open Doors has a network of safe houses in a region that borders North Korea. It\u2019s a place of refuge and support, where North Koreans can find access to basic goods\u2014and a place where they can hear the gospel. There is spiritual instruction, but also the provision of basic needs. When Joo Min crossed the border, she wasn\u2019t sure what to do. And then she met someone who said they could help. \u201cI met someone who told me where I could find a safe place,\u201d she says. That person was an Open Doors field worker.<\/p>\n
\nJoo Min had regularly been meeting with the Open Doors field worker and others at the safe house. She was growing in her faith. But even though she had been meeting regularly with these believers for years, she had never mentioned her father or what she had left behind in North Korea. \u201cIt had been a long time since I [had started talking] to the [Open Doors] fieldworker, but I never opened about my feelings toward my father,\u201d she says. \u201cThen, during a training, I finally spilled it all out. I admitted I couldn\u2019t forgive my father because I held a lot of anger and hatred inside.<\/p>\n