Jia

North Korea is closed country which we have heard about but where the rest of the world were curious especially when there were some unpleasant news associated with the country recently.

This book by Hyejin Kim narrated the life story of Jia - a North Korean girl who grew up in the mountains, escaped to the city and later became a talented dancer. However, when North Korean went through famine and more and more people died of hunger, she decided to escape to China. For her, she met a Korean decendant who had since settled in China. He saved her from prostitution and sheltered her from North Korean agents. She was nearly repatriated to North Korea when she was caught while she was roaming around trying to find friends in China.

As to how true this story was, it was difficult to assess. The culture depicted in North Korea was very different from the one that we were more familiar with in a capitalist world. Caste system determined the opportunity and job that a person in Pyongyang would get. It even determined the rations one would get when disaster struck. Marriages were often determined by whether the other party came from a clean and respected background.

People who attempted to leave the country or did not conduct themselves well risked being tortured, brainwashed and sent to the jails in mountains. These 'delinquents' would not just implicate themselves but their families and friends as well. Hence, many times to prevent implication of families and friends, people who were trying to escape would tell no one.

Crossing the borders to China was only the first step. When they reached a foreign land, more people plagued them. They had no money, and could only hide in the forests for fear of being caught and repatriated where a worse fate awaited them. Many women were sold as wives to the Chinese farmers and risked being ill-treated or sold to the bars and prostitution houses. Even then, they continued to live their lives in fear as they had no proper immigration documentation.

This was a poignant tale. Regardless of the level of truth in this book, it was still a good read - something different from the western fictions that we were inundated with.