Quotes from Lee Hyeon-seo

Like every country, North Korea has some very smart people. They could be contributing a lot more to science and other areas, but North Koreans are forced to spend so much time memorising the fake history of our dictators and other propaganda, so are at a huge disadvantage.

We can have reunification if another power replaces Kim Jong Un. I don't know who it could be, but I hope and I believe another power, another person will be better.

When I was young, I thought Kim il-Sung or Kim Jong-il is hero.

If defectors say they had high-level connections in Pyongyang or came from an esteemed institution in the North, they can gain better employment in the South, where life can be very difficult for North Koreans.

We refugees, we become always a punchbag. A political punchbag between China and South Korea and North Korea.

I believe I'll see the reunification of North and South Korea in my lifetime and that defectors should play a role in rebuilding the country. In the long run, I want to return to North Korea, because that's where I belong.

I defected to South Korea in search of freedom of speech and movement. I had longed to put my feet on this soil, even in my dreams.

In communism, we never had any freedom - of movement, of speech, of press. We didn't even make own decisions for our lives, our future. We were human robots.

Even after arriving in South Korea, it's dangerous. As a North Korean defector, I need to be careful from the spies to protect my relatives inside North Korea.

Inside North Korea, we have many informants and spies watching everyone; they're paid by the government. Even a husband and wife can't trust each other.

Here in South Korea, I'm continuing to learn English in order to boost my prospects. When North Korean defectors try to get a job to stabilize their lives, their lack of English is a handicap. It was the same story while I was living in China. It took an enormous amount of time and enthusiasm to learn Chinese.

This is a divisive issue, but I really hope for unification. Even though we have been divided for a long time, we are all Koreans, so we should live together in a united Korea.

Leaving North Korea is not like leaving any other country. It is more like leaving another universe.

Staying in China provided me with the opportunity to adjust to life outside of North Korea and to gain a sense of perspective, most importantly, by learning that so much of what I had been taught about my country was a lie.

Freedom means everything to me. It is the most essential right that every person deserves. Most people take it for granted, but not North Koreans.

China is a heaven compared to North Korea.

In North Korea, we learnt all Americans are the enemy; they are not human.

I know North Korea is the most ridiculous country in the world, but for me, my mum, my brother, and my families and old memories are so important.

We were taught North Korea is a heaven. They told us how people in western countries die in hospital or have no money to study in school.

I can't be sure of exactly when and how North Korea will change. But I do believe it will happen, hopefully in my mother's lifetime.

When many Chinese escaped to North Korea during the Cultural Revolution, we embraced them. People in China have forgotten about this.

My life is not only mine. I am telling the story of all North Korean people; it is my responsibility to tell it.

Living in China, I found out that the bright new world was not for me, not for defectors. My life in North Korea had been OK; suddenly, in China, I had to feed myself and earn money. Worst of all, North Korean defectors are hunted by the government.

North Korean defectors can usually tell when other defectors are lying about their past.