'Forever strangers': the North Korean defectors who want to go back
Nearly 30,000 defectors live in South Korea, but not all are happy to have escaped the regime and hope a summit between leaders will help them go home
From the moment Kim Ryon-hui set foot in Seoul she has had a singular goal that has defined every aspect her life: return to her home in North Korea.
It is a rare yearning among the roughly 30,000 North Korean defectors living in the South, with many risking death to escape a life of poverty, hunger and political oppression. Kim’s desire to return has made her a hero in the North, where officials have demanded her return, while in the South she is viewed with suspicion by the government, who have refused to issue her a passport for fear she would try to travel to North Korea through China.
Kim has spent the past seven, saying she is trapped, a stranger in a strange land.
