By Kenya Peckman
Photo by Kate Adelman
For many college students, the weight of daily life involves class scheduling, time management, and preparation for post-graduate life. However, for North Korean refugee and human rights advocate Grace Jo, the seemingly simple act of choosing was once an impossible luxury denied by a totalitarian regime.
Jo shared her harrowing life story and path to advocacy during a campus lecture hosted by the First-Year Experience program. Titled “Journey of a North Korean: Suppression to Freedom,” this lecture detailed Jo’s survival through famine, the loss of family, and her escape to the United States.
Jo highlighted the Soviet Union’s collapse in 1991, as well as the North Korean Great Famine of 1994, as major starting points to her family’s tragedy. She described this period as one where the government abandoned its people. With no food or electricity, Jo’s family was forced to sell their valuables just to survive the harsh winters.
In 1998, this crisis deepened. Jo’s father died after being caught bringing rice across the border from China. Following his death, Jo lost multiple family members, including her newborn sibling and grandmother, while enduring severe poverty. Under the regime, Jo noted the devaluation of human life, stating “my father’s life was equal to one bag of rice.”
At the age of six, Jo crossed the Tumen River to China with her mother and sister. However, because Chinese policy does not recognize North Koreans as being refugees, she faced the constant threat of being treated as an illegal immigrant. Due to this policy, Jo was forcibly sent back across the border three times before beginning the process of moving to America in 2004. 4 years later in 2008, Jo officially relocated.
Reflecting on her new life, Jo shared that she “fell in love with America’s constitution.” Jo acknowledged the challenges present in the United States while sharing a unique and eye-opening perspective. Jo stated, “In America we have so many freedoms, sometimes that is the problem… but those problems are fixable.”
Following her lecture, there was a Q&A session. Students asked about potential paths toward freedom for North Korea, as well as the hurdles to adapting to a new society. Jo emphasized that a direct revolution is difficult under such a severe regime, progress relies on cross-border communication and exposing North Koreans to outside opportunities. In addition, she noted that newer generations within North Korea are becoming increasingly distrustful of state propaganda and are more influenced by South Korean media than in past generations.
Today, as a graduate of SCAD with a degree in interior design, Jo uses her lived experiences to advocate via the Broken Chains Foundation, that “supports refugees, defectors, and young people whose education and opportunities have been limited by authoritarian systems.”
For students in attendance, Jo’s message served as a stark reminder of the value of individual choice, the fragility of oppression, and the resilience needed to find freedom.