Essay sample about Lee Hyeonseo

In moving from North Korea, to China, to South Korea, Hyeonseo Lee experiences a monumental shift not only in her location but within her inward values and sense of who she is which changed drastically as she learned not only more about her origin country but those around her who she would also learn to call home. 

Growing up as a young girl in North Korea, Hyeonseo Lee knew who she was, and why wouldn’t she? As early as she could remember a set of ideas were internalized in her which she believed without a doubt to be true. Whether these ideas came from her schooling, her family, or from the media, they were forced on her without much question. These ideas would leave marks on her, marks she couldn't just erase, which would affect her worldview and more importantly her view of herself. Above all, she was taught to respect Kim II Sung and Kim Jong II, the two great leaders of her country, the country that according to them, was the best in the world. As someone molds a lump of soft clay, using outside forces, Hyeonseo, too, was molded and in turn, was sheltered being “too young not to believe every word.”(22) In her eyes she lived in a haven of security never realizing that the wide majority of the information being delivered to her, whether it be concerning other countries, or the great feats the great leader accomplished, were propaganda. With this constant flow of information coming at her, she developed a strong sense of loyalty towards the dynasty and its regime, a regime that was extremely harmful, which she would not truly realize until her move to China. Even when she saw aspects of its harm, particularly in witnessing the famine, she held no blame for the dynasty. In her young eyes, North Korea was her home, a home with her family and schoolmates, a place housing her many fond memories. But what she did not know was that it was keeping her from the truth. 

After making what she thought would be a quick visit across the border into China from her home in North Korea, Hyeonseo Lee soon realized how shielded she had been from reality. Because of this realization, a period of questioning began in her life where she not only questioned her loyalty to the dynasty but her identity itself. After years of being told how wonderful and prosperous North Korea was, here was her uncle Jung-Gil, telling her otherwise, and here was a bright country ready for exploring that she had been told was a broken one. Her initial reaction to this was unsurprisingly a mixture of disbelief and denial as it went against almost everything she had previously known. Eventually, however, she would come to accept that North Korea was not the greatest country in the world. This, however, still did not stop her from wanting to return to it. Even with her new information about it, her loyalty remained, not necessarily to the regime, but to the country as a whole as she states “My country was wherever my mother and Min-ho lived. It was where my memories were from.” (115). As she spends more time in China, Hyeonseo’s worldview continues to shift as she continues to process the difference in lifestyles between the two countries. This was not the only shift happening as her identity too, was evolving. Before she had classified herself as North Korean but now the term that seemed more appropriate was Korean-Chinese or even South Korean which she felt living in Shanghai. 

In making the move to South Korea, Hyeonseo’s journey with her identity and loyalty would grow even more complex. Just as with China, she could easily see the lies she had been told in North Korea surrounding the country being proven false by reality. Living in South Korea Hyeonseo could feel the freedom that she now possessed, which for her was not only a liberating experience but a terrifying one going from such a stark contrast. This stark contrast was so strong that she commented that “I would find that the language and values I thought North and South shared had evolved in very different directions. We were no longer the same people”(213) With a discovery like this Hyeonseo was once again struck with a dilemma surrounding who she was. She still felt a strong pull of loyalty towards North Korea, the country that she grew up in, but now with time spent in China, and South Korea, figuring out where she belonged grew even more difficult. This dilemma became clear when the Olympics rolled around and she was faced with choosing who to root for. It was as if she was stuck between different universes, wanting to belong but as she states “there was no country I could say was mine”(217). Though the loyalty was still burning for North Korea, I think that this was a different type of loyalty. It wasn’t the same, blind and forced kind that was directed at the Kim Dynasty, this had vanished by now, but the type of loyalty that revolves around family, not only her immediate members but for her people as a whole.

As an individual who had now been a part of 3 very different countries, Hyeonseo Lee, no longer just belonged to a singular one. Each country had now become a different piece of her and had influenced her ability to see other people and herself. Her identity was no longer a formulated copy and paste of the North Korean government's ideals but an intricately woven piece of art. There were touches of China in there, her ability to communicate and protect herself, and South Korea too, as we see her capacity for empathy and resilience. Even North Korea is visible, despite everything, as she learned how love for one another can create a passion for change.