Convocation: Mike Kim

Mike Kim is the founder of Crossing Borders, an NGO providing aid to North Koreans. On New Year's Day 2003, he gave up his financial planning business in Chicago, Illinois and left for China on a one-way ticket carrying little more than two duffel bags. While living near the North Korean border, he operated undercover as a student of North Korean taekwondo, training under North Korean masters from Pyongyang—eventually receiving a second-degree black belt. During his time in China, he learned of the hundreds of thousands of North Koreans fleeing to China through a 6,000-mile modern-day underground railway across Asia in search of food and freedom. Kim provides a rare and unique inside look into the hidden world of ordinary North Koreans, recounting their experiences of enduring famine, sex-trafficking, and torture, as well as the inspirational stories of those who overcame tremendous adversity to escape the repressive regime of their homeland and make new lives. The title of his presentation was “Escaping North Korea.”