Hyosim Maeng joined Freedom Speakers International (FSI) in 2019 as a high school student in a special program for North Korean refugee youth. In February 2022, she joined FSI’s North Korean Refugee Keynote Speakers Network.

She escaped from North Korea with her parents in June 2018 because she wanted to enjoy freedom and human rights. More specifically, she couldn’t live in North Korean society where she couldn’t achieve her dream. So, she decided to defect from North Korea and leave her homeland.

She left because she was sick of a society where the people could not enjoy the basic human right of enjoying freedom.

If she didn’t realize this, she might still be living in a city in North Korea, being deceived by the North Korean government and praising the Kim lineage.

Hyosim came to South Korea after spending high school in North Korea. When sheattended high school, she was the school president and a dedicated soccer player. It was her daily routine to praise the Kims from morning to evening.

Now, she is grounded and working hard to achieve her dreams for her parents and herself.