Jihyun Kim joined Freedom Speakers International (FSI) in 2019 as a high school student in a special program for North Korean refugee youth. In 2026, she joined FSI’s North Korean Refugee Keynote Speakers Network.
In 2018, she crossed the Yalu River with her mother, and in early 2019 they arrived in South Korea. After settling there, she resumed her education starting from middle school, and she is now studying computer science at university.
The memories of the human rights abuses and oppression she experienced in her childhood are still difficult to forget. When she thinks about the people in North Korea who are still living under that same reality today, her heart feels heavy.
Though it is a painful past, she wants to share her story to help more people understand the serious realities of North Korea and to encourage greater awareness, concern, and change.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​