Nayoung Lee joined Freedom Speakers International’s English Empowerment Program in 2021. After gaining confidence in her English ability, she joined FSI’s North Korean Refugee Keynote Speakers Network in 2022.

Nayoung was born and raised in Onseong-gun, North Hamgyong Province and defected at the age of 22. She considered her personal experience of a life without freedom as the norm, living for 20 years without knowing herself. Then, she decided not to live like that anymore and risked her life to escape. She didn’t even know where she was going or if she could survive, but she decided to give up the life that wasn’t her own. She tries not to forget that the freedom she gained is too precious to exchange for anything, even to avoid death. Nayoung completed her master’s program at the Graduate School of Counseling at Seoul Theological University.

Her dream is to take a doctoral course in counseling psychology in the United States to develop as an expert in her field. She also dreams of sharing her life story with those who have lost themselves.