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They go out the window and start the descent. "Quick, we do not have much time," warns the person who helps them to escape.
When they go down, they run towards a van.
But they are not safe yet.
Mira and Jiyun are "deserters" from North Korea and deceived by traffickers
After crossing the Chinese border, the same people who helped them flee North Korea entrusted them to a gang that produces videos Live bad.
For eight years, Jiyun was confined in an apartment and forced to work in Iffusant live poses and badgraphic acts online. Mira has lived the same nightmare for the last five years.
Leaving North Korea without the regime's permission is illegal and many people risk their lives during the flight.
South Korea is a safe haven, but the narrow border with North Korea is heavily militarized and full of
As a result, many deserters go north and try to enter China.
But in China, those fleeing North Korea are considered "Illegal immigrants" and returned when discovered by the authorities Once returned home, the deserters are subjected to torture and punitive interrogations for "betraying the country".
Many deserters have fled in the middle of the years 90, when a major food shortage known as "March Hard" killed about a million people.
But since Kim Jong-un took power in North Korea in 2011, the number of people fleeing the country each year has fallen to less than half. The decline was attributed to the reinforcement of border control mechanisms and high prices practiced by the gangs that contributed to their escape.
Mira defected at the age of 22.
Born a few years after the famine crisis, he is part of a new generation of North Koreans. Thanks to the growing network of black markets, known locally as Jangmadang, these young people have access to famous creator DVDs, cosmetics and fake clothing, as well as USB sticks containing illegal movies.
Foreign materials influence some of them. For them, the films that enter the country via China are a window on the world and a motivation to leave North Korea.
"I loved Chinese movies a lot and I thought all the Chinese were like that.I wanted to marry a Chinese and I looked for ways to leave North Korea for many years, "says Mira.
His father, a former soldier and a member of the ruling party in North Korea, was very severe. Sometimes he even beat Mira.
The girl wanted to study medicine, but her father had prevented it. More and more frustrated, she dreamed of a new life in China.
"My father was a member of the party and he was choking, he would not let me see foreign films."
For many years, Mira tried to find a "coyote" to help her get through the Tumen River and leaving his country.But the gangs were afraid to help the young woman to flee because of the close ties that unite her family to the government.
Finally, after years of testing, Mira found someone who came to help her .. Like many deserters, the young woman did not have enough money to pay directly for the coyotes. being "sold" and working to pay off the debt.
She was thinking of working in a restaurant but found herself in the hands of a gang that is recruiting women from North Korea to feed the family. # 39; bad industry.
![Mira and Jiyun have never seen the money earned through the videos - Photo: Unplash [19659033] Mira and Jiyun have never seen money earned videos. - Photo: Unplash]( https://s2.glbimg.com/0w93oA7uOoxuRGxrdo-fTGKiUfw=/0x0:6016x4016/984x0/smart/filters:strip_icc; )/i.s3.IM /internal_photos/bs/2019/f/H/rGR86DSNieAGC8jBUFmA/china.jpg "Mira et Jiyun n’ont jamais vu l’argent qu’elles ont gagné grâce aux vidéos. - Photo: Unplash")
Mira and Jiyun have never seen the money that they earned with the videos. – Photo: Unplash
After crossing the Tumen River and entering China, Mira was taken to Yanji City where he was delivered to a man who was introduced to him as "the director".
Yanji is in the heart of the Yanbian region, which maintains a certain level of independence from the central government of Beijing.
A large population of people of Korean origin lives there and the territory has become a trading zone with North Korea and one of the main refuges for North Korean fugitives
The Great majority of deserters are women But, without being legalized in China, they are particularly vulnerable to exploitation. sold as the woman, often in rural areas. Others are forced to prostitute themselves or, like Mira, to enter the bad industry via a live webcam.
Upon arriving at Yanji's apartment, "the director" finally revealed to Mira what her new job would be.
The man introduces her to a "mentor" with whom he will share the piece. Mira should watch, learn and practice.
"I could not believe it … It was as humiliating as a woman to undress in front of other people.When I cried, they asked me to if I cried because I was homesick. "
The webcam bad site, and most of its users are South Koreans .
North Korean girls leave the apartment once every six months. They pay by the minute, so women are encouraged to keep the attention of the man as long as possible.
Whenever Mira hesitated or displayed fear, the director threatened to send her back to North Korea.
"All my parents work for the government and I would shame my family if I came back, I would rather disappear like tobacco or die."
About nine women lived in this apartment. When Mira's first roommate ran away with another young woman, she was taken away with another group of women. It's like that that he met Jiyun.
She only fell asleep four hours a night to reach the daily goal of $ 177 (about $ 664). I was desperate to make money to help the family.
Sometimes Jiyun consoles Mira telling him not to rebel, but to negotiate with the director.
"First, work hard," said Mira. "And if the director does not release you, then negotiate with him."
Jiyun says that during the years when she made more money than other girls, the director treated her better than the others.
"I thought that he really cared about me, but the days when my profit dropped, the expression of his face changed."
The apartment was closely watched by the director's family. His parents were sleeping in the living room and guarding the locked door.
The director gives food to the girls and his brother, who live nearby, and go to the apartment every day to remove garbage.
"It was a complete confinement, worse than a prison," says Jiyun.
The young North Koreans were leaving the apartment once every six months in general, or once a month if they benefited from it. In those rare moments, they would shop or cut their hair. But they were not allowed to talk to anyone.
"The director was very close to us because he feared we were fleeing," says Mira. "I wanted to walk freely, but I could not, we could not talk to anyone, even buying a bottle of water, I felt stupid."
The director named one of the women in the apartment "responsible" and she looked after the others when he was not present.
The director promised Mira that he would marry her with a good man if she worked hard. Jiun promised that she would allow him to get in touch with his family.
When Jiyun asked to release her, he said that she had to earn $ 53,200 to pay her "debt" for the trip. Then he said that he could not release her because she could not find coyotes to help her go home.
Mira and Jiyun have never seen the money earned through the videos. The director first said that once released, he would give them 30% of what they had charged. But Mira and Jiyun became more and more worried when they realized that they could never win their freedom.
"Suicide is not something I would normally think of committing, but I tried to overdose on drugs and jump out the window," Jiyun explains.
The years pbaded – five years for Mira and eight years for Jiyun.
Until a live Mira client with her webcam, which she had known for three years, understands the situation and decides to help her. He put him in touch with Pastor Chun Kiwon, who helped North Koreans escape the country for 20 years.
The client has also remotely installed a messaging application on Mira's computer so that she can communicate with the pastor.
Pastor Chun Kiwon is well known to North Korean defectors. North Korean public television often attacks it, calling it "hijacker". Since he founded his Christian NGO Durihana in 1999, he estimates he has helped 1,200 people to leave North Korea safely.
He receives two to three ransom demands a month, but finds the cases of Mira and Jiyun particularly troubling.
"I have seen girls imprisoned for up to three years, but I have never seen any cases of imprisonment during all this time.
Chun says that the trafficking of women deserters has become more organized and North Korean border guards are involved.
Women's prizes can range from a few hundred to thousands of dollars, and while official statistics are hard to come by, the United Nations has Reported Concerns at High Rates of North Korean Female Trafficking
For 16 consecutive years, the US Department of State's report on human trafficking has consistently ranked North Korea among the countries of the world where the number of cases of human trafficking was the highest.
For one month, Chun remained in contact with Mira and Jiyun via the webcam bad site, pretending to be a client. two young women could pretend to work while they planned to escape.
"Normally, incarcerated prisoners have no idea where they are, they are blindfolded or at night, and fortunately Mira and Jiyun knew where they were in Yanji and could see the sign of a hotel at the hotel. 'exterior of the building.' window, "said Chun.
By identifying the exact location on Google Maps, the pastor was able to send a volunteer from his organization to Durihana to prepare for the escape.
Leaving China is dangerous for anyone who has fled North Korea.
Most want to reach a third country or embbady of South Korea, where they receive asylum and tickets for South Korea
But traveling through China without identity documents is dangerous
"In the past, defectors were able to find a way to travel with a fake document. But today, the authorities have electronic devices to check if an identity is true or false, "says Chun.
After escaping from the apartment, Jiyun and Mira began the crossing of China with the help of volunteers from the NGO Durihana
Without identity, it would be risky to register in hotels or hostels, so they slept in trains or spent sleepless nights in restaurants.
The last day of the trip, after climbing a mountain for five hours, finally crossed the border and entered a country neighboring China. where they left China can not be revealed.
Twelve days after escaping from the apartment, Mira and Jiyun met Chun personally for the first time.
"I think that I will only be totally safe when I am I was a South Korean citizen, but the only contact with Pastor Chun allowed me to feel safe. "I cried for the idea of regaining freedom," said Jiyun.
Together, they drove for another 27 hours to the nearest South Korean city.
According to Chun, some North Koreans feel that the last part of the trip is particularly difficult because they are not used to traveling by car.
Shortly before arriving at the embbady, Jiyun smiled nervously and said that he felt like it.
"They often have seasickness and faint sometimes after so much vomiting.This is a terrible path, held by those who are trying to escape." to cry.
"I feel like I'm out of hell," Jiyun said. "There are a lot of feelings coming and going, maybe I will never see my family again if I go to South Korea, and I feel guilty, it was not my intention to leave."
The pastor and the young women together cross the door of the South Korean Embbady. Seconds later, only Chun returns. His mission was over.
Mira and Jiyun will take a direct flight to South Korea, where they will undergo a rigorous investigation process conducted by the national intelligence services. The goal is to check if they are not spies.
The two men will then spend three months in a settlement for North Koreans in the city of Hanawon, where they will learn to adapt to the new life in South Korea.
South Korean refugees learn to shop in supermarkets. to use smartphones as well as the principles of the free-trade economy and are trained to get a job. They also receive advice.
After that, they officially become South Korean citizens.
"I want to live a normal life, have a coffee in a restaurant and talk to friends, said Jiyun.
" I want to learn English or Chinese to work as a tour guide ", Mira explains about his plans in South Korea. "Someone once said that it would stop raining, but the rainy season was so long that I could not see it. forgot that the sun existed. "
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