Why I escaped from my brainwashed country | Hyeonseo Lee | TEDxKyoto

North Korean defector, Hyeonseo Lee opens her own life and losses to the world in order to illuminate a human rights tragedy that has for too long rested in the shadows.
Great or small, our losses stay with us, unshakeable even as we grow beyond them. Hyeonseo Lee knows about loss. A North Korean defector, Hyeonseo once thought her country the best on earth. In 1995 her beliefs and life were shattered as the truths of famine, death and brutality crashed upon her. Her survival depended on her ability to escape North Korea to restart her life, but at a high price̶the loss of her family, home and country. Since escaping North Korea, Hyeonseo has risen to be a powerful voice for human rights, speaking in front of the UN Security Council and sharing her story and the plight of North Korean refugees across the world through speaking engagements and written articles featured in major newspapers, magazines and journals. By opening her own life and losses to the world, Hyeonseo Lee has helped illuminate a human rights tragedy that has for too long rested in the shadows, and along the way, has transformed loss into the promise of hope.
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at