A two-time North Korean defector broke down in tears as he recalled his tragic life growing up in the dictatorship – where he claims he was brutally tortured by the regime.
In an interview with LADbible TV on YouTube, Timothy Cho, who grew up in a small town of 10,000 people near the Chinese border, opened up about living in the ‘prison country’ and how he eventually escaped.
Timothy’s parents abandoned him when he was just nine years old, leaving him homeless and battling starvation. Through tears, he remembered being forced to go to public executions at just 11 years old.
Incredibly, he managed to escape but said he was captured by the Chinese Army and brutally tortured for his defection.
However, he finally gained freedom thanks to the actions of a 13-year-old student who saved his life by writing a letter which got picked up by international media.
Recalling being forced to go to public executions at just 11 years old, he said: ‘Hundreds of people gathered, but specifically, they told all children to sit at the front of the crowd, children.
‘And the man tied up on the post. He was a criminal because he helped three North Korean women to cross the border to China. So, three policemen, each with an AK-47.
‘The first bullet, it went into the eyes. The eyes were covered, and the bullet popped out of the eyes.
Timothy Cho (pictured), who grew up in a small town of 10,000 people near the Chinese border, broke down in tears as he recalled his tragic life growing up in the dictatorship
‘And second, three bullets went into the belly button, where the belly was tied up as well. And third, was on the knee. Now, the body was falling into a hole that was prepared.’
When Timothy was nine years old, his parents, who were both high school teachers, fled the country after hearing that they were politically persecuted and would end up in a prison camp.
Timothy recalled arriving home from school to realise his parents had abandoned him.
He said: ‘From the day when I came back from school, I could see they had left. And I ran to the train station, the train was gone.
‘And I sat down at the railway and cried and cried. And then the next day, the reality came. I went to my uncle’s house. I thought they might be able to look after me.
‘I went on the train in cold weather and, on my arrival, went to my uncle’s house. I could see sweet cornbread and soup on the table. It was quite warm.
‘You feel hungry, you feel relieved thinking you were able to eat. My auntie and uncle were there. They would not ask me if I had eaten at all.’
Timothy explained that in Korean culture if someone had travelled a long way, they would usually be provided with food and a bed for the night, but his relatives were unable to offer him food as they were going through a ‘hard time’.
He said: ‘So I left my uncle’s house in tears. And then went to the market picking up food on the floor. So, the memory was many years ago, but it remains deep.
‘I don’t blame them. And I have seen many kids die of starvation on the streets. And even myself, I often slept in train containers or on the bridge, at the station.’
Timothy’s parents abandoned him when he was aged just nine, leaving him living on the streets and battling starvation (featured in The Daily Star)
Timothy said he lived for a ‘few years’ on the streets before going to his grandmother’s house to work on her farm.
He said: ‘It was a few years of my life with my grandmother. It was one of the best moments. I did ask my grandmother so many times, ”Why are my parents gone?”
‘I didn’t understand at that time, which I now understand. And then she was crying with me. There was love. She was like my mum, yeah, until I escaped from the country.’
When Timothy finished high school, he made the brave decision to escape by crossing the Tumen River into China at night with five other people.
Once they arrived in China, the group parted ways, and Timothy attempted to cross the Mongolian border, where he was captured and arrested by the Chinese army.
Timothy’s escape was seen as a ‘political treason act’, and he was sent back to North Korea for ‘punishment’.
He said: ‘The police were waiting for us and was swearing at us. ‘B*****ds. You betrayed your dear leader’s country. And we were all tied up with our hands and legs. Now, I was in a prison cell. In my prison cell, I had around 50 people.
‘The rest of my life, I’ll never forget what I saw there. And things happened to me. The painful stuff which I still have on my body. By the time when I was sent to my grandmother’s house I couldn’t walk, I couldn’t sit down.’
Despite this, Timothy attempted to escape again, and his friend’s mother helped him escape into China for the second time. From there, he travelled to Shanghai with eight other defectors.
The group went to an American school in Shanghai, which they thought would help them leave China safely.
He said: ‘[We] Went inside the school. And we had a paper [with writing saying] that ”we’re North Korean escapees, please help us”.
Since arriving in the UK he has received a BA in International Relations and Politics from the University of Salford and an MA in International Relations and Security from the University of Liverpool (pictured with James Cleverly)
‘And school was now panicking, as you can imagine. Public school, all these school children, young children were all coming and watching us, standing there.
‘The school principal came and say to us and said ”I’m gonna have a chat with someone and come back to you guys.” He probably made a call with the US Embassy in Beijing.’
The Chinese police ‘used force’ to drag them into the police van, even ‘beating the women’ with Timothy while the school children watched on in tears.
Later, Timothy said he attempted suicide in the police station toilet because he didn’t want to be killed by the regime. But he later woke up in a prison cell in China.
He said: ‘After a couple of months, two men visited me in the prison. I first thought they were from North Korean embassy.
‘And they were actually smiling at me. And that smile didn’t look like from North Korean embassy. But one guy was a South Korean diplomat, and the other guy was a Westerner. I wasn’t sure where he came from.
‘But they came and told me, ”You have very good news.” The Chinese government made the very unusual decision to deport me and my group to the Philippines instead of North Korea.’
Timothy learned that a 13-year-old student from the American school in Shanghai wrote an email to a reporter begging her to do something to help the group.
He said: ‘That little girl wrote, “We were traumatised watching the arrest, and beaten of the group who were dragged into police vans. And we were young and powerless. We were in tears, and couldn’t do anything. As a reporter, could you please do something?’
Timothy now lives in the UK, where he has studied at Salford and Liverpool universities
‘And that little girl’s email touched the reporter’s heart. And then she urged CNN, Washington Post, BBC, and all the international media to press on the Chinese government to not send us back to North Korea because we would be killed.’
Timothy said the story led to human rights groups and religious groups protesting in front of the Chinese government.
He and the eight other escapees were given diplomatic passports and given refugee status in the Philippines.
From the Philippines he continued his journey to find a democratic life, eventually settling in the UK.
In 2004, he arrived in the UK aged 18, and said the immigration officers started tearing up when he explained what he had been through to them upon arrival.
Since arriving in the UK, he has gained a BA in International Relations and Politics from the University of Salford and an MA in International Relations and Security from the University of Liverpool.
