North Korean refugee stands as Tory candidate in Bury local elections

North Korean refugee who faced death as she escaped Kim Jong-Un’s prison state TWICE stands as Tory candidate in Bury local elections

• Jihyun Park, 52, fled North Korea with her brother in 1999 but was later captured 
• She ended up in labour camp, but was released due to a leg injury and fled again 
• Ms Park settled in Bury and now wants to become councillor for the Tory Party 

A North Korean refugee who faced death as she escaped Kim Jong-Un’s prison state twice is standing as a Conservative candidate in the Bury local elections.

Jihyun Park, 52, says she wants to repay a debt of kindness shown by the people of the town – where she settled in 2008 – by becoming a councillor for the Moorside Ward.    

‘I am really confident because I have already fought totalitarian evils twice, because I escaped North Korea twice,’ she said. ‘People were really nice to us. I want to pay back this debt.’

Ms Park fled the North Hamgyong province of North Korea with her younger brother in 1999, but fell into the hands of human traffickers on arrival in China. 

She was sold to a man whose family used her as a slave, falling pregnant with a son who she raised for five years until she was captured by Chinese authorities and sent back to North Korea alone.

Jihyun Park (pictured), 52, says she wants to repay a debt of kindness shown by the people of the town – where she settled in 2008 – by becoming a councillor.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attends a ceremony in Pyongyang, North Korea, today

 ‘One day I wanted to give up my life but I found that I was pregnant,’ she said. 

‘I had changed my mind because this child was my last family member – and maybe this child would give me hope.’

Without her son, and having been separated from her brother in China, Ms Park was imprisoned in a labour camp where she grew seriously ill from a leg injury.

‘The police told me that you cannot die inside the camp, you die outside. So they released me,’ Park said, adding that she prayed to survive so she could be reunited with her son.      

She regained enough strength to return to China and in 2005 she found her son, who had been treated badly by her former masters.

Park resolved to find a safe place for them.

Ms Park fled the North Hamgyong province of North Korea with her younger brother in 1999, but fell into the hands of human traffickers on arrival in China

She was sold to a man whose family used her as a slave, falling pregnant with a son who she raised for five years until she was captured by Chinese authorities and sent back to North Korea alone

She later met her now-husband during an abortive move to the Mongolian desert, and in 2007 a Korean pastor in Beijing put them in touch with the United Nations.

The family was then relocated to the UK, where the family settled in Bury.

Ms Park said she joined the Conservative Party due to their emphasis on family values and individual freedom.    

‘Britain taught me what is freedom, and what is human. So that’s why I want to help. Last year was a very difficult year and many people lost their family members,’ she said.

Ms Park said she joined the Conservative Party due to their emphasis on family values and individual freedom

The mother now spends her time helping other refugees from North Korea adjust to life in Britain.

While Ms Park leads a happy life in Bury and has now raised three children, her thoughts still turn to the past – and her younger brother.

‘I still don’t know whether he survived or not, but I never give up my hope. One day I want to be reunited with my brother,’ she said.

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