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Miami Herald
20 hours ago
- Politics
- Miami Herald
The painful road to freedom: A North Korean escapee's story
July 21 (UPI) --The following account was presented by Jihyang Kim at a recent forum of the North Korean Young Leaders' Assembly held at the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation in Washington, D.C. The assembly is an annual event gathering young North Korean escapees to engage with the U.S. executive and congressional branches, think tanks and NGOs. My name is Jihyang Kim. I escaped from North Korea in the spring of 2012, when I was 19 years old. Today, I stand before you not only as a Fulbright scholar pursuing my master's degree in the United States, but also as a survivor -- and a witness -- of the brutal realities of life under a communist regime. I want to share with you how the ideology of communism stripped me and millions of others of our basic rights, dignity, and dreams. 1: North Korea - A life determined by the state Growing up under North Korea's totalitarian rule, I was taught that the state came before the individual, that loyalty to the regime was more important than personal dreams and that questioning the system was dangerous. As a young girl, I dreamed of becoming a novelist. I was fascinated by literature and wanted to study Japanese to read detective novels in their original language. Despite being the top student in my class, I couldn't apply for the language school because my family couldn't afford the required bribe. In North Korea, merit is meaningless without political loyalty or financial backing. This was my first clear experience of how the system worked -- not for the people, but against them. The promise of equality under communism was a lie. Instead, I saw corruption, oppression and injustice. That cognitive dissonance planted the seed of rebellion in me. I began to question the system I had been raised to worship. The second turning point came in 2009, when the North Korean regime implemented a disastrous currency reform. Overnight, our savings became worthless. I still remember seeing the old bills scattered in the market like trash. Inflation soared and food vanished. My family starved. I lie on the cold floor, too weak to move, and decided to risk everything for a chance at life. I realized if I stayed, I would die, anyway, not with dignity, but in silence. 2: China - Escaping the regime, entering another cage Crossing the border into China did not mean freedom. It meant becoming stateless -- an invisible person with no rights, no protection and no home. I was no longer hungry, but I was no longer human, either. The Chinese government does not recognize North Korean defectors as refugees, so we are hunted like criminals, deported if caught. I became one of the many North Korean women sold into forced marriages, treated as property and silenced through violence. At 19, I watched university students -- my peers-- walk past me in the streets. I didn't envy their clothes or phones. I envied their freedom to dream. I heard villagers joke about "buying" North Korean brides and brag about beating them if they tried to escape. I lived in fear, not only for myself, but for my baby. I became a mother in China, but I could not offer my son legal protection, education or safety. I was a mother in name, but powerless in reality. 3: Still trapped in the system's shadows Today, I'm grateful. I am studying in the United States, supported by countless people who believe in me. But I have not forgotten the millions still trapped under the same system that nearly destroyed me. North Korea's regime continues to control every aspect of its citizens' lives: movement, thoughts, speech, even love. In China, over 10,000 North Korean women remain trapped in forced relationships, their human rights violated daily (North Korea Human Rights Information Center, 2023). In 2017, South Korean news media reported that 20% of these women are forced into online sexual exploitation. Worse still, around 10,000 children born to these undocumented women have no legal identity. They cannot go to school, receive medical care or even prove their existence. These are not isolated tragedies. These are the long shadows cast by communist authoritarianism. 4: Why this matters People often ask me why I risked my life to escape. My answer is simple: because I wanted to live with dignity. Under communism, I was denied that right. The ideology promised equality, but delivered only fear, hunger and silence. It punished ambition, crushed individuality and destroyed families. What I experienced is not just a personal story -- it is a warning. Communism, when weaponized by dictatorship, erases the human spirit. It uses beautiful words like "justice" and "equality" to hide systems of control and cruelty. I am no longer a voiceless girl hiding in a dark room. I am here to speak for those who still cannot. I am here to tell you that the victims of communism are not just numbers in a textbook. They are children who starve, women who are sold and dreamers who are silenced. I survived. And now, I speak -- not because I am brave, but because silence is complicity. Thank you. Jihyang Kim, a North Korean escapee and Fulbright scholar, was born in Hyesan, Ryanggang Province. She escaped from North Korea in 2012, driven by the famine and skyrocketing inflation that followed the country's disastrous currency reform. After fleeing to China, where she lived as a non-person and suffered exploitation for several years, she managed to reach South Korea in 2016. Despite only having an elementary education, Jihyang excelled academically in South Korea, earning numerous awards. In college, she championed social integration between South Koreans and North Korean escapees. Jihyang is passionate about education, which she believes is the foundation for personal and community transformation. She is preparing for the opportunity to empower North Korean youth with high-quality, democratic education after reunification. Copyright 2025 UPI News Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
UPI
a day ago
- Politics
- UPI
The painful road to freedom: A North Korean escapee's story
A general view of Sinuiju, North Korea, taken from across the Yalu River from the Chinese city of Dandong, Liaoning Province, China, in 2013, a year after Jihyang Kim escaped from North Korea. File Photo by How Hwee Young/EPA July 21 (UPI) -- The following account was presented by Jihyang Kim at a recent forum of the North Korean Young Leaders' Assembly held at the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation in Washington, D.C. The assembly is an annual event gathering young North Korean escapees to engage with the U.S. executive and congressional branches, think tanks and NGOs. My name is Jihyang Kim. I escaped from North Korea in the spring of 2012, when I was 19 years old. Today, I stand before you not only as a Fulbright scholar pursuing my master's degree in the United States, but also as a survivor -- and a witness -- of the brutal realities of life under a communist regime. I want to share with you how the ideology of communism stripped me and millions of others of our basic rights, dignity, and dreams. 1: North Korea - A life determined by the state Growing up under North Korea's totalitarian rule, I was taught that the state came before the individual, that loyalty to the regime was more important than personal dreams and that questioning the system was dangerous. As a young girl, I dreamed of becoming a novelist. I was fascinated by literature and wanted to study Japanese to read detective novels in their original language. Despite being the top student in my class, I couldn't apply for the language school because my family couldn't afford the required bribe. In North Korea, merit is meaningless without political loyalty or financial backing. This was my first clear experience of how the system worked -- not for the people, but against them. The promise of equality under communism was a lie. Instead, I saw corruption, oppression and injustice. That cognitive dissonance planted the seed of rebellion in me. I began to question the system I had been raised to worship. The second turning point came in 2009, when the North Korean regime implemented a disastrous currency reform. Overnight, our savings became worthless. I still remember seeing the old bills scattered in the market like trash. Inflation soared and food vanished. My family starved. I lie on the cold floor, too weak to move, and decided to risk everything for a chance at life. I realized if I stayed, I would die, anyway, not with dignity, but in silence. 2: China - Escaping the regime, entering another cage Crossing the border into China did not mean freedom. It meant becoming stateless -- an invisible person with no rights, no protection and no home. I was no longer hungry, but I was no longer human, either. The Chinese government does not recognize North Korean defectors as refugees, so we are hunted like criminals, deported if caught. I became one of the many North Korean women sold into forced marriages, treated as property and silenced through violence. At 19, I watched university students -- my peers-- walk past me in the streets. I didn't envy their clothes or phones. I envied their freedom to dream. I heard villagers joke about "buying" North Korean brides and brag about beating them if they tried to escape. I lived in fear, not only for myself, but for my baby. I became a mother in China, but I could not offer my son legal protection, education or safety. I was a mother in name, but powerless in reality. 3: Still trapped in the system's shadows Today, I'm grateful. I am studying in the United States, supported by countless people who believe in me. But I have not forgotten the millions still trapped under the same system that nearly destroyed me. North Korea's regime continues to control every aspect of its citizens' lives: movement, thoughts, speech, even love. In China, over 10,000 North Korean women remain trapped in forced relationships, their human rights violated daily (North Korea Human Rights Information Center, 2023). In 2017, South Korean news media reported that 20% of these women are forced into online sexual exploitation. Worse still, around 10,000 children born to these undocumented women have no legal identity. They cannot go to school, receive medical care or even prove their existence. These are not isolated tragedies. These are the long shadows cast by communist authoritarianism. 4: Why this matters People often ask me why I risked my life to escape. My answer is simple: because I wanted to live with dignity. Under communism, I was denied that right. The ideology promised equality, but delivered only fear, hunger and silence. It punished ambition, crushed individuality and destroyed families. What I experienced is not just a personal story -- it is a warning. Communism, when weaponized by dictatorship, erases the human spirit. It uses beautiful words like "justice" and "equality" to hide systems of control and cruelty. I am no longer a voiceless girl hiding in a dark room. I am here to speak for those who still cannot. I am here to tell you that the victims of communism are not just numbers in a textbook. They are children who starve, women who are sold and dreamers who are silenced. I survived. And now, I speak -- not because I am brave, but because silence is complicity. Thank you. Jihyang Kim, a North Korean escapee and Fulbright scholar, was born in Hyesan, Ryanggang Province. She escaped from North Korea in 2012, driven by the famine and skyrocketing inflation that followed the country's disastrous currency reform. After fleeing to China, where she lived as a non-person and suffered exploitation for several years, she managed to reach South Korea in 2016. Despite only having an elementary education, Jihyang excelled academically in South Korea, earning numerous awards. In college, she championed social integration between South Koreans and North Korean escapees. Jihyang is passionate about education, which she believes is the foundation for personal and community transformation. She is preparing for the opportunity to empower North Korean youth with high-quality, democratic education after reunification.
Hans India
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Hans India
A poetic odyssey through time, memory, and mysticism
Dr. Maja Herman Sekulić [Serbia/USA] is a towering literary figure whose work excels in poetic grandeur, aesthetic beauty, prophetic insight, and global reach. A Princeton Ph.D. in World Literature and double Fulbright Fellow, she is a Nobel-nominated poet, novelist, essayist, bilingual scholar, and major translator. Author of 30 books in Serbian, English, German, and French, her poems have been translated into 25 languages. She also serves as Vice-President of the International Academy of Ethics. 'Grand Plan', by Maja Herman Sekulić, [translated by Claudia Piccinno with a foreword by Dante Maffia], is a world poem. In this monumental collection, Sekulić creates an interior atlas stretching from Belgrade to Rome, from Princeton to Myanmar, suspended between ancient civilizations and modern pandemics. 'Love is the only project,' declares one of the key verses, and around this axis rotate family memories, historical traumas, and mystical revelations. Style: Clear yet richly layered. Each poem is a small vessel navigating time and consciousness. Sekulić shifts between lyrical and civic, autobiographical and mythological modes with natural ease. Her imagery is potent—the Super Moon observing war, jade dispelling nocturnal ghosts, the archaic Mother of Vinča carving the word Love. Recurring Themes: • Loss of identity: Fragmented genealogies, vanished nations, disappearing homes. • Ancestral feminine strength: From the mother-father fusion in 'Daughter of Sisyphus' to the 'Madonna di Vinča', sacred and generative. • Mysticism and Nature: The Danube as mother-river, rain as epiphany, the jungle as a cosmic womb. • Memory and survival: Amid dictatorships, wars, and pandemics, the word endures— 'When the world collapses... pick up the pieces.' A Total Work: This collection bridges poetry and history, spirituality and politics, East and West. It sings and affects, caresses and screams. Sekulić's voice is, as Maffia notes, 'an expressive force that can give life to memories and make even the personal become universal.' Tesla and I: Poetry and the Electricity of the Soul Living within walls once occupied by Nikola Tesla in New York, Maja dances between past and present, matter and metaphysics, showing how poetry generates energy. Open-hearted Analysis: 'On the top of the world I / in the poet's tower / up there / in the grey sky / let my thoughts come out / singing in a full voice' These lines reflect an alchemy of solitude and elevation. Maja seeks to inhabit Tesla's mind—not to narrate it—but to feel and transmit its rhythm in verse: 'We live in his world / as he lives in my poetry.' A Perfect Closing: This is total symbiosis. We live surrounded by the world Tesla imagined; he lives eternally in Maja's poetry. 'Grand Plan' is a hymn to memory as a form of eternity—placing Maja Herman Sekulić alongside Leonard Cohen, Pasternak, and Patti Smith. (Mauro Montacchiesi one of the leading Italian intellectuals, multi-talented and multi awarded author, ex-President of Art Academy of Rome)
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Stop Helicopter Parenting and Start Panda Parenting, Say Experts
FAFO parenting, gentle parenting, lighthouse parenting, attachment parenting—there's no shortage of labels when it comes to different parenting styles and philosophies. One you might not have heard of is panda parenting, where kids' abilities to solve their own problems come front and center. I interviewed the educator, author and mother who coined the term to learn more about this sensible parenting approach. Here's what you need to know. Esther Wojcicki, often called the 'Godmother of Silicon Valley,' is the best-selling author of How to Raise Successful People, founder of the renowned journalism program at Palo Alto High School, and mother to three incredibly accomplished daughters: former YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, epidemiologist and Fulbright scholar Janet Wojcicki, and 23andMe founder Anne Wojcicki. Esther is known for her parenting TRICK method (Trust, Respect, Independence, Collaboration, and Kindness) which was the basis of her book and widely featured in the media. She now launched the Parenting TRICK app—a new tool designed to give parents real-time, personalized support rooted in her proven method. According to Wojcicki, panda parenting, an answer to the flawed helicopter parenting style, is an approach that promotes independence, personal responsibility and healthy self-esteem; 'Panda parenting is a way to empower your kids to believe in themselves. Unfortunately, helicopter parenting—though it's done from a place of concern and a desire to help one's child as much as possible to be successful—ends up with the opposite result, where kids feel that they always need help in order to be able to do something. OK, so panda parenting is about avoiding the pitfalls of helicoptering, but what does that look like in practice? Wojcicki tells me it's pretty simple: step back and encourage your kid to resolve their own issues whenever possible, so long as it doesn't compromise their physical or psychological safety. This parenting philosophy might be mistaken for laziness, but that misconception applies to the wild animal it's named after. Indeed, panda moms have been observed to have a very nurturing nature, which is counterbalanced with a hands-off approach that encourages independence and exploration; they give their young the space they need to grow. Needless to say, Wojcicki is a huge proponent of panda parenting; after all, she introduced the concept and coined the term in her book How to Raise Successful People: Simple Lessons for Radical Results. She makes a very strong case though, citing the increasing rates of teen substance abuse, which she attributes to the sense of dependency that results from having helicopter parents. She also says that panda parenting revolves around one central (and I think very true) notion: kids don't need to be controlled so much as they need to be understood. 'I came up with a useful acronym for panda parenting, and it's TRICK, which stands for trust, respect, independence, collaboration and kindness,' says Wojcicki, adding that 'respect doesn't mean allowing a kid to do whatever they want; it means respecting their ideas and listening, and having discussions to figure out how to give them as much independence as possible.' And yep, kindness and empathy are the key underpinnings to this approach, because 'your child needs to believe that you are always kind.' Panda parenting is the goldilocks approach that keeps kids safe, healthy and confident; it doesn't bind them to you, suffocate them or lead to senseless power struggles. Sounds pretty good, right? But if you're wondering what it looks like in practice, I can share an example from my own life. (Full disclosure: I'm a shameless playground helicopter due to my own anxiety about kids getting hurt; but at home I'm 100 percent panda.) Recently, my tween daughter experienced a big blow-up between two of her close friends and ended up feeling caught in the middle. The two other moms ended up having a very heated text exchange, each trying to fervently defend their child. And in the end, they inadvertently co-opted the narrative. On the other hand, and in my best immitation of a panda mama, I simply told my daughter to hang out with whoever she wants and manage the drama the best way she saw fit. We talked, I gave vague advice and, pretty soon, I stopped hearing about it—primarily because she had found a way to either resolve or live with the existing conflict on her own. The takeaway? I chose not to get involved where I wasn't truly needed and my daughter learned how to use her own voice, communicate her own feelings and find her own solution to the problem she was experiencing within her friend group. And the expert tells me that is the essence of panda parenting, because 'it's important to let your child take the lead role in communication and conflict resolution.' (Sidebar: My tween also microwaves her own leftovers and makes her own sandwiches. I'm not sure if that counts as panda parenting empowerment, but not having to hop up and meet some need every five minutes sure is nice.) In most situations panda parenting works, though it's worth noting that this doesn't mean throwing caution and supervision to the wind when it comes to physical safety. 'Make sure they know how to swim before they jump in the pool. You want to make sure that they know how to take care of themselves if they're on a bicycle. In other words, they need to have instruction, especially when it comes to things that we all consider to be somewhat dangerous,' says Wocjicki. Additionally, I'd be remiss not to mention that panda parenting isn't always the ideal approach for neurodivergent kids. With autism, for example, different levels of intervention and advocacy may be required, but the parent is the best judge of that. Wojcicki advises parents of neurodivergent children to do as much as they can within that panda parenting framework without allowing the child to hurt themselves. Finally, the expert concedes that panda parenting is not a recommended philosophy to follow when it comes to kids who are in a compromised psychological state. If your child shows signs of a psychiatric condition that might involve delusional thinking, or an increased likelihood of doing harm to self or others, a more hands-on approach is recommended. What Is Attachment Parenting? An Expert Explains the Principles, and the Pros and Cons
NZ Herald
12-07-2025
- Business
- NZ Herald
On The Up: Harvard and Georgia Tech: Auckland's Shen brothers win prized scholarships after acing NCEA studies
Nothing looks set to slow Auckland's Shen brothers as they speed towards two of America's most prestigious universities with dreams of launching world-changing startups. Eric, 22, just landed one of the world's most elite scholarships – a $90,000, two-year Fulbright Masters study award at Georgia Tech. He's keen to push
