Chapter 21 Chapter 18

The long dark night is over, and the clear morning is approaching.I also ushered in the morning of life.I moved into a new house with windows, and the morning sun shone into the house. I opened the windows to breathe in the fresh air. Outside the windows was the continuous valley, and the flowers on the hillside were in full bloom. In the distance, a group of climbers are climbing to the top of the mountain, and their voices can be heard in the valley.I had an impulse to shout at them, but I didn't want to wake up Li Yu, who was sleeping next to her. The morning newspaper had been stuffed in from under the door. I opened the newspaper and turned to the first page. Kim Hyun Hee received a presidential pardon in big bold letters.I was very happy to see these words.It confirmed that the news is absolutely true, but I dare not read the following article.

On this day we went to Seoul Grand Park, which was full of traveling students and tourists.During this day, I mixed in the sea of ​​people and felt happy and happy.I'm not an outsider anymore, I belong to this world, and it's a wonderful feeling. A group of schoolgirls are playing a game of Duck Duck Goose, similar to North Korea's Duck Duck Goose.I looked at them enviously and said to Li Yu: You know what?I have also played this game.It's more fun than the game we've learned before.Later Kim Jong-il banned the game and replaced it with songs such as Go Forward, Let's Go Forward, Beat the Yankees.songs like that.

We then came to an art museum.As you can expect it's very different from anything I've seen in North Korea.Half of all artwork is based on nudity, and nude art is banned in North Korea.It reminds me of a movie I saw at training camp called Dog Eat Dog Society!It was a documentary showing a group of artists with paint on their bodies and rolling around naked on the canvas they were painting on.The purpose of letting us watch this movie is to expose the decadent western culture to us.On that occasion, we have to say according to the rules: It is really a world of animals. The works of art in this museum are rich and varied, exquisite and unique.Li Yu and the others felt tired quickly and had to sit on the bench to rest, but I walked happily for three hours and felt extremely relaxed.

I gradually started a new life.Although I am technically free, I still have to live in Nanshan for a while. The intelligence agency got word that the North Korean agents in Seoul had been ordered to assassinate me, and if left unprotected, my life would be in danger.I actually really don't care.I got a new room, a TV, and always had Nan Qiang, Shen Zhu, and Li Yu as company.I started studying theology with a pastor named Han, who met me several times during my trial and taught me some things about the Bible. You have gained a new life. One day we were walking on the hillside near Nanshan, and the spies followed a few steps behind us.He said to me: Why don't you go to confess in my church?We'd love to host you.

Oh, I can't go, Reverend.I said in embarrassment: I don't deserve it. Although I have been granted an amnesty, we both understand that I am a sinner. We are all sinners, Hyun Hee.And, if you want to know the truth, I think you are a living testimony of God's miracles. But how do I confess? You just say to the church that you are thankful for the gift of the merciful Lord.Tell everyone that you have converted to Christianity and believe in the greatness and omnipotence of God.It's easy to do. As I walked, I thought about his words. I had said that religion was ridiculed and ridiculed in North Korea, but I understood that the Bible verses that Pastor Han taught me had meaning, at least to me.I know very well that Christianity is a belief and not a science; although I am not a Westerner, its teachings really touched my heart.I began to see the presence of God in everything around me, and I took comfort in being a Christian.

I still feel sorry for the love of God at times, I am afraid to speak in public no matter what.But Pastor Han treated me very well.He never judged me and always gave me hope.I timidly agreed to go to confession. He was overjoyed, and we set the date for May 16th, on this day, Li Yu went out and bought me a stylish two-piece suit, which I hesitated to wear because the skirt was too short.Many people in my life have praised me for being beautiful, but I never believed it was true.I never believed I was sexy because I spent most of my life under high pressure.This kingdom of physical attraction is completely mysterious to me.

But with Li Yu's encouragement, I still put on that suit.When Nan Qiang came in, I had just put on the suit, and he was astonished to see me. You're going to dazzle the lads.he joked.I laughed too.Nan Qiang is fifty years old, handsome and unmarried.That's all I know.His words made me so ashamed and proud that I couldn't think of anything to say in return. We go to the church.There was heavy traffic on the road and we just arrived on time.Pastor Han asked me to wait in the reception room. He introduced me and gave me a few words of final encouragement before I went to the podium.

After I was introduced, there was a round of applause from the crowd, which really surprised me.There were a lot of reporters in the arena, but for some reason I didn't feel uneasy.I stood in front of the podium, my throat was dry, I boldly coughed a few times, cleared my throat, and finally my voice came from the loudspeaker: Hello. I heard my own voice echoing in the church, and I suddenly felt that I was something special. God has shown us His power and miracles.I began to recite the prepared speech.When I finished speaking, everyone said Amen together.Many believers cried down there and I was so touched by the amount of forgiveness people showed me.I am also grateful that I have found a God-given refuge that has given me a new life.

In the days that followed, one of the most shocking and joyful events happened to me since my arrest.That evening, while I was watching the sky turn blood red at sunset and enjoying the breeze blowing on my face, Nan Qiang came into my room.The sun cast a warm afterglow on the flowery hillside, and it was a great relief to be alive to appreciate the beauty. Look at this, he swished a picture over.Do you recognize the person above? I glanced at the black and white photo and was stunned. God, where did you get that? You recognize it.He rushes me. Got it, I said.It was a group photo of my mother's whole class when she was in middle school.She showed it to me a few years ago.Immediately the image of my mother flashed before me, and I felt as if I were reunited with her.How I miss her!how did you get itI asked him again, trembling.

Hey, he grinned.There is a story here.Miss Jin, it seems that you have relatives in Seoul. July 21, 1989. The meeting was arranged in the administrative hall of the five northern provinces, and many journalists would definitely attend, but I didn't care.What they found was my mother's cousin named Lin Guanghao. When I got to the meeting place, my heart was beating fast.There is a conference room in the lobby. I walked through the group of reporters, ignoring the reporters and answering any questions.My eyes looked straight ahead. After a while, I saw him, and for a while I thought he was my grandfather's younger brother, Uncle Guangzhi.He also saw me and was waving at me.But apparently we are not allowed to speak to each other yet.Next to him stood the police, who wanted to confirm that he was indeed my relative.We were asked some family questions, but to me he didn't need any more proof.He looks exactly like Kwang Shik.

After all the formalities were completed, I rushed up and hugged him: Uncle, why did you recognize me as a relative?I asked him with tears: You don't need to come at all.Why let yourself be wronged in public? He was also crying, but when I said that, he smiled.How can I not come?He said. We were ushered into another room and got rid of the reporters.Kwang-ho introduced me to his sister and children, who were waiting for us inside.After introducing them one by one, we all sat down, and Guanghao began to tell the story of the past. Xian Ji, your grandfather was an excellent calligrapher and a big family member of Gesang.There are seventy houses in the family.As you know, Gesang was incorporated into North Korea's territory after the war, and your father's property was of course confiscated.But some of us fled south. Your mother was a very good dancer and went to a Christian school called Houston High School for Girls.The photo you saw is of Mrs. Jin Binshu, who is your mother's classmate. I was astonished to hear this.It is also totally understandable that my mother never told me about all this.Everything Kwang Ho said about Christianity, wealth, defection to the South, etc. was condemned by the North Korean government.I had a bout of polio when I was very young, from which I miraculously recovered.After that, my mother said outside for several days: God saved her.God is so good to us.Now I know what my mother said from the heart. We talked for hours, each telling his own story.They were happy to know what happened to my parents and siblings, and I was very happy to know that I still have loved ones in my adopted country.Of course, our meeting was always haunted by the fact that my family was still in the north, still living under the tyrant's iron heel. From this day on, I resolved to dedicate my new life to the noblest cause.I'm going to sue Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il every chance I get.I'm going to do everything I can to unify Korea but this time I'm going to do it from the other side.I'm going to give speeches, give interviews, and expose the true colors of North Korea and its rulers.I have been to many countries Russia, Hungary, Austria, Italy, China and so on.I have found no country where people live worse than North Korea. What Kim Il Sung and his family have done has deprived the North Korean people of their cultural traditions and their right to live freely and happily.They divided the nation and caused irreparable damage to the people.This is truly a historical tragedy of a generation. At this moment in Seoul, where I was born again, I am sitting here with my flesh and blood, and I can't help but feel mixed emotions and tears.After all the hardships, we finally came together, but we were far from all together.We can never be at ease until the division between North and South is healed.We can only keep working hard and hope that one day our family, all Koreans, will be one.