The guards regularly appoint prisoners to be informers and one of them betrayed the group of Christians. "The Christians were all horribly tortured and then sent to another camp, with an even stricter regime. After that, I never found another Christian in Yodok."
Released
On 1 April 1992, four years after Kim arrived at Yodok, he gathered with thousands of other prisoners two weeks before Kim Il-sung's birthday. "In honour of the occasion, some prisoners were to be released. My name was read out! I could not believe it. The joy was indescribable."
Nine days later Kim left Yodok by train. He went to his family, but they didn't want anything to do with him. "All I wanted to do was to get away from North Korea. But as a former prisoner, I was watched by the secret police."
During the famine of the 1990s, checks were less strict and no one noticed Kim slip away. He went north to the river Jalou, which forms the border, and ran for his life through the partially frozen water, and made it to China.
Finally, Kim found a hiding place; he had various jobs - and again came into contact with Christians. In 1997, he received a Korean Bible - and made his commitment to Jesus Christ. "God sought me and I accepted His Word as truth. Slowly I began to understand the Bible better and I became the Bible study group leader of some North Korean Christians."
But in China Kim was far from safe. In 2001 he came across an organisation which smuggles North Koreans out of China. Kim was one of eight people taken via Mongolia to South Korea. When they crossed the border, six were caught. "There is little doubt about their fate. They were sent back to North Korea and tortured."
Kim reached South Korea safely. He now works for an organisation which supports North Koreans in China. "Only God can cause a breakthrough in North Korea," says Kim. "But how? Through a war? Through a natural disaster? Let us pray that God will intervene without there being any bloodshed."
"My personal message is: show an interest in my country. Pray for it. We need your support."
[Editor's Note: This article was published in partnership with Open Doors UK]
