A young mother reports on hunger, fear and total control in her home country – and explains how she and her family escaped one of the most brutal regimes in the world.
Feb 22, 2026, 5:36 p.mFeb 22, 2026, 5:36 p.m
When Kim Yumi gets into the wooden boat that stormy night, it is shortly before 10 p.m. Sitting next to her are her husband, her two small children, her mother, her brother, her husband’s older brother, his heavily pregnant wife and her mother-in-law. Nine people – ten with the unborn baby. Behind them lies North Korea, in front of them the open sea. They know that if their attempt to escape fails, they will not survive.
Kim Yumi from North Korea in conversation with CH Media in Geneva.Image: Fabian Hock
“We consciously chose darkness and bad weather,” she says today. This was the only way, they hoped, that they could avoid surveillance by Kim Jong Un’s regime.
The North Korean Coast Guard noticed their escape. “We were followed throughout the entire crossing,” says Kim Yumi. They took turns and changed direction again and again. “We threw objects into the sea to irritate the pursuers.”
Then, just before the sea border with South Korea, something unexpected happened. The lights behind them slowed. “We suspect that one of the fishing nets we threw into the water got caught in their engine,” she says. Maybe it was this very net that saved her life.
She said calmly that she had no fear of drowning during her escape. “If I fall overboard, there’s at least a chance of survival,” is all she thought. Getting caught would have been a sure end. “If the soldiers had caught up with us, we would have been dead.”
Dictator Kim Jong Un destroyed all hope
The UN has now invited the North Korean woman to Geneva. On the sidelines of the Summit for Human Rights and Democracy, she tells CH Media not only about her spectacular escape, but also about the terrible conditions in the country – and about the spark of hope she still had a few years ago.
When Kim Jong-un took power in the early 2010s, there was certainly confidence. He had studied in Switzerland; many believed in cautious reforms. Her husband also thought for a long time about whether the system could change.
The turning point came in November 2022. Kim Jong-un publicly presented his daughter – a clear signal that the dictatorship should pass on to the next generation. “It was then that we realized that nothing would change,” says Kim Yumi. They began planning specifically in the same year and implemented their plan in 2023.
Dictator Kim Jong-un with his daughter Kim Ju-ae.Image: keystone
The South Korean secret service now also assumes that the dictator wants to make his daughter Kim Ju-ae heir to the throne.
Unbelievable injustices
Kim Yumi grew up in a small coastal village. “There is extreme social inequality in North Korea,” she says. A small elite can eat whatever they want, even meat on a regular basis. The lower classes, on the other hand, often don’t even have one meal a day. “Sometimes it’s just cornmeal mixed with grass – a kind of grass soup.”
Life became even harder under Kim Jong-un. His father allowed at least limited opportunities to earn money privately. “Today, many people are actually not even allowed to work anymore,” she says. This leads to an “inhumane situation”.
The speech that the tyrant of Pyongyang gave this Friday must have sounded like sheer mockery to them. Kim Jong-un opened the party congress, which only takes place every five years. He claimed that North Korea’s economy had overcome difficulties and “fundamentally changed” over the past five years. To this day, the people in North Korea have not noticed anything about it.
What is often underestimated in the West is the total lack of freedom, says Kim Yumi. “Even if you just want to travel to another city, you need a permit.” Many rarely leave their place of birth throughout their lives. There is no free media, no open internet, no uncensored access to information. “It felt like I was living in an archaic, insular society.” Moving to South Korea was “like being catapulted from an old village straight into a highly modern world.”
Three generations are punished
To the outside world, the regime demonstrates unconditional loyalty. But that’s just a facade, says Kim Yumi. “Most people are dissatisfied. But no one dares to express criticism openly.” The reason is a system of collective punishment: Anyone who goes against the regime endangers not only themselves, but also parents and children. Three generations can be sent to detention camps.
Kim Yumi calls her country of birth “a prison”. And prisoners, she says, are rarely able to free themselves. “Most of the time someone has to open the door from outside.” Their hope is directed towards the international community – and towards the people in their old homeland. “I hope that they don’t lose hope.” (aargauerzeitung.ch)