Han Song-mi, center, tells her story to students visiting South Korea from Denmark, March 9. Couresty of Freedom Speakers International

After weeks of waiting in hiding, the moment had finally come. On the night of March 19, 2011, I left my safe house and took my first steps toward the border. I had been told that North Korean soldiers, bribed with my mother’s money, would be waiting to help me cross. Instead, I found myself face-to-face with two smugglers, not soldiers, and no guarantee that I would survive the night.

As we moved toward the frozen Yalu River, fear weighed heavily on me. I knew that every step across the ice brought me closer to China, but also closer to being caught. I had heard the horror stories — escapees shot at the border, and others sent back to North Korea to face interrogation, torture or even execution. I told myself to stay calm, but when the searchlights swept over us and the dogs began barking, my escape turned into a desperate race for survival.

Gunshots rang out in the night. I slipped and plunged through the ice. The freezing water made my body go numb, but I had no time to think about the pain. If I stopped, I would die. If I hesitated, I would be caught. This was the moment when everything went wrong — and when my fight for freedom truly began.

I never knew how heavy fear could feel until that moment. Fear weighed down my legs as I walked toward the........

© The Korea Times