[Sportschosun Reporter Park Ah-ram] On the 26th, Channel A's "Now and On My Way to Meet You" (directed by Kim Gun-rae, written by Jang Juyeon, hereinafter "I Am a North Korean") will examine the success story of Lee Eun-young, who defected from North Korea with 11 soldiers and later became the CEO of an abalone business with annual sales of 3 billion won in South Korea.
The woman behind the remarkable mass defection of 11 North Korean soldiers across a river will appear on "I Am a North Korean." She is Lee Eun-young, who built annual sales of 3 billion won with abalone alone. From being a North Korean soldier to crossing the line between life and death and emerging as a successful businesswoman, her turbulent life story will be revealed on the show. Lee grew up in a comfortable environment thanks to her father, who was an executive at a factory in Hwanghae Province that employed 4,000 workers. But because she was the daughter of a senior official, she had to protect her father's reputation and spent her childhood under strict control, unlike her peers. She was even beaten regularly, so right after graduating from high school, she made the bold decision to enlist voluntarily in a unit in Hamgyong Province in order to leave her parents behind. However, as this coincided with the start of North Korea's worst food crisis, the so-called "Arduous March," life in the unit was so harsh that no rations were provided. In the end, she and her fellow soldiers decided to risk their lives and cross the Tumen River. Her past, from leaving a wealthy family behind to enlisting and then defecting, will be featured on the show.
From the moment she set foot in China, another hell began for Lee Eun-young. The person who offered help to the 11 North Korean soldiers turned out to be a human trafficker. Trusting only the promise of a job, she followed him and was forced into an unwanted marriage. In a foreign land where she could not even communicate, she lived in conditions close to confinement and had to handle all the housework and farm work all day long. She was even arrested by Chinese police after a broker reported her, bringing her to the brink of being sent back to North Korea. Just when every day seemed hopeless, two people who would change her life appeared before her. The Chinese police and the Defense Security Command of South Korea helped her escape. In particular, an official from the Defense Security Command secretly guided her through the visa process by having her make a passport with a fake ID and even telling her to submit the documents in an unusual way. Her extreme defection story, which feels like a spy film, will be revealed this week on "I Am a North Korean."
After finally arriving in South Korea, Lee began to show her passion as an entrepreneur by entering the abalone farming industry in Gangjin, Jeolla Province. She had nothing, but she chose to compete through relentless, hands-on sales. By visiting tourist bus drivers in person, handing out business cards on the bus, and even singing for them, she achieved remarkable results that sent direct sales soaring. Through constant challenges and her exceptional business instincts, Lee has continued to build her company and is now writing a success story as an abalone CEO with annual sales of 3 billion won. Attention is focused on what her unique formula for success is, as she transformed from a defector into a multimillion-won business owner. In the upcoming episode of "I Am a North Korean," Park Jin-hee, a businesswoman from Kim Il Sung University who drew attention with her cosmetics business in a previous appearance, and Jeon Cheol-woo, a first-generation naengmyeon CEO, will also join and share their business philosophies and success tips without holding back.
Lee Eun-young, the woman behind the mass defection of 11 North Korean soldiers, and her success story of becoming an abalone CEO with annual sales of 3 billion won in South Korea can be seen on Channel A's "Now and On My Way to Meet You" at 8:50 p.m. on Sunday, July 26.
tokkig@sportschosun.com
This article has been translated by GripLabs Mingo AI.
