North Korean defector-turned chef and broadcaster Lee Sun-sil looked back on a life full of twists and turns.
On the 17th, KBS1's Morning Yard's "Tuesday guest seat" corner featured the couple Lee Sun-sil and Hwang Yu-seong.
Lee Sun-sil and Hwang Yu-seong visited Morning Yard wearing hanbok to celebrate Lunar New Year. Um Ji-in, who appears with Lee Sun-sil on Bossam, I Heard It Through the Grapevine, envied Lee Sun-sil for receiving care from her husband. Lee Sun-sil's husband Hwang Yu-seong said, "Life in Korea was unfamiliar and hard, so I always took care of her. Other broadcasters say there is no one like me, but I think of her as my daughter." Lee Sun-sil said, "I only cause trouble. My husband is younger than me, but he is like a father and like an older brother," showing strong trust in her husband.
Lee Sun-sil, who conveyed North Korea's Lunar New Year culture, said it has been about 20 years since she defected and that her mother was a corps commander's cook, recounting her life in North Korea. Lee Sun-sil said, "When you look at defectors, they are all short, but my mother fed me the corps commander's food, so I grew tall. I was a 100-meter beauty. From afar I looked pretty, but up close not so much. In my 20s I was called a peerless beauty," she laughed.
She spoke with a smile, but Lee Sun-sil's life was dramatic. Lee Sun-sil, who became a nursing officer at age 16, mentioned her military service, saying, "In North Korea, it is not obligatory for women to join the military, but it is inherited. My father was a soldier, so after graduating from school I entered the military." Lee Sun-sil, who served for 11 years, said, "Military life was better than living as a street orphan, but during my service I didn't learn that my parents had passed away and only learned after discharge, which was very difficult."
Her first married life was even more like hell. Lee Sun-sil lamented, "Life where I couldn't even eat was so hard that I got married. I married through my older brother, but my husband's character was not good. I lived getting beaten all the time and couldn't eat properly. In that household they said, 'We're suffering because a woman like you with no fortune came into the family,' but that household's circumstances were not good either." She said she complained to her older brother, but was shocked to hear, "When a woman marries, she must become that household's ghost."
Struggling from her husband's violence, Lee Sun-sil left home and decided to defect. Sent to Hyesan in Yanggang Province, she lived as a street orphan in places where people gathered. Unaware she was pregnant when she left home, Lee later learned the truth and, after enduring all manner of humiliation, gave birth to a daughter. Lee succeeded in defecting across the Yalu River with the child, but was abducted in a sudden attack by men and became separated for life. Lee said, "I still do not know the whereabouts of my child." She said she works hard in broadcasting in case the daughter she was separated from sees her.
After being sold to Shandong Province, Lee Sun-sil finally came to Korea through hardships and met her current husband, Hwang Yu-seong. Lee explained, "I seduced him," saying they met through a volunteer for defectors. Hwang Yu-seong said, "Maybe because I was a soldier, I often wore military green clothes. I had many younger siblings around me, so I thought he was a decent person, but he suddenly said he would introduce me to a girlfriend and then hesitated." Hwang said that after confirming his feelings he confessed first, and explained, "My family worried a lot, but they said as long as I'm fine, so I decided to marry."
Hwang Yu-seong cited drive, love for his in-laws and a generous heart as his wife Lee Sun-sil's charms. Lee said, "I'm grateful to my husband who understands my troublemaking and watches over me. I hope we live like this," and Hwang urged, "Let's live happily like this and not cause any major trouble."
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