The story of the brave souls who dare to attempt escape from North Korea.

INTERVIEW 2 SIX GIRLS, Ages 17, 16, 16, 14, 13, 3 and a BOY, Age 17

PLACES OF ORIGIN IN NORTH KOREA: Not recorded for all; two sisters in the group were from Pyongyang

FIRST ARRIVAL IN CHINA: 2002

[This interview was conducted in a group setting, with the teenagers sitting on the floor in a circle.] They used to be tutored in China but the situation became tougher after the incidents at the embassies in Beijing. Now the teachers cannot come.

Girl (16): Her dad died in North Korea so she came here with her mother. She was arrested in October 2002 because she went with her mother to Beijing in hope of going to South Korea. They got out of the taxi and because they didn't speak Chinese, they were noticed. The man who arranged for them to go to Beijing turned them in.

She stayed in a Beijing jail with her mother for six days and then they were sent back to North Korea. Her mother was sent to a labor center and she was sent to an orphanage center (which is like a jail) in Undok.

She got three meals a day in the orphanage but it wasn't enough food. She told the orphanage that she was sick and said she'd like to go to the hospital. She ran away once she got to the hospital. She returned to China by herself in February. She has had no contact with her mother. When she came here she was very weak. Everyone could recognize that she was North Korean.

She's learning the Bible now. They go one by one to an elementary Chinese class because it's less noticeable.

When asked what they wanted to do in the future, one girl said that she wanted to be a pastor; another wants to be a hair stylist; another wants to be the manager of an orphanage. One girl (14) wants to be the President of North Korea and change things.

The boy said that he was sent to an orphanage in North Korea. There were rules there. One rule was that you had to kneel from 5:00 am until 10:00 pm before you get your sentence. Another rule is that you cannot move. If you disobey, you might be hung from your feet.