My prison cell was extremely cold. I had to sit up holding my legs with my arms, because this position made the chill a bit more bearable. But for that simple action, a warden stripped me and kicked me on the face. I started bleeding from the nose and got very dizzy. So the guard put me into a flea-infested room. As I tell this now, I shudder thinking of the pain of being in that room. I begged to be put into a room without fleas. In response, the same warden came back with a bucket of water and poured it over my body. Imagine the pain of the entire body being frozen. Even today, whenever a streak of cold wind hits me, making me sneeze or have a runny nose, the memory of this cell of freezing haunts me.

I survived this living in hellish conditions until 1992, only by the grace of God. In 1997 I once more defected from North Korea. Even the risk of being caught did not take away the joy of being out of North Korea. I could worship God and read the Bible as much as I wanted. Then in 2001 I came to South Korea through Mongolia. Under the blessing of God I am studying theology at Chongshin University.

In closing, I want to tell you one more incident that I witnessed when I was in the prison camp. Of course, in the camp you must follow the guards' orders, and you can't confide in anyone, because there are spies everywhere. The camp authorities constantly feared collective action by the prisoners and so kept tight control. Still, in May of 1989 a couple of brothers in the camp started a fellowship group. There were about seven members, including me. One day four of the group were arrested.

Though I was a member, not everyone knew I was. Only two did. Now, one of my responsibilities for the camp enabled me to secure food and supplies for our little group. But soon after I became a member, one of the group founders broke the news to me that we had an informant, a "Judas" among us. He assured me that the other members didn't know my existence, and also that we should not meet each other again.

Later, this leader was interrogated, when they discovered that he knew about God. He was asked to disclose who told him about spiritual things. His answer: " Do you know that the sun gives warmth because someone told you to feel that? No. It is because the sun warms us up. I know God exists because he reveals himself to me."

When he was relocated to another part of the prison a few months later, he did not have his right arm . The interrogator had not liked his answer and had beaten him with a shovel. When he tried to block the blows, his arm was damaged beyond repair.

We have met once since that time. He told me that I should not sway from the path of spreading God's words once I am released.