We had just received the verdict of his court case...

And the verdict is "guilty". Guilty of terrorism. Case closed. He asks if he can appeal, but even Chinese citizens cannot have this luxury. Who does he think he is, they wonder.

As a North Korean, discrimination is evident in prison. He is made to wear a special uniform. He has less opportunity for exercise than the others.

Prison life soon begins to wear on him. He clashes with guards, who tell their supervisor, who creates even worse pressure. He becomes so obnoxious that he is forced into solitary confinement for 50 days. He loses the desire to live in this 6 x 2 box. Yes, that's about coffin-size.

Even the non-solitary imprisonment is nothing to write home about. It's a basement, there is no sunlight, it is damp, it is cold. He is fed corn soup in the amount of about a half a cup, 2 times a day. He has no energy, no body-heat, serious skin problems, and more.

It gets worse. Ruffians are sent into his cell to fight with him. He becomes angrier still.

Eventually, suicidal thoughts stalk him daily. In one attempt at ending it all, he tears up a bed sheet. Avoiding the camera, he hooks up the sheet to a pipe on the ceiling. The hanging begins. When he wakes up, the distant rumble of a headache informs him he has failed in this enterprise also. He opens his eyes. He is on the floor. Someone has cut him down.

Forever the persistent one, he tries again.This time he asks for some razor blades from a fellow-prisoner. Acquiring this new treasure, he cuts himself 17-18 times. Blood gushes out. Surely now he is a success...

Yes, but not like he imagines. He sleeps. Hears noise. Wakes up. Oops, that means, alive. The blanket he has used to cover himself from being discovered on camera has actually stopped the blood from flowing.

Just how long will this train of failures continue?

The Chinese police do not treat his wounds except to wrap some gauze around his arm. Perhaps motivated by appearances more than compassion. Oh, and he receives 40 days more in solitary.

So where is God, he questions. He knows there is a God now, but he doesn't know how to pray to Him. For so many years he has denied God's very existence. Yet, these strange failures at suicide.God must not only exist, but He must have a purpose for my life. This could not have been a coincidence. Grasping at the little bit of Christian revelation he has taken in, he goes from that awareness of a merciful God Who gives meaning to life, to the even more fascinating idea called forgiveness. He tries it out.

The first persons he wants to forgive are the guards. Done. The police. Done. Friendships develop. Eventually help is received.

He now reasons, God has brought me this far and He will not let me be harmed even if I have to go back to North Korea. He prays every day. His fighting days are over. He complies with the guards' demands. His sentence is reduced.

As I listened to this story first-hand in Seoul, I could not help but hear, "If any man be in Christ he is a new creation." Who can change a heart like Jesus?

The statement of his case is not sent to the North Korean government. He tells them simply that he has robbed and fought in China. Though he is apprehended by North Korean police on his return, God sends him friends at this time who help him escape their grasp.

In December of 2007, when the Tumen River, dividing China from North Korea, is usually not yet frozen, Kim finds to his delight that the weather is a bit different this year, and he walks across on solid ice into China. Thence through a series of other exciting events, he finally comes into South Korea, where he now resides.

To this day he gives God glory for what He did, and he loves to tell his story to all who will listen. And we surely were listening.