A Hard Freedom
The Dreams and Trauma of North Korean Refugees
A Hard Freedom
The Dreams and Trauma of North Korean Refugees
Buying pre-order items
Ebooks and Audiobook
You will receive an email with a download link for the ebook or audiobook on the publication date.
Payment
You will not be charged for pre-ordered books until they are available to be shipped. Pre-ordered ebooks will not be charged for until they are available for download.
Amending or cancelling your order
For orders that have not been shipped you can usually make changes to pre-orders up to 72 hours before the publishing date.
Payment for this pre-order will be taken when the item becomes available
Description
Over the past 20 years, 33,000 North Korean refugees have escaped to South Korea, though their plight in South Korea is largely unknown to the Western World. These North Korean refugees who have made it to freedom are struggling.
Within South Korea, North Koreans find themselves in a land of plenty but can't seem to move on. For many, they are not in danger for the first time in decades but cannot turn off the traumatic memories from their lives in North Korea and the peril they faced during their escape. After fleeing North Korea, refugees travel the 6,000 mile modern day underground railroad in China and other Asian countries.
Gathered from the author's work with the NGO, Crossing Borders, this book shares the real life stories of North Koreans trapped under the weight of lingering trauma, depression, and discrimination in South Korea. These stories help us to imagine what the future might hold for North Korea and North Korean refugees in a changing world.
Accessibility Information
Additional accessibility information
- EPUB 3.0
- Conforms with the requirements of EPUB Accessibility Spec v1.1
- WCAG level AA
- WCAG v2.2 compliant
- accessibility@bloomsbury.com
Hazards
The publication contains no hazards
Support for non-visual reading
- No accessibility features offered by the reading system, device or reading software are disabled or otherwise unusable with the product
- Has alternative text descriptions for images
Visual adjustments
Appearance of the text and page layout can be modified according to the capabilities of the reading system (font family and size, spaces, as well as color of background and text)
Navigation
- Page list to go to pages from the print source version
- Elements such as headings, tables, etc for structured navigation
- All or substantially all textual matter is arranged in a single logical reading order
- Content is enhanced with ARIA roles to optimize organization and facilitate navigation
- Purposes of all links are made clear
Rich content
Language tagging provided
Table of Contents
Foreword
Mike Kim
Introduction
Preface
The Dreams of Han Sung-ok
The Terror and Trauma of North Korea
Two Roads Diverge
A Special Place in Hell
Dangers, Toils, and Snares
The Dreams of North Korean Children
Chasing the Dream
The Future
Finding Words and Meaning
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
Product details
| Published | Jun 25 2026 |
|---|---|
| Format | Ebook (Epub & Mobi) |
| Edition | 1st |
| Pages | 208 |
| ISBN | 9781538191736 |
| Imprint | Bloomsbury Academic |
| Illustrations | 8 BW Illustrations |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
Reviews
ONLINE RESOURCES
Bloomsbury Collections
This book is available on Bloomsbury Collections where your library has access.

























