Lee Hyeon-seo

When people are asked what heroes are, many think of the comic book superheroes with their shields and magic powers and iron suits, your family, or brave, fierce protagonists from their favorite books.  All of these people are heroes, but what are the qualifications for a modern day hero?  A modern day hero is someone that is selfless, intelligent, and brave.  They put others before themselves, and fight tirelessly for the cause they know is right.  A hero can be anyone that displays bravery and fights for their cause.  They could be someone peacefully protesting injustices in the government, or pushing someone out of the way of a moving car. The cause that people think all heroes should fight for can differ between humans, but the general characteristics of a hero stay the same; and Lee Hyeon-seo is the perfect example of a modern day protagonist.

(http://www.neontommy.com/news/2013/04/north-korean ())

Lee Hyeon-seo is a North Korean defector who now works as an inspirational speaker and activist.  She was born the January of 1980 and lived in Hyesan for the majority of her life right next to the Chinese border. Hyeon-seo was first exposed to the cruelty of the regime when her father was arrested, beaten, and eventually died in the hospital of unknown causes.  She later left for China during the Great Famine when she was 16 years old, intent on exploring the world. Hyeon-seo planned to stay there with relatives for only a short while before returning home.  However, she was forced to wait almost 11 years before being able to see her family again, and another 2 to 3 years of trying to seek asylum before being able to live with them in South Korea.  Over that course of time, her family had been accused of treason, her father had died, and Hyeon-seo had gone back to North Korea for her family, narrowly avoiding arrest several times while fleeing to South Korea.  While hiding from the North Korean and Chinese government, her eyes were opened to the cruelty of the country she used to call home.  Any whisper of offense against the North Korean government would result in the entire family being taken away to a remote countryside location, which had almost happened to her parents and younger brother before she rescued them.  While she was on the run for 14 years with her family, Lee Hyeon-seo displayed outstanding bravery, intelligence, and selflessness in the face of life or death matters.  Lee Hyeon-seo's bravery and sharp mind are qualities that frame her into the warrior that she is.

Lee Hyeon-seo displayed unmeasurable bravery when she returned to the country that had brainwashed her to rescue her family after having escaped and to life on the other side of the Korean border.  "After a year in South Korea, however, she finally settled into her new life. Then she learned that her mother and brother were being removed to the countryside because of intercepted money she sent to them. She made a momentous decision: she returned to North Korea and helped them escape to China" ("Lee Hyeonseo"). She gave up her freedom and risked her life to go back and help her family from being relocated to the remote, dangerous countryside.  She made the decision to risk everything for the people she loved, and she willingly retells her traumatic story every day to help others in the same situation as her. After everything she had been through, she has the courage to speak up about her struggles and relive the horrors she faced during those 14 years after she escaped from North Korea and settled with her family in South Korea. "Hyeonseo Lee, a high-profile defector who's emerged as an activist and vocal critic of the regime" (Sorenson).  Despite the horrors that most would never want to speak of again, she retells her story all the time so she can help those who need help in North Korea and raise awareness to the injustices happening in her old home country.   Lee Hyeon-seo relives the most horrible experience of her life almost every day to help North Koreans escape the hellish rule of the Kim dictators and shine a light on the true extent of the evils that the dictators have been ruling North Korea with.  The bravery that Lee Hyeon-seo displayed while searching for asylum and the bravery she displays every day shine a light on Lee Hyeon-seo's lionheart and the incredible things that she does.

(https://alchetron.com/Lee-Hyeon-seo-709319-W ())

Apart from incredible bravery, Lee Hyeon-seo also displays quick thinking and intelligence whenever her carefully laid out plans were compromised due to unforeseen challenges.  Lee Hyeon-seo proved time and time again that she is intelligent, able to keep a level head, and think logically in uncomfortable situations.  "Lee spent 11 years in China after fleeing North Korea, and she was forced to change names repeatedly to avoid being identified as a defector. On several occasions, Chinese people took risks on her behalf, for which she will always be grateful, she said" (Leavenworth).  She changed her name and went to every measure to avoid being identified so she could continue to live, using only her wits and her friends.   She lived like that for over a decade, and recognizes that she couldn't have done it without her friends in China.   She is also capable of thinking fast and getting herself and others out of difficult situations that would otherwise end very badly for herself and her friends and family.   When Lee Hyeon-seo was with her family on the bus traveling to Southeast Asia, her bus was stopped by a Chinese police officer who was inspecting ID cards and questioning people on the bus.  Hyeon-seo made a quick decision that saved her life and her family's.  "I impulsively stood up and told him that these were deaf and dumb people I was chaperoning" (Lee).  She made an impulsive, yet rational and smart decision that ended up saving the lives of herself, her mother, and her brother.  Hyeon-seo's valuable ability to keep her cool in dangerous conditions further manifest her heroic qualities.

(http://bcck.or.kr/events/interview-evening-hyeonse ())

Lee Hyeon-seo's ability to think critically in life threatening situations and quickly improvise when her already precariously luck-relying plans went wrong shows her heroic characteristics.  Her logical and brave mind show that she is an inspiration and a modern day hero.  Her bravery in escaping the North Korean regime and returning to save her family's lives and her intelligence and logical thinking that turned out to be critical in her survival, along with having the strength to retell her story every day shows that Lee Hyeon-seo is deserving of the title "hero".   Lee Hyeon-seo inspires me and others through her stories.  The bravery she displayed every day while trying to stay out of North Korea's iron grip and the bravery she displays today in telling her story to the world shine a light on her struggles and the struggles of many other North Koreans.

Most people immediately think of comic book superheroes when asked what heroes are to them, and while they're not wrong, there are better examples in the real world.  Heroes are people you look up to.  Heroes are inspirations, leaders, and influential.  Heroes use their great minds for a good cause and work tirelessly to help others.  Lee Hyeon-seo is "The girl who grew up believing her nation was the greatest on earth." (Lee, Hyeonseo prologue).  Lee Hyeon-seo, the girl that had to change the way she saw the world, the girl that had to learn to survive on the run, the girl had been fed lies about what freedom truly was her entire childhood, the girl with seven names, defines what it means to be a paragon of heroism.