[TV Chosun] Mother’s Spring Day, “The Defector Mother and Chun-Mi’s Miracle”

At a time of 30,000 North Korean defectors, North Korean women are being trafficked.
The 94th protagonist of Mother’s Spring Days, Soo-Jin Joo (43), is also a female North Korean defector and victim of human trafficking.

In an era of 30,000 North Korean defectors, the number of defectors is rapidly increasing despite tight North Korean surveillance and threats. About 80 percent of those who cross the border to freedom are women-from 2002, we have gotten to a point in which female defectors outnumber male ones!

According to testimony by female defectors, Chinese brokers sell women for anywhere between $1900 and $3500 to red light districts or the countryside. They are unable to escape, as they are either re-captured by traffickers, or paralyzed by fear of Chinese security officers who could send them back to North Korea.

The 94th protagonist of Mother’s Spring Days, Soo-Jin Joo (43), is also a female North Korean defector and victim of human trafficking. Weary of constant hunger and oppression, she attempted to defect, only to be forcefully brought to Henan Province and coerced into marriage with a Chinese man. Her unwanted marriage was more akin to incarceration-she was watched by day and locked in by night to prevent her escape. In 2012, she finally decided to escape to South Korea. After a perilous journey spanning over 6,200 miles (10,000 kilometers) across Chinese, Laotian, and Thai borders, she finally arrives in South Korea as a free woman.

A daughter who was taken away by the Chinese confronts another tragedy

The tragic circumstances create yet more victims-the children born between trafficked North Korean mothers and Chinese fathers. Soo-Jin Joo’s daughter, Chun-Mi(17), was unable to live with her mother from an early age and was a victim of regular domestic abuse by her father. She escaped to South Korea alone at a tender age of 15 to reunite with her mother; yet, the joy of meeting was short-lived, as her mother was too busy making a living to even afford to sit down and talk with each other.

With no friends and an unfamiliar language, Chun-Mi found herself alone. And, after a nine-story fall, the frail, 17-year old girl was diagnosed with complete lower-body paralysis. Upon the news that her daughter may never walk again, Soo-Jin was devastated.

Did Soo-Jin’s prayers to have her daughter well again reach the heavens? But an extraordinary thing happens: after just two weeks after the accident, Chun-Mi could miraculously walk on her two feet! The sight of Chun-Mi walking caused the mother to exclaim “something I only thought was possible in soap operas actually happened” and tearfully embrace her daughter.

A mother who miraculously gained her freedom through defection and her daughter who miraculously regained her ability to walk What kinds of tasks await both mother and daughter?

Upon her daughter’s recovery from the brink of losing her forever, the mother attempts to approach Chun-Mi and heal their relationship; however, she finds that it is more difficult than expected to mend Chun-Mi’s frozen heart. The mother wants to earn money in order to raise her daughter better than any average South Korean, and the daughter only wants her mother’s care and love. A mother and daughter who express their love differently-will they be able to reach an understanding and share their love?

Actor Hyeon-Jun Shin and orthopedics practitioner Gyu-Cheol Shin have heard the miraculous story of Chun-Mi’s fall and survival and are joining us! Gyu-Cheol, Chun-Mi’s staunch supporter and mentor who decided to stand by her side and watch her grow, and Hyeon-Jun, who visited Chun-Mi’s school and gave a special lecture based on his own life experiences, will be our MCs. The two men have affirmed their commitment to be Chun-Mi’s life mentors.

For the 67th anniversary of the Korean War, TV Chosun has decided to focus on female North Korean defectors-the blind spot of female human rights-with Mother’s Spring Days-the Defector Mother and Chun-Mi’s Miracle. Experience it on 10:50AM Sunday June 25th.