Joseph Han, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Research Associate,
Institute for Quantum Science and Engineering, University of Texas A&M
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I was born in Chongjin, North Hamgyoung province, North Korea. When I was 22 years old, I escaped from North Korea and fled to China where I lived in hiding for about four years. After that, I was able to make my way to South Korea where I earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree at Yonsei University in South Korea. Eventually I came to the United States to study in a Ph.D. program at Texas A&M University, specializing theoretical nuclear physics. In May of 2016, I received a PhD degree from Texas A&M University.
Because North Korea is an extremely closed country and hostile toward Christians, I had never heard about the Christian religion. Persecution is most severe for those who believe in God. Imprisonment in concentration camps, torturous interrogations and even executions are not uncommon for those who violate the laws in NK that prohibit worshipping anyone except the leaders of the state.
The following is my testimony about the way I was led to Jesus Christ, my Savior, who guided me out of North Korea, the Land of Despair, saved my spirit by leading me to receive His gospel, and will (God willing) one day send me to preach the gospel in my homeland.
MY TESTIMONY
In North Korea, the belief in any religions is not allowed. As a citizen in North Korea, I had never heard about Christianity, not even Christmas! When I was an elementary school student, the North Korean government praised scientists in the newspapers and often encouraged students to pursue scientific studies in order to be able to develop nuclear weapons and missiles that could reach America. The NK government constantly sent out propaganda messages, telling its citizens that America would invade North Korea and try to enslave its people. Since I had been brain-washed with an anti-American education in North Korea, I wanted to be an excellent scientist who would participate in making weapons and in order to defend our country. Thus, I studied hard and entered the Chongjin No.1 Senior Middle School which is one of the science high schools for gifted students in North Korea. After graduation from Chongjin, when I was 17 years old, I went to the University of Natural Science in North Korea, which is similar to MIT. Soon after I started to study at the university, the food crisis in North Korea became more serious, and I could not keep up with my studies. I was forced to drop out of that university and return to my hometown to teach math and physics to students as a teacher at a high school. However, I did not get paid because of the national economic crisis. During this time the country suffered under a great famine called the “Arduous March,” and many people died of starvation. Statistical research shows that approximately three million people in North Korea died of starvation during the late 1990’s and early 2000’s. This was the equivalent of one eighth of the North Korean population. It was at this time I made a decision to escape from North Korea.
One bitterly cold day in February 1999, I escaped North Korea by secretly crossing the Tumen River which is a part of the boundary between North Korea and China. Fleeing into China was a great undertaking for me because escaping from North Korea is regarded as one of the highest treasons by the government. North Korean border guards are given orders to immediately shoot at people crossing the river. As I was crossing, I prayed in mind, “If there is any absolute being, please protect me.” Years later, after coming to faith in Jesus Christ, I realized the “absolute being” I prayed was God the Father Almighty, and Jesus Christ, the Lord.
I had no relatives living in China, so I was forced to live in hiding and work in manual labor positions such as cutting firewood, breeding rabbits, and farming. These jobs only provided food and lodging for me, and I was unable to earn money. When I worked at the rabbit warren it was managed by Korean Chinese masters. There was a man in his forties who was from North Korea and believed in Jesus. I heard that he received the gospel of Jesus Christ because he had got some help from a Chinese Korean evangelist several times when he was confronted with difficulties. He often prayed many times during the day--such as before eating and at night, or when he had time. I used to tease him by pulling his ears and poking him in the hip. However, he did not blame me and warmly told me, “Believe in Jesus and you can find peace in your mind.” I did not want to accept the gospel because I had been brain-washed by the communist ideology taught in North Korea that “religion is the opiate of people.” I was afraid that I really might be addicted by the religion so it was a great concern to me. Nevertheless, since the warren was located in the countryside, I did not have access to television and books, and so I began to read some Christian books and sing the same hymns that the Christian man sang. One day my boss’ uncle visited our workplace and gave me a copy of the Bible and a hymn book, as well as his used shoes, telling me: “Believe in Jesus Christ.” Also, he asked me to memorize The Lord’s Prayer and The Apostles’ Creed. He mentioned that if I studied the Bible and believed in Jesus, American missionaries would be able help get me to America. By that time I had learned from the Chinese that the United States was a wealthy, well-developed nation, so I yearned for life in America. Hence, I memorized The Lord’s Prayer and The Apostles’ Creed well and started to read the Bible. These actions did not get me America but I kept reading the Bible anyway.
About nine months after this, the warren went into bankruptcy due to financial reasons. The other workers left the workplace and I was left alone there. I had to take care of about five hundred rabbits by myself which had in the past been managed by five people working together, so the work was a great hardship to me and I felt very isolated. When I was overcome with loneliness, I sang hymns that the Christian man from North Korea used to sing. Over time I found peace of mind and I was unconsciously happy which helped me in my solitary state. In those days, I liked to sing the hymn “Jesus Loves Me” in Korean. The Korean lyrics include a passage that says: “It is a Holy Word that Jesus loves me. I am weak but Jesus has many powers. Jesus loves me. …. The Bible tells me so.” During this time I realized that my parents and my country could not protect me. I had escaped from my homeland to live in this foreign country but I had to live in hiding as an illegal alien. It was discouraging that in spite of my hard work I did not get paid, and I was despised because I was a North Korean defector living in China. In my desperate situation I was overwhelmed by my weakness and vulnerability. However, as the song stated, God’s Son Jesus loved me! He had been crucified and had died for the washing away of my sins. Even more so, He had sent the Holy Spirit to guide me for the rest of my life until it was time to go to heaven. This amazing miracle moved me to tears. I fell on my knees and repented of my sins as I confessed Jesus as my Lord and Savior. Praise God!
Soon after, the rabbit warren was entirely bankrupted, so I left there and wandered from place to place. I was baptized by a Korean-Chinese Christian pastor in a river as a testimony of my status as a born-again child of God. After then, I experienced how the Lord protected me and defended me when I feel into dangerous situations.
In December of 2000, I participated in an Underground Bible study group in Shenyang, China. There were twenty-five people in our shelter ranging in age from teenager to mid-thirties. A couple of people were Korean-Chinese, but most of them were North Korean defectors. The shelter was financially supported by Korean and American Churches and I had the privilege of serving as a leader of the group. Every day we read the Bible many times from the early morning to night. While living there, I read the Korean New Testament 200 times and the Old Testament 50 times. Our group shared the scriptures and tried to grasp what they meant. We tried to understand how Christian lives worked in a community setting. Sometimes we quarreled with each other due to the stress of staying together inside all day long. We served each other, laughed together, cried together, and prayed together. We tried to understand the heart of the Lord who came to this world to be a servant for all of mankind. We tried to learn how to serve others and how to understand other members. Every day we prayed for our parents, our siblings, our people, and North and South Koreas just as Moses prayed for his people, the Israelites. We also prayed for many countries and many people supporting us. Every day, we started our daily lives with praying and reading scriptures.
One night in April of 2002 when we were worshiping, Chinese police raided our shelter and all the North Korean defectors were arrested. We were questioned and our pictures were taken. Then the policemen tried to transport us to a prison. However, the Lord knew my weaknesses and gave me a way to avoid hardship. I was handcuffed to another young man and as we were boarding the van we ran away. The Chinese policemen chased us for a while but soon gave up because their sight was limited due to the darkness. They abandoned their search for us and returned to the other North Korean defectors who had to be transported to prison. After that my partner and I were able to evade being captured for several days in spite of the fact that we were on the wanted list in Shenyang. During this time, I experienced the Lord’s amazing protection for us. In one instance policemen came and searched a house where we had been staying. We had only left just a few minutes before their raid. Another time we were sleeping at a house, and miraculously, the policemen skipped searching the very house where we were. We praised God because He was a rock of refuge for us.
It was during this time I decided to go to South Korea where I would not face the risk of repatriation and I could have the freedom to believe in Jesus Christ. In order to reach South Korea I had to go to a South Korean Embassy in a Southeast Asian country to apply for asylum. The trip was 4000 miles and I needed a lot of money in order to reach my destination. However, as I was in Shenyang, the northeastern part of China, I only one dollar in my pocket. The Lord was gracious and gave me money from diverse people throughout my traveling until I finally arrived in Kunming, located in the southwest area of China.
I would like to illustrate a special event of how God miraculously protected me after arriving in Kunming. When I boarded the bus that was traveling from Kunming to Myanmar border towns, I fell asleep because I was exhausted due to my long travels. I did not know how much time had passed when someone shook me awake. Once I opened my eyes, I was startled because standing there was a policeman who was carrying a laptop and checking passengers’ IDs. Since the destination was a border town, the police were very thorough in their inspections. Our conversation went like this:
Policeman: Show me your ID card.
Me: I don’t have my ID card because I am a middle school student. (At that time, I looked much younger than my age.)
Policeman: So, show me your student ID card instead.
Me: I didn’t bring it with me.
Policeman: Why didn’t you bring it?
Me: I didn't think of it when I was going to leave home.
Policeman: Where are you going? Why are you alone? Where are you going to go after getting off the bus?
Me: I’m going to my grandma’s home. She lives in Wanding.
Policeman: Where in Wanding? Tell me the exact address.
(I couldn’t know of an exact address because I had never been there. Also, if I had told them of a wrong address, they would realize it was wrong after checking in the laptop.)
Me: My grandma lives near the Wanding Bus Terminal. I have been there before.
After this long dialogue, he passed me. I thanked to God in my heart because He showed me what I needed to say at this critical moment and He made me speak to the policeman calmly.
After getting off the bus, I arrived at a border town and entered a restaurant to have lunch. Before eating I prayed. When I opened eyes after praying, the restaurant owner asked me: “Do you believe in Christ?” I answered: “Yes, I believe in Jesus Christ.” He was pointing in a certain direction and said: “There are many Christians in that town on the far side,” and added, “but, that is not China; it’s Myanmar.” I exclaimed in my mind shouting “Hallelujah!” because I had finally reached a place where I could escape to freedom! I would be out of China where policemen tried to repatriate me back to North Korea and I would finally be in a town with Christians who would help me. After the meal I walked to the place he had pointed, crossed a brook, and went into Myanmar. In this new country I could no longer communicate in Chinese. As a child was passing by I signaled with my fingers, making the sign of cross: “Where is a church?” She responded: “Jesus, Jesus…” and then she took me to a pastor. I prayed in my mind, ”Thank you, Lord. This is a land where I have never been and I cannot speak language but all people know your name and the cross. You are a Great Lord. I praise You! Halleluiah. I thank you that you had built a church here to be a refuge to me.” After seeing the pastor of that church, I asked: “I believe in Jesus Christ. I’m a North Korean refugee. I want to go to the South Korean Embassy in Yangon. Please help me.” He was very hospitable to me, providing for my food and lodging. Moreover, he helped me to go to the South Korean Embassy in Yangon.
“And how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:15-18)
Before knowing Jesus and the Word of God, I knew it was possible to go to South Korea by transferring through a Southeast Asian country. However, because of my terrible fear, I did not have courage to cross the great nation of China. After believing in Jesus and reading the Bible, I gained wisdom and was able to overcome many conquerors by praying to the Lord for strength and direction. Most North Korean refugees have to pay more than ten thousand dollars for this long journey to escape to South Korea and they acquire debt as a result. I was blessed immensely as the Lord led me through China without the burden of any payments or debts.
After arriving in South Korea, I attended and served as a member on a mission team and literary mission team. I traveled to Myanmar for a short term mission trip and prayed for evangelization of Myanmar where there are many idolatries. I was also enrolled at Yonsei University, a top university in South Korea, and achieved my goal of graduating with both a bachelor’s and master’s degree. Subsequent to that, I relocated to the United States to pursue my PhD at Texas A&M University, which I have recently accomplished.
After coming to the United States, I served as a Sunday school teacher in the Korean Vision Mission Church and taught the words of God to children. Recently, I have been attending the A&M United Methodist Church and studying the Bible, being involved in a Sunday school group called “Open Door.” I read the Bible in English with American Christians and learn more of the Bible by sharing the Word of God with them.
There are more than thirty thousand North Korean defectors throughout the world, and because of God’s great providence, I have become very first North Korean defector to earn a PhD in natural sciences or engineering in the United States. I’m convinced this is through neither my power nor my ability, but through God’s grace. Because of the Lord’s teaching I have brushed away my North Korean ways of thinking related to materialism and have been born again. If I had stayed in North Korea I would have become a scientist, developing weapons such as missile and nuclear weapons used for killing people. However, since the Lord first loved me, He took me out from North Korea, the Land of Desperation, and allowed me to receive His good news so that I can use my God-given academic talent to expand His kingdom and preach His gospel to my people in North Korea when the borders of North Korea open. My desire is to introduce my Lord Jesus Christ to my home folks and be a witness of what God has done with me. I’m praying for that day when my compatriots in North Korea can listen to God’s word, read the Bible, and the praise the Lord with freedom. Please pray for my people and my homeland.
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