{"id":163,"date":"2019-03-31T02:23:05","date_gmt":"2019-03-31T02:23:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mrp\/strainedrelations\/?page_id=163"},"modified":"2019-05-21T00:44:40","modified_gmt":"2019-05-21T00:44:40","slug":"lee-yeju","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mrp\/strainedrelations\/lee-yeju\/","title":{"rendered":"Lee Yeju"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Yeju’s <\/p>\n

Story <\/p>\n<\/h1>\n

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Lee Yeju, 31, opens up a window to let out steam from the rice cooker. The fragrance of tangy spiced vegetables and sweet rice cakes float from her crowded stovetop and into the humid night air.<\/p>\n

A small dog yips at Yeju\u2019s feet, and the television is on full blast, but she ignores the noise. She\u2019s only concerned about getting the flavours for dinner just right. Yeju\u2019s dishes are inspired by recipes from North Korea and China.<\/p>\n

A photo of Yeju with a young man hangs on her living room wall.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy ex-boyfriend,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

When dinner is served, the dog begs for food. Yeju throws the fluffy white dog some apple slices.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe apples in North Korea are sweeter than the apples in South Korea,\u201d says Yeju.<\/p>\n

She throws another slice to the dog and says, \u201cWhen I buy apples here, it reminds me of North Korea, because apples there are better. My mom used to sell apples.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yeju found out recently that her mother was sent to a political prison\u00a0and she has lost all contact with her. She\u2019s unsure if her own decision to leave North Korea had anything to do with her mother\u2019s imprisonment.<\/p>\n

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Lee Yeju spent several years in China where she learned how to cook with Chinese spices. She says the food in South Korea isn\u2019t spicy enough for her, so she usually prepares a blend of North Korean and Chinese dishes. [Photo \u00a9 Ash Abraham]<\/em><\/p>\n

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“My brother died
like a fly in the air”<\/h2>\n

Yeju didn\u2019t plan on leaving North Korea forever. As a child, she supported Kim Jong-il and didn\u2019t question the regime. She hoped to be a solider like her older brother, and protect her country. All that changed after famine struck North Korea in 1994.<\/p>\n

Between 1994 -1997 over three-million people died in the famine known as The Arduous March. Yeju remembers factories shutting down, heavy rains flooding crops and having no electricity.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of people killed themselves. Some went crazy,\u201d Yeju says. During that time, labourers from the northern provinces attempted to move to Pyongyang to find work. Some starved along the journey, and others died while trying to catch a ride on moving trains.<\/p>\n

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Lee Yeju talks about the military in North Korea and the loss of her brother. [Video \u00a9 Ash Abraham, Photo \u00a9 Will Scott, used with permission]\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

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Yeju\u2019s brother served in the army and died of starvation. \u201cMy brother died like a fly in the air,\u201d says Yeju. \u201cOur government said, ‘Oh, you are precious. Precious lives. Everyone is important to the government.’ After he died, I learned that the government was not taking care of its people. We had dreams, but we couldn\u2019t make them come true.”<\/p>\n

Yeju says at that time she didn\u2019t care if she lived or died. \u201cPeople were buried together in one big pit,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t afraid. You get scared when there\u2019s something to lose, but I had nothing to lose.\u201d<\/p>\n

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