I was forced to marry a North Korean nuclear scientist and...
The women forced into marrying the men behind Pyongyang’s nuclear programme describe monstrous husbands plagued by strange health defects
Like many North Koreans, Lee Geum-suk wants to escape from her homeland. And she has more reason than most of her fellow countrymen.
Lee, who is in her late 20s, had just left school when she was told that the Workers’ Party required that she marry a man who had previously worked as a nuclear research technician. Before her wedding day, she knew nothing else about her future husband and, as is the case in North Korea, had no choice in the matter.
Immediately after the wedding, she realised she had been provided as a form of reward to the man.
He was like a young child, she told This Week in Asia in a message relayed through The Centre for Liberty and Reunification, a group of human rights campaigners that includes North Korean defectors who have been able to reach South Korea.
WATCH: The refugee life of a North Korean defector in Hong Kong
Lee’s husband had the mind of a boy, constantly craved food, she said, was sexually dysfunctional and had suffered some sort of mental problem that had diminished his memory. He also became violent towards his wife.