Lee Young-hyeon’s journey to becoming a lawyer in South Korea was far from typical.

At just 14 years old, he risked everything to escape North Korea, subsequently working in China instead of going to school. He didn’t even begin learning English until he resettled in the South years later.

But over two decades after he escaped, Lee is now the only DPRK escapee to ever pass the South Korean bar exam, working as a civil litigation lawyer and serving as the secretary general of the Korean Bar Association’s (KBA) Human Rights Foundation.

In an interview with NK News, Lee