Sarah Kim worked as a food vendor to survive in North Korea, so after she escaped and resettled in the South, she naturally saw food service as a way to make a living. She earned a cooking certification and started working in professional kitchens, hoping to earn enough money to help family members in the North to escape.

But her ambitions soon ran up against an unpleasant reality — discrimination. She recalled that while working at a dumpling restaurant, a younger South Korean colleague belittled her for being a defector, and when she complained, her employer pressured her to accept a shallow, insincere apology, leaving her frustrated by the lack of support.