The woman behind a popular sushi restaurant on the Sunshine Coast holds a story few people could ever imagine.
Growing up in North Korea, Kumhee Choi never even knew she was living under a regime.
Pictures of dictators were hung in family homes and worshipped the same way many people look to a God or higher religious power.
But it was a frantic and dangerous escape from one of the world’s most volatile countries that led her on a path to find her new home on the Sunshine Coast.
The 38-year-old was born in Aoji, a mining town in North Korea near the Chinese border.
Known for being a place of exile for political prisoners, there were few freedoms and Kumhee endured a bleak childhood, where snow had to be melted for drinking.
She witnessed nightmarish public executions by age 11 and saw neighbours starve to death due to widespread poverty.
The most heartbreaking part is that Kumhee and her three siblings knew no other way of life.
“I remember playing with my siblings at the mountain. In the summer time, we went to the creek for fishing and in the winter season, we used to skate on the frozen river,” she told Sunshine Coast News.
“We used a Korean-style domestic furnace for cooking. When it was very cold, the pipelines were frozen so we had to heat up the snow for drinking water.
“There were no supermarkets and restaurants in Aoji. It was a 10km walk to go to the market and there was no bus or taxi.
“Only five households had black and white TV, which only broadcast North Korean channels. The (TV) timetable was only for a limited time, from 5pm to 10pm.
“It is hard to compare the standard of living between here and there as the gap is too huge.
“At that moment, it was the only world I knew and I could not even imagine leaving the country.”
She said images of supreme leaders were on the wall of every house and public building and innocent North Koreans were brainwashed into thinking this was the “only” way of life.
“I didn’t even know the regime was a dictatorship,” Kumhee said.
“The photos of Kim-Il-sung (current dictator’s grandfather) and Kim-Jong-il (current dictator’s father) were in every house. It was everywhere in the public places like schools.
“The Kim family was regarded as a god. We had to nod to their photos when we saw it. When a place caught fire, we had to save their photos first.
“Every week, at school, we had to have a session criticising our friends, co-workers and ourselves for not fully following the words of the Kim.
“Every aspect of life was controlled and watched. It was like a false religion.
“We were living in isolation. We were told that North Korea is the best place to live in the world thanks to the Kim’s regime.
“This is taught in schools, so I also believed so. We called and treated Kim as our father. Leaving North Korea was unimaginable.”
But that is exactly what Kumhee and her family did in early 1997, when she was 14.
Between 1994 and 1998 the country fell under a period known as The North Korean famine, or March of Suffering.
Kumhee said many people faced two options – to die of starvation or die trying to flee North Korea.
Kumhee’s family decided to risk fleeing and headed north where they bribed soldiers and sought refuge in China.
“We went to the Tumen River to cross the northern border. We gave bread to soldiers each time we came across them. They were starving so passing them wasn’t too hard.
“Crossing the North Korean border wasn’t too difficult, but the journey from China to South Korea was really hard. There were several incidents where we almost lost our lives.”
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The family quickly learnt China would not be a safe home and for three years they feared deportation as they attempted to defect to South Korea.
Having repeated requests denied, the family began to journey to Thailand.
Along the way they were separated and detained in Myanmar before the South Korean Embassy in Thailand granted them refuge in 2001.
She said life in South Korea was difficult for a North Korean because of the many negative perceptions that came from decades of hostile relationships between the two countries.
Despite this, Kumhee lived in Seoul, completed a university degree and married South Korean man Simon Seo. They welcomed their daughter Jiwon in 2016 before deciding to call Australia home.
Arriving on a student visa and studying commercial cookery at TAFE Sunshine Coast, she said she could live in Australia without prejudice of where she was born.
“I came to Australia as I wanted to show my daughter a bigger world and provide more opportunities in life,” she said.
“This is a place with no discrimination and prejudice to North Korean defectors and my family.
“It has been six years. This is a very peaceful and relaxing place.
“Here, it doesn’t matter where I am from. My neighbours always smile at me.
“At the first time, it was a bit awkward but now I am happy with that. I have a family here and being able to live and spend time with family is the most precious thing for me.”
It was here on the Coast she discovered a love of cooking could result in a successful career, so in 2018, she opened Sushi Ari in Sippy Downs.
“I tried to find out what I can do well in Australia. I have liked cooking since I was young and spending time cooking in the kitchen makes me happy.
“Working in the kitchen is sometimes physically demanding but I am happy working here.”
Kumhee said there were not many North Korean expats in Australia and that even people of her South Korean community on the Sunshine Coast were surprised to learn her story.
She said despite all she has been through it was heart-warming to receive such a welcoming reception from locals.
“There is no North Korean community in the Sunshine Coast, even in Australia,” she said.
“I belong to the South Korean community here for that reason. Still many people from South Korea are surprised when they are told I am from the North.
“Sometimes customers at the shop come to me and say: ‘Welcome to Australia’, which makes my heart so warm and grateful.”
Kumhee said her North Korean heritage does not shape her Australian identity and she hopes one day to be able to freely visit her hometown and reconnect with her childhood friends.
