Featherweight boxing champion Choi Hyun Mi escaped North Korea with her family. She fled to South Korea for the love of boxing. She's billed as “Defector Girl Boxer.” She won a world championship at age 17.
From the NY Times:
Ms. Choi hopes to supplement her family’s income with her fighting fees. Like Americans who vaulted past class bias through a life in the ring, Ms. Choi also hopes to lift her family’s stature.
“My parents gave up everything in North Korea to give their children a better life in the South,” she said. “Boxing is my way to prove that my parents made the right decision.”
She's getting some great press. The NY Times devotes two pages to her. Hear her story on PRI's The World. Watch this report from Al Jazeera.
Photo from Reuters
1 comment:
In order to appreciate what an uphil row she has to hoe, consider that although I live in South Korea I never heard of her before. Now that she's gotten the imprimatur of thr NYT, th local media may pick up the story.
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