PhD Seals N.Korean Woman's Triumph Over Hardship

A woman who escaped from North Korea 12 years ago has become the first female North Korean defector to receive a PhD degree from a South Korean university. Lee Ae-ran (45) now has a doctorate in Nutritional Science and Food Management from Ewha Womans University. "North Korean propagandas say South Korea is run under cold bloody principles of free market, but thanks to the warmth of South Korean people, I was able to settle down here and finish my doctorate degree," said Lee on Thursday. After graduating from the Sinuiju University in North Korea, Lee worked at a government science and technology committee and married a medical doctor. However, after a relative who was separated from the family during the Korean War and migrated to the United States published a memoir saying Lee's father was involved in an anti-Kim Il-sung group right after Korea’s independence from Japan, Lee said she fell victim to a purge. She fled the country with her four-month-old son in 1997, leaving her husband behind, and arrived in South Korea in October that year. Lee pursued her doctorate degree on a full scholarship from the university while working as a saleswoman for Samsung Life Insurance. "As a nutritional scientist from North Korea, I would like to make contribution to devising food policy for North Korea after unification," said Lee.

url: http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200901/200901130002.html