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Christian human rights activists say an American missionary has illegally crossed the Chinese border into North Korea. On Christmas day, Robert Park carried with him a letter demanding that the Kim Jong il regime free political prisoners and has not been heard from since. While few enter North Korea at own their risk, still many more escape. But not all flee for political or human rights. There’s at least one refugee who defected for the love of boxing. Champion Choi Hyun Mi (pictured right) is now making a big name for herself in South Korea. Jason Strother has the story from Seoul. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
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KATY CLARK: North Korea acknowledged today that it’s detained an American who entered the country illegally last week. The man is believed to be a Christian missionary who wanted to petition Kim Jong Il [PH] to free political prisoners. It’s rare for people to cross the border illegally into North Korea. More people go the other way trying to escape the repressive state. One of them is a North Korean teenager who defected five years ago. She didn’t go for political reasons. She went for the love of boxing, and now she’s a champion in South Korea. Jason Strother reports from Seoul.
JASON STROTHER: South Korea has a new great hope. Choi Hyun Mi recently defended her World Boxing Association featherweight title. The 19 year-old’s powerful right hook landed her opponent on the mat two times and Choi won by decision. Choi began boxing in Pyonyang when she was just 13. Government scouts recruited her for her athletic ability and her height. She’s 5 foot 7, unusually tall for a North Korean woman. In 2004, Choi’s family defected to South Korea. She’s become known here as the Defector Boxing Girl. But Choi says she prefers other nicknames.
CHOI HYUN MI: [Voiceover] I’ve been called the Korean million dollar baby by the media here. And some call me the technique boxer. But it bothers me just to be thought of as the North Korean Boxer. I’m not ashamed to be from there, but too many people focus on just that.
STROTHER: In fact, there are things about boxing in North Korea that she misses.
CHOI HYUN MI: [Voiceover] I think women are better skilled in North Korea. It would be hard to find a South Korean fighter who could actually defeat a North Korean. We say having a hungry spirit is important in boxing, and maybe because of the stressful situations in North Korea that encourages us more.
STROTHER: She says after her family defected, she was disappointed to learn that women’s boxing isn’t all that popular in South Korea. Her father, Choi Cheol-Su, who serves as her manager, says it’s a much bigger deal back in Pyongyang.
CHOI CHEOL-SU: [In Korean]
STROTHER: Boxing is really popular in North Korea, he says. Boxers get sponsorship and support from the government, too. It’s like soccer. People get very excited and when there is a match on T.V. The streets are empty because everyone is home watching it. The Chois were fairly well off in Pyongyang. Mr. Choi ran an exporting business. Unlike most other North Koreans, he was allowed to travel outside the country. That helped in arranging his family’s defection. Mr. Choi thought they’d lead better lives in South Korea, but like many other refugees, he’s found it hard to adjust, and hard to find work. So now he relies on his daughter to help support the family. WBA Champion Choi Hyun Mi spars with her coach at the gym. Choi says she may have given up fame and support in North Korea, but she thinks she’s better off here in the long run. She says she can grow more as an athlete, and have more opportunities down the line when she is no longer fighting.
CHOI HYUN MI: [Voiceover] Even though I am a champion now, I’m thinking about the future. That’s why I am starting university next year. Boxing is a stepping stone that can help me pursue a different dream. But at the moment, I stay focused on fighting.
STROTHER: And for now, Choi is training to defend her title for a third time in the spring. For The World, I’m Jason Strother in Seoul, South Korea.
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