Two decades after being sold as bride, North Korean woman finds salvation in Seoul

SEOUL, South Korea — Lee Meng Zu was 18 when she illegally entered the hinterlands of China, lured by the promise of a dishwashing job at a restaurant that surreptitiously employed North Koreans.

In 1998, after crossing a river near her home in North Korea's Hamgyong Province, she said she learned the awful truth: The restaurant owner was buying her as a bride for one of his sons. She's not sure the exact amount the man paid the broker, but Lee learned that other women in similar positions were worth about $1,000 to $2,000.

"It's all very embarrassing," Lee said Thursday through a translator. "It was never my will to be sold."


Source : Nbcnews