Nothing to Envy

Mi-ran is an atypical beauty by North Korean standards: she has long, well-defined facial features, including prominent cheekbones. Like her three sisters, she is tall. As a young girl and teen, she wears her hair short; upon moving to South Korea as an adult, she fully assimilates. In North Korea, she grows up in a harmonica house with seven family members. The daughter of a miner originally from South Korea, her prospects are limited by her family’s poor social standing. Nonetheless, she is rebellious and spirited. From an early age, she challenges her parents’ clear preference for her younger brother, and rides a bike despite social mores and the heckling of male riders. She begins a romance with Jun-sang, and with his encouragement, she becomes persuaded that she is capable of changing her life for the better. She is accepted to university, and becomes a teacher. After witnessing the starvation of her kindergarten students, she is ready to defect at the first possible opportunity. She travels to China, and then South Korea, where she integrates with more ease than others.