Anyone that helps people who are accused of sorcery are also blamed for being sorcerers.

Lives less ordinary from the BBC World Service.

Real people with extraordinary stories.

I started having a strength in me.

I have to stand up for other women.

Find out more at the end of this podcast.

Have you ever wondered what life is like at the very top of the North Korean regime?

Well I'm here to tell you.

My name is Tae-on-ho.

I was once the beauty ambassador of North Korea to the United Kingdom until I defected in

the summer of 2016 to South Korea.

I chose freedom, but it came at huge personal risk.

For the BBC World Service, let me tell you my story.

It's a story of hope.

I was born in a middle class.

My father was university professor and my mother was just a school teacher.

I have my sister and a little brother.

My sister was one year old when my younger brother was five years younger than me.

When I was young, the service astronaut Yuri Kagarin was just a star in North Korea.

I dreamed every night of going to Moon or Star as a kind of astronaut.

And at night I went out and watched the stars and I always dreamed how can I reach Moon

or take the stars.

...