Mike Kim is an author, consultant, NGO founder, and North Korea specialist. He is the author of the Wall Street Journal featured book Escaping North Korea, a current events memoir about his experiences at the China-North Korea border.
On New Year's Day 2003, Mike walked away from his financial planning business in Chicago and boarded a one-way flight to China with little more than two duffle bags. While living undercover near the border for four years, he operated as a student of North Korean Taekwondo. He trained under masters from Pyongyang and eventually earned a second-degree blackbelt, while secretly supporting refugees fleeing the regime.
Mike founded Crossing Borders, a nonprofit dedicated to providing assistance to North Korean refugees. Under his leadership, the organization provided expert testimony at U.S. Congressional hearings and became a long-standing contributor to the State Department’s annual Trafficking in Persons Report.
A frequent voice in global media, Mike has appeared on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, CNN Anderson Cooper 360, and Fox News with Bill Hemmer. He lectures to audiences worldwide, sharing stories of inspiration, courage, and hope across five continents.
Photos courtesy of Kenny Kim Photography