Of all the thousands of candidates standing in the U.K.’s recent local elections, few had a backstory as unique as Jihyun Park. 

Escaping North Korea twice under difficult circumstances, and only being let out of prison because the guards didn’t want her to die on their watch, Park eventually became one of the few defectors to settle in the U.K.

Since then, she has thrown herself into activism and campaigns vociferously on human rights issues. Park recently spoke at the U.N. Human Rights Council and became the first person of North Korean heritage to stand for election in the