The path to becoming a university professor is rarely easy for any student, but it was especially difficult for Kim Seong-ryeol, a North Korean defector who escaped not once but twice in pursuit of education and freedom.

Kim started teaching international studies at Busan University of Foreign Studies earlier this month, in the process becoming the first North Korean escapee to serve as a South Korean professor, according to the university.

And in an interview with NK News, he recounted the long, difficult journey that took him from a North Korean prison to the halls of academia.

“I