Her husband's body floated in her arms, lifeless. Fearing for her own life, she allowed the frigid river current to coax him from her grasp. There was no time to watch his corpse float away. Just moments before, Mi Rae and her husband, Chin Ho [not their real names], were attempting a daring escape across the river separating North Korea from China. With the Chinese shoreline almost within reach, bullets fired from a North Korean border guard had abruptly ended Chin Ho's life. Hoping to avoid the same fate, Mi Rae desperately lunged towards the shore.