Summary

After landing in Seoul, Hyeonseo finds a small office with immigration officials at work. She enters and declares: "I'm from North Korea. I would like asylum" (198). The officials welcome her to Korea and congratulate her for making it there. She is surprised that her declaration has caused no surprise or fanfare.

The officials are surprised when they scan her passport and visa and discover that they are real. They suspect her of being Chinese and of faking North Korean identity to gain South Korean citizenship. For the first time in years, she uses her North Korean name, Park Min-young. Hyeonseo agrees to submit to an investigation under threat of deportation back to China. After hours of questioning, she is transported to the National Intelligence Service building for an even more in-depth investigation.

Hyeonseo spends her first night in Seoul "in a...