CHINA. 2007. Identifying herself only as "Mrs. Lee," a defector in Yanji was unwilling to have her full face shown, concerned that if North Korean officials recognized her they would punish family members still living across the border. The 28-year-old has been hiding in China for five years, waiting for the day to make her escape. She said she'd been working in the sex trade, based at a karaoke bar, a job forced on many young North Korean women refugees. Though she secretly returned to North Korea several times to give money to her family, she has saved enough cash to start planning her departure: On average the cost for guides and transportation is roughly the equivalent of $3,000. Several weeks after the photograph was taken, Mrs. Lee successfully fled to Thailand.