How a North Korean missile researcher became a South Korean MP

As a young man, Park Choong-Kwon helped build the nuclear missiles that his homeland, North Korea, blasted off from time to time to threaten the West.

Now he sits in its democratic neighbour’s legislature – a member of South Korea’s parliament elected just this week.

When people migrate from authoritarian regimes to liberal democracies, they dream of a better life, of opportunities. A refugee becoming a lawmaker, or even one day president? It’s possible.

But for a North Korean, it’s extraordinary. Park, at age 37, is just the fourth escapee ever to become a parliamentarian in the South.

“I came to South Korea with nothing,” he told the BBC earlier this week, “and now I’ve entered the political arena.

“I see all of this as the power of our liberal democracy and I think it’s all possible because our citizens made it happen. It is a miracle and a blessing.”

For North Korean watchers, it's also a sign of progress.

"There are tens of thousands of North Koreans who voted with their feet, voted against the oppression of that regime with their lives - some lost - but others didn't, and the world is benefiting from them," says Sandra Fahy, an associate professor at Carleton University in Ottawa who's researched life in North Korea.

"Who better to understand the importance of democratic representation and political engagement than those who have lived in a world where it was forbidden":[]}