Kim Cheol-woong

Two months later he was detained in China as he tried to cross into Mongolia. After spending another six months in prison, he was sent to a North Korean prison camp. The investigator who was in charge of him, knew who he was. The investigator said he knew his father. The investigator had attained his position only a month earlier because of Kim’s father. Thanks to the investigator, he was categorized as an ordinary person, not as Kim Cheol-woong. He was released three days later.

April 17, 2009, he performed in a benefit concert at Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall in New York fulfilling a dream he has had since defecting.

In 2004, Kim began teaching at Hansei University. He later became known internationally as a concert pianist, and started his own orchestra in South Korea.

In the spring of 2002, a fellow defector informed him of a church run by a Korean-Chinese pastor. The church had a piano. He joined the underground bible study group in an effort to play the piano. The church also provided food and shelter for the refugees. He couldn’t help from crying when he saw the piano. The pianist wouldn’t let him touch it at first, not believing he knew something about the instrument. Others petitioned on his behalf and he was allowed to play.

In October 2001, as he was practicing the song, someone reported him to the State Security Department. Because of his parents status, all he had to write was a ten page self-criticism paper, but it still took a heavy toll on him. Unlike the Koreans who left due to famine, Kim, who had enjoyed a life of privilege, fled because of his unhappiness about his treatment as an artist.

He took a leave from the symphony saying he had a relative pass away and he told his parents he was going to another city to perform. His mother had hid some American money, about 2000 dollars, which he took when he left.

Kim was told if he crossed the Tumen river he could get to the free world through China. He headed toward the river and had no trouble at ID inspection points because he was a Pyongyang citizenship card holder. Arriving at the river in the middle of the night with the 2000 dollars, he was found by the undercover army. He remembered the 2000 dollars and gave it to them. In turn, they helped him cross the river and directed him to a small village. There, he informed the people he could play piano, but they did not care, they needed someone to work. So he worked, cutting and harvesting rice and woodcutting at a lumber mill.

Kim Cheol-woong grew up in a prominent North Korean family. His Father was the head of their provincial party, which is like a provincial governor, and his mother was a university professor. His grandmother was the founding president of the first and largest department store in Pyongyang until 1992. Kim’s musical skills were spotted at an early age.

In 1981, at age eight, he was admitted into the Pyongyang University of music and dance. Over the next fourteen years, he suffered through rigorous training to perform tunes glorifying Kim Jong Il. After his graduation he was sent to Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow from 1995 to 1999 to study. Moscow was fascinating to the twenty-one year old who had not been exposed to music outside North Korea. He felt like he had discovered a new world.

Kim Cheol-woong (김철웅 , born 1974) is a North Korean pianist who defected to South Korea.