New generation of defectors expose North Korean abuses

Ji Seong-Ho, 31, who is a North Korean defector living in South Korea and president of Now, Action and Unity for Human Rights (NAUH), poses for a photograph with his handmade wooden crutches, which were used to cross the Tumen River on the border with China, during an interview with Reuters in Seoul, May 29, 2013. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji

SEOUL (Reuters) - From the streets of Seoul to the European parliament, a new generation of North Korean defectors is stepping into the limelight, telling their personal stories to highlight the human rights abuses in their homeland.

It's a major change for the defector community, especially in South Korea, where for years they lived on the margins of society. Most did menial jobs and kept quiet, avoiding attention for fear of being labelled a "Red" or a "Sympathiser with the North".