Lee Young-wha cleared her throat. She thought of her mother, who spent her entire family fortune on escape, and her younger brother, who had left home a few days earlier than her and may have already arrived at a Chinese shelter.

From the group of 11, eight were North Korean refugees, two reporters and a guide. Five days before, on Aug. 16, the group had gathered in the northeastern Chinese city of Sunyang to depart for Beijing and Kunming on a long journey by bus and train. Over the mountain lay freedom.

The bus ran along an unpaved road for about an hour to arrive at the final point of the Chinese border. We immediately retreated to hide in the darkness. The guide never looked back as he ascended the mountain, warning that if we fell behind, we would get cut off alone. Young-wha was determined to take a poison pill if she got caught.

To help navigate the unrecognizable road through dense forests, the guide handed us flashlights, instructing us to turn it off quietly, if we heard any noise. He said that Chinese guards would likely shoot at any light.

After more than a two-hour walk, a river emerged to guide our way. The water reached about ankle height at the beginning, but soon it was neck-deep. We fell and were scratched by thorn bushes and bitten by leeches.

North Korean defectors cross Winnan Mountain on the Chinese-Lao border.

When it rained suddenly, the guide passed us plastic wraps, saying, "We'll have a break." We wrapped ourselves to take a nap. The rain stopped after 30 minutes, signaling the end to our break. We climbed rock paths. The sun rose, and it was around at 8:00 a.m. when we reached the summit.

The guide said, "This is Laos and that is China," but added that we still had 10 hours more walking left. We walked again over more steep slopes and rough waters. Someone cried, "Just leave me here and go!" Young-wha extended her hand to the person, saying, "We live together and die together, got it?"

The guide ordered the exhausted group in a low but sure voice, "Run to the bus over the hill, now!" Everyone clambered up a steep slope to a bus that took us to a shelter in Laos. We had to smuggle into Thailand the next day.

The Chosun Ilbo news team had accompanied North Korea refugees on their entire escape route that started in Sunyang, China and ended in Bangkok, Thailand. The breathtaking story of our journey will unfold here.