Jin-Hye Jo, a North Korean defector who escaped the oppressive regime of Kim Sung-il and his son Kim Jong-il, told her harrowing story to a group of students in Boylston Hall Friday evening in an event aimed at improving the conditions facing North Korean defectors.

Jo’s story came as the culmination of a week of human rights-focused events staged by Harvard Human Rights in North Korea (HRINK). As part of the proceedings, students at Friday’s event were asked to sign a petition to the United Nations urging the international organization to acknowledge North Korean defectors as refugees.

Currently those fleeing North Korea face difficulties finding asylum in other countries because they are not classified as legal refugees. Jo, who for the last year has travelled the country telling her story in an attempt to advance the North Korean human rights cause, was direct in her message to the approximately 20 students in attendance at the event.

“I’m in front of you guys who attend a prestigious university and have the power to change the world. I would like to make a plea of all you here today,” Jo said, speaking through a translator. “If North Koreans aren’t refugees, then who is? Who else faces persecution from their government?”

Jo continually emphasized the need for a more accurate understanding of her home country’s situation, the severity of which, she said, often goes overlooked by outsiders.

“I really want younger generations [to know] what’s going on in North Korea,” she said, beginning her story of starvation and torture by her own government.

“Instead of going to school, me and my siblings had to go up to the mountain and remove branches from pine trees in order to eat them,” said Jo, whose father was accused of treachery and thrown into jail, along with his pregnant wife, by the North Korean government because of his ties to South Korea.

Won Myong Hong, a Harvard Business School student originally slated to speak at Friday’s event too, had his remarks precluded when Jo’s story ran well past the event’s scheduled 90-minute time slot. But he said that he thought Jo’s words had been valuable in stressing the necessity of immediate action to rectify the North Korean human rights situation.

“Everyone tries to keep North Korea in its status quo,” he said. “They don’t want North Korea to collapse or all of a sudden pick up.”

HRINK co-director Sarah Yun ’10 said after the event that Jo had helped to increase the publicity for her program, which got its official start only a year ago.

“It’s definitely increased the visibility for HRINK on campus,” she said.