Did You Choose Where You Were Born?
It’s one of the most defining realities of your life…and you had no say in it.
Not your country.
Not your family.
Not your starting point.
Some are born into freedom.
Others into restriction.
Some into abundance.
Others into survival.
Same world. Very different beginnings.
But how often do we pause long enough to truly consider what that means?
Somewhere in our world, a child is born into a place where freedom isn’t assumed. It’s absent.
Where information is controlled.
Where movement is restricted.
Where even thoughts can carry deadly consequences.
Not by choice.
Not by fault.
Just by birth.
And that’s what has been on my mind these past few days.
My wife and I are in Korea. Last week, we sat across from men and women who were born in North Korea—people whose lives began in a reality most of us will never experience.
We spent time with Eunhee Park, who introduced us to her friends: Sharon Jang, Miso Yoon, and Yeongnam Ken Eom, a former North Korean soldier.
Each story was different. But the thread was the same:
They sacrificed everything…for something many of us rarely even think about.
Freedom.
Eunhee also took us to visit organizations working on the front lines of this reality.
At the Database Center for North Korean Human Rights, we walked through a small museum documenting the lived experiences of North Korean escapees — stories that have been carefully recorded, preserved, and analyzed. Over 144,000 testimonies… each one representing a life shaped by a system most of us can hardly imagine.
Later, we spent time with the founders of Freedom Speakers International: Casey Lartigue Jr. and Eunkoo Lee, who are helping North Korean refugees rebuild their lives through mentorship, education, and the power of their own voices.
Their students include individuals whose names are becoming known around the world…and others whose stories are just beginning to be told.
But what struck me most wasn’t just what they’ve endured.
It was who they’ve become.
And sitting there, listening…I couldn’t help but think back to a moment not long ago.
The first time I read the book A Necessary Lie.
I remember looking up from the pages and seeing my own home—my family, my kitchen, the quiet normalcy of everyday life. And feeling the weight of a simple realization:
None of us chooses where we are born.
That moment didn’t just stay with me.
It changed me.
Because I knew this story needed to be told in a way that could reach beyond statistics… beyond headlines… and into the hearts of many people.
That’s what led me to begin developing this film.
Not as a business opportunity.
But as a mission.
Today, as I sit here in Seoul, hearing these stories firsthand, that conviction has only deepened.
Because stories do something facts alone cannot.
They awaken us.
They humanize what feels distant.
They invite us to see—and to feel—the lives of others.
And sometimes…they move us to act.
We are building more than a film. We are building a community of people who believe that stories can:
Reveal injustice.
Restore dignity.
And inspire hope.
If there’s one thing these past few days have reinforced for me, it’s this:
The difference between our lives did not begin with a decision.
It began with a birthplace.
But what we do with that truth…
…that is a choice.
Thank you for being part of this journey.
