North Korean defector Jihyun Park to stand in Bury local elections

Jihyun Park is believed to be the first person of North Korean descent to stand for election in the UK.

A woman who fled North Korea has been selected to stand as a candidate when the next local elections are held.

Jihyun Park, 52, who faced starvation, torture and persecution before coming to the UK, has been chosen for Holyrood ward in Bury, Greater Manchester.

The prospective Conservative candidate, who settled in Bury in 2008, campaigns for the rights of North Koreans.

Ms Park is believed to be the first person of North Korean descent to stand for election in the UK.

She escaped from the country in 1998 and later became a British citizen after suffering forced repatriation in China.

'So proud'

Ms Park fled to the Chinese border with her brother after their father and uncle died of starvation when famine struck.

She became a victim of human trafficking and was sold into forced marriage to a Chinese farmer, with whom she had a child.

In 2004, she was arrested and sent back to North Korea, where she faced torture and persecution in a forced labour camp but she was thrown out when they thought she was close to death with gangrene.

A stranger nursed her back to health and helped her to escape and reunite with her son.

Ms Park is now a language tutor living in the Fairfield area of Bury, and campaigns for the rights of all North Koreans to live without fear of torture and persecution, the Local Democracy Reporting Service reports.

She said: "In comparison my life in the UK is heaven".

Bury Conservative Association, tweeted: "We're so proud that, to our knowledge, Jihyun is the first ever North Korean defector to stand for local elections in Britain."

The Holyrood ward is currently held by three Liberal Democrat councillors with sitting councillor Steve Wright defending his seat.

Labour has announced former councillor Noel Bayley will be standing for the party.