Kim Hak-min, 30, was born in coal country in the North Korean province of North Hamgyong, which borders China. His father worked in the mines as an engineer. 

He crossed the frozen Yalu River to China with a girlfriend on a freezing day in January 2011. 

A book turned Kim around: “Steve Jobs” by Walter Isaacson, which was published shortly after Jobs’ death in 2011. 

“The book filled me with energy for a better life. It made me determined to go to college. I slept only a few hours a day, studying and memorizing 100 English words every day. After two and a half years, I was admitted to Sogang University in 2014.” 

Kim says Jobs’ principles were his biggest inspiration.

Kim is majoring at electronic engineering at Sogang University in Mapo District, western Seoul. He took a leave of absence after his sophomore year to concentrate on a business he started. He rents a two-room house in Mapo where he lives and works.

“I fell in love with the iPhone when I first saw it,” says Kim. “When you dissemble an iPhone and see what’s inside, it’s just beautiful. A great engineer not only makes gadgets beautiful on the outside but also inside.”

“My life has been connecting the dots that people in the North and South have drawn for me. It’s like what Steve Jobs said: ‘You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.’”

Source: koreajoongandaily