From the NY Times, the story of a 17-year old girl who settled in South Korea after defecting with her family from North Korea.  Choi Hyun-mi, the “Defector Girl Boxer” is making headlines as a hardscrabble female boxing champion.  

Here’s an excerpt:

“For South Koreans, boxing is mainly a sport of the past, a metaphor for what the country was in the 1970s and ’80s before its economy jumped to 13th largest in the world and a generation of young people grew up with privileges their parents could only imagine. Boxing was the sport of poor people, fighting for what they believed was rightfully theirs.

Now, a girl whose family fled North Korea is breathing just a hint of new life into the sport by winning a world championship at age 17. In a soccer-crazed country, her hardscrabble tale has generated some headlines.”

Read the full article here.

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