Ok-hee Character Analysis in The Girl with Seven Names

Hyeonseo’s good friend and a fellow North Korean defector. Hyeonseo first meets Ok-hee in Shenyang, where they both work waiting tables in a restaurant, and they later reconnect in Shanghai. Ok-hee seeks political asylum in South Korea at the same time Hyeonseo does; however, Ok-hee takes a ferry to South Korea from China, and she moves through the vetting process and is allotted an apartment in Seoul much more quickly than Hyeonseo is. As South Korean citizens, Ok-hee and Hyeonseo remain close friends, connected by their shared fight for freedom and human rights.

Ok-hee Character Timeline in The Girl with Seven Names

The timeline below shows where the character Ok-hee appears in The Girl with Seven Names. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Oppression, Human Rights, and North Korea Theme Icon

...of the Shenyang waitresses she had known too well to fool. The woman’s name is Ok-hee, and she is on the run from authorities in Shenyang, too. They become close friends. (full context)

...television, when something on the news catches her attention. She hangs up the phone and Ok-hee turns up the television. Scores of people are rushing the South Korean embassy in Beijing,... (full context)

...the world is saying about North Korea and knows her uncle was telling the truth. Ok-hee suggests they go to South Korea together, and Hyeonseo begins to consider it. In China,... (full context)

Ok-hee has contact with other North Koreans, and she finds a broker, who, for $1,400, can... (full context)

...South Korean spy, but their call to Hyeonseo convinced them otherwise. Afterward, both Hyeonseo and Ok-hee decide their plan to obtain South Korean passports is a bad idea. They don’t want... (full context)

...Shanghai and finds a good job as an interpreter at a cosmetics company. Except for Ok-hee, all of Hyeonseo’s friends are South Korean. It is 2006, and Hyeonseo is 25 years... (full context)

...card. Hyeonseo immediately calls Kim, who is delighted to hear her voice. Next, she calls Ok-hee. Ok-hee arrived on a ferry and was processed much more quickly than Hyeonseo. She is... (full context)

...time she closes the door, she feels her freedom and begins to panic. She calls Ok-hee and asks to sleep at her apartment. Ok-hee is happy to see her, and she... (full context)

Soon after Min-ho and Mother arrive in South Korea, Ok-hee introduces Hyeonseo to an organization called PSCORE (People for Successful Corean Reunification), where Hyeonseo meets... (full context)