Darby Jo was born in North Hamgyeong Province, North Korea in 1988. Following the death of his father during country’s great famine in the 1990’s, Mr. Jo became homeless and lived as a child beggar before escaping to China in 2000 in search of food.
For several years, he attempted to reach South Korea but he was at turns forcibly repatriated to North Korea by Chinese authorities and held captive by South Korean and Korean American missionaries in China.
In 2008 he finally made his way to South Korea via Mongolia.
After arriving in South Korea, Mr. Jo earned his GED before earning a spot at the prestigious Kookmin University in Seoul. He graduated in 2016 with a double major in journalism and Chinese. Following his graduation Mr. Jo began his career as a photographer and writer.
Mr. Jo is currently working on several long term projects that document the life of North Korean defectors living in Seoul.