When Pak was eventually released from Seon-gam, he went to his old house but no one was home as his family had moved. It was only when Pak’s family revisited the police one last time to see if they had any news of their lost son – before they moved to the US – that they heard he was in prison.

Pak was reunited with his family for the first time in years, but prison walls now separated them.

“After I came out [of Seon-gam], I couldn’t work anywhere as I didn’t have any skills. I didn’t have anywhere to go,” Pak said.

“So, I lived on the streets and worked as a paperboy and a scrap man just to make enough to buy food. One day, I got caught trying to steal a plate of food from someone. That became my first time entering prison,” he said.

Pak’s family moved to the US shortly after he was reunited with them. He could not follow due to his criminal record and they never were able to fully reconnect as a family. They would live separate lives and only communicate through international phone calls.