In Pictures
The Story of Monica Macias
10 images that document the extraordinary true story of a West African girl’s upbringing in North Korea under the protection of President Kim Il Sung
In 1979, aged only seven, Monica Macias was transplanted from West Africa to the unfamiliar surroundings of North Korea.
She was sent by her father Francisco, the first president of post-Independence Equatorial Guinea, to be educated under the guardianship of his ally, Kim Il Sung.
Within months, her father was executed in a military coup; her mother became unreachable. Effectively orphaned, she and two siblings had to make their life in Pyongyang.
At military boarding school, Monica learned to mix with older children, speak fluent Korean and handle weapons on training exercises.
and the school director O Chae Won (front centre)
After boarding school, Monica went to study at the Pyongyang University of Light Industry.
After university, she went in search of her roots, passing through Beijing, Seoul, Madrid, Guinea, New York and finally London – forced at every step to reckon with damning perceptions of her adoptive homeland.
Optimistic yet unflinching, Monica’s astonishing and unique story challenges us to see the world through different eyes.
Her memoir, Black Girl From Pyongyang: In Search of My Identity, is out now.
‘A stunning treatise on politics, power and culture’
FLORENCE OLAJIDE, bestselling author of Coconut
‘A fascinating account of a woman’s quest for autonomy, and her bravery and determination to find the truth’
LILY DUNN, author of Sins of My Father
‘You have never read a book like Black Girl From Pyongyang, and you won’t soon forget it’
MARCIA DE SANCTIS, author of A Hard Place to Leave: Stories from a Restless Life
