North Koreans' underground railroad; CREDIT: Los Angeles Times; IN HIDING: A North Korean boy clings to a teddy bear in his safe house in northeastern China. It is risky for the child to go out.; PHOTOGRAPHER: BRYAN CHAN Los Angeles Times; CHINESE MARKET: Ethnic Koreans shop and sell goods in the Chinese border city of Yanji. The area is home to many elderly Korean Chinese citizens who fled Japanese occupation on the Korean peninsula from 1910 to 1945.; PHOTOGRAPHER: BRYAN CHAN Los Angeles Times; PRAYER FOR SAFETY: South Korean missionary [Chun Ki Won], second from left, leads a group of North Koreans in prayer in a safe house in northeastern China. Chun leads such refugees along an Asian underground railroad to South Korea. They risk death or torture if they are captured.; PHOTOGRAPHER: Photographs by Bryan Chan Los Angeles Times; ON GUARD: A border guard stands watch at Tumen, on the Chinese side. Many North Koreans attempt to escape their country through China. If caught, they are repatriated and face possible beatings or even execution at home.; PHOTOGRAPHER: BRYAN CHAN Los Angeles Times; FEAR OF DISCOVERY: A 20-year- old North Korean woman, front, peers over her shoulder as her train leaves Yanji, in northeastern China. Behind her are regular passengers on the trip to Mongolia. The woman, her boyfriend and other refugees with them hope to eventually settle in South Korea.; PHOTOGRAPHER: Photographs by Bryan Chan Los Angeles Times; ANXIETY: A North Korean in a safe house in China waits to begin a dangerous, circuitous escape to South Korea.; PHOTOGRAPHER: Bryan Chan Los Angeles Times