Reopened communication channel between North and South Korea
Reopened communication channel between North and South Korea Ryu Seung Il/ZUMA

SEOUL – They are the simplest of dreams.

To see familiar streets once more. Or walk along a river at the center of childhood memories. Or throw a big party with wine.

These dreams belong to people who risked everything to flee North Korea and then, as some of the most high-profile defectors, spoke out about the rights abuses and repression of Kim Jong Un’s regime.

But now, ahead of Tuesday’s summit between Kim and President Donald Trump in Singapore, the defectors are considering a question that until recently seemed foolish to ask: Could they one day return home?

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